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- Sep 24, 2020
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- Name
- James
Hi!
I'm quite (annoyingly so) methodical as a gamer, and earlier Resident Evil games have tons of weird secrets and easter eggs hidden in them, particularly in the pre-rendered backgrounds. Now, most of these were probably just inserted by the artist without too much care, as some of these examples are just ripped directly from copyrighted media - but the resolution would have been crunched down so hard and the end result on a blurry CRT TV through an RF or composite cable would have made the thing almost impossible to discern.
However... it is now 2026. People are savvy. People have high resolution screens. People have ripped assets from games. It's all our fault!
In no particular order.. here are some fun things I found:
The Resident Evil 1 cover looks weird doesn't it? The background is weird, the gun is weird, the expression on the character is weird.
Well, the character featured on the cover is not Chris Redfield. It's actually Richard Aiken. Interestingly, Marvel did a short Resident Evil comic which shares this cover art, and the comic features the adventures of Richard which lead up the events of the game.
The gun is a weird mashup of an assault rifle and a shotgun. You can pretty much tell where they did the 'fade' between the assault rifle and the shotgun (at the business end).
The background is basically a kaleidoscope of zombie faces, and a few spiders thrown in at the bottom, and some kind of fanged creature on top (possibly Yawn).
ARUKAS is a Clothing store in Raccoon City. it's also the name SAKURA spelled backwards, a character from Capcom's Street Fighter series (Sakura Kasugano).
You can see it at the front of the image, reversed. It's obviously a nod to King Kong and Burger King. The colours and font choice is very close to what BK had at the time.
Each of these backgrounds features a logo or vending machine that looks very similar to the Coca-Cola design, albeit in blue (sometimes red) and renamed Cool Soda, or Cho Cho Cola.
The name "JoJo" on this locker is an homage to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, a long-running Japanese Manga and Anime series.
In the late 90's, Capcom had the license to make games based on the franchise, so its likely one of them was in development at the same time as this game.
I reckon most of us would have seen this in our playthroughs - Redrum is written on a plank in this background. A reference to The Shining.
Above the Rim appears in a graffiti style in a bunch of places. Above the Rim was a movie about basketball which was released in 1994.
In the S.T.A.R.S. Office, there is a photo on the wall which features a cast photo from Back to the Future Part III.
Just thought this was funny. A sign in front showing No Bikes, but just ahead is a bike.
Featured in a bunch of places is what looks to be a promotional image from the 90s TV Show California Dreams. You can even sorta make out the logo for the show in some of them.
A Kobe Byrant poster appears in a ton of locations throughout the RPD. it must have been added late in development as the image was produced in 1998. The real mini-poster was what came with a trading card features Kobe Bryant against Rony Seikaly. Photo of the real thing has been added for comparison.
Playboy magazines are just.. there. They feature in a bunch of places in the RPD. It's this one and this one if you're intrigued. Had to do some heavy research for this one...
Well.. that's it for now. I do have more if people are interested!
I'm quite (annoyingly so) methodical as a gamer, and earlier Resident Evil games have tons of weird secrets and easter eggs hidden in them, particularly in the pre-rendered backgrounds. Now, most of these were probably just inserted by the artist without too much care, as some of these examples are just ripped directly from copyrighted media - but the resolution would have been crunched down so hard and the end result on a blurry CRT TV through an RF or composite cable would have made the thing almost impossible to discern.
However... it is now 2026. People are savvy. People have high resolution screens. People have ripped assets from games. It's all our fault!
In no particular order.. here are some fun things I found:
1. Who is that on the cover?
The Resident Evil 1 cover looks weird doesn't it? The background is weird, the gun is weird, the expression on the character is weird.
Well, the character featured on the cover is not Chris Redfield. It's actually Richard Aiken. Interestingly, Marvel did a short Resident Evil comic which shares this cover art, and the comic features the adventures of Richard which lead up the events of the game.
The gun is a weird mashup of an assault rifle and a shotgun. You can pretty much tell where they did the 'fade' between the assault rifle and the shotgun (at the business end).
The background is basically a kaleidoscope of zombie faces, and a few spiders thrown in at the bottom, and some kind of fanged creature on top (possibly Yawn).
2. Background finds in Resident Evil 2
Note: Some of these might appear in RE3 also.2a. Arukas
ARUKAS is a Clothing store in Raccoon City. it's also the name SAKURA spelled backwards, a character from Capcom's Street Fighter series (Sakura Kasugano).
2b. KONG BURGER
You can see it at the front of the image, reversed. It's obviously a nod to King Kong and Burger King. The colours and font choice is very close to what BK had at the time.
2c. Cool Soda, Coca-Cola, Cho Cho Cola
Each of these backgrounds features a logo or vending machine that looks very similar to the Coca-Cola design, albeit in blue (sometimes red) and renamed Cool Soda, or Cho Cho Cola.
2d. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
The name "JoJo" on this locker is an homage to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, a long-running Japanese Manga and Anime series.
In the late 90's, Capcom had the license to make games based on the franchise, so its likely one of them was in development at the same time as this game.
2e. Redrum
I reckon most of us would have seen this in our playthroughs - Redrum is written on a plank in this background. A reference to The Shining.
3. Background finds in Resident Evil 3
Note: Some of these might appear in RE2 also.3a. Above the Rim
Above the Rim appears in a graffiti style in a bunch of places. Above the Rim was a movie about basketball which was released in 1994.
3b. Back to the Future Photo
In the S.T.A.R.S. Office, there is a photo on the wall which features a cast photo from Back to the Future Part III.
3c. No Bikes Allowed
Just thought this was funny. A sign in front showing No Bikes, but just ahead is a bike.
3d. California Dreams
Featured in a bunch of places is what looks to be a promotional image from the 90s TV Show California Dreams. You can even sorta make out the logo for the show in some of them.
3e. Kobe Bryant
A Kobe Byrant poster appears in a ton of locations throughout the RPD. it must have been added late in development as the image was produced in 1998. The real mini-poster was what came with a trading card features Kobe Bryant against Rony Seikaly. Photo of the real thing has been added for comparison.
3f. Playboy
Playboy magazines are just.. there. They feature in a bunch of places in the RPD. It's this one and this one if you're intrigued. Had to do some heavy research for this one...
Well.. that's it for now. I do have more if people are interested!
