Resident Evil debuted in 1996 and quickly became a legend. The fact that the series is still going strong today is a testament to its quality. Before Resident Evil, however, there was Sweet Home on the NES in 1989.
This game is known by fewer people, but is integral to the history of the classic survival horror franchise. The facts below shed light on the game, its development, and how it is connected to Resident Evil. It is unfortunate Sweet Home is difficult to access these days, but in this era of constant re-releases, it might become easier to play in the future.
10 It Is Based On A Movie
Sweet Home is based off a movie on the same name. Adaptations of movies were nothing new back in 1989, but a few things separate Sweet Home from others. Mainly, the game was made alongside the film and came out around the same time as the movie. The film was directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who has an impressive body of work mostly in the horror genre.
9 The Gameplay
Sweet home, despite being a spiritual predecessor to Resident Evil, differs in some key gameplay areas. Mainly, combat is a turn-based RPG. Exploration and puzzle solving is integral to progression, but battles are more akin to first-person RPGs.
The whole game taking place in a single house is also similar to the debut Resident Evil. The intimate nature of the setting is adds significantly the terror of both titles. Sometimes smaller is better, especially when it comes to horror.
8 Tokuro Fujiwara
Tokuro Fujiwara served as the director for Sweet Home. His career in gaming goes back further than 1989, however, and extends more than a decade afterwards. Tokuro Fujiwara produced almost all the classic Mega Man games, directed Bionic Commando, and had a hand in several other Capcom classics. He also worked on the original Resident Evil, though as we all know, Shinji Mikami directed the 1996 classic. Tokuro Fujiwara has not worked on a game in some time, though he continues with consulting work.
7 The Developers Toured The Film Set While Making The Game
The developers worked closely with the filmmakers when crafting Sweet Home. Because the game was in development while the movie was in production, Tokuro Fujiwara had the opportunity to visit the set during the film. Despite this collaboration, the game's narrative differs from the film in some key areas. This is usually a plus, since many of the best gaming adaptations of movies do different things in the name of servicing the medium.
6 It Has QTEs
It is totally possible for a game to be simultaneously ahead of its time and also outdated and obsolete. Just look at Sweet Home's use of QTEs, or quick time events. The idea of having to press buttons during a cinematic to survive was popularized by games like Shenmue and Resident Evil 4, but around gamers soon grew tired of them in the following years. There was a time when they were exciting and made gamers felt like they were playing a cutscene, now gamers just want to enjoy the cinematic.
5 Resident Evil Started As A Remake Of Sweet Home
The similarities between Sweet Home and Resident Evil exist because the first game in the series started out as a remake of the NES title. Tokuro Fujiwara initiated the project because he felt the new technology could do all the things he wanted to do back in the late 1980s. Unfortunately, Capcom did not have the rights to the movie, which caused them to craft an original story that became Resident Evil.
4 Critics Consider The Game To Be Better Than The Movie
Upon release, the game was successful and critically respected. In fact, some considered it better than the movie, which itself had a solid reception. Rarely in history has a game ever been considered better than the movie.
Other examples of this include the X-Men Origins: Wolverine game adaptation and possibly GoldenEye on the N64, but the latter example is both a great movie and a great game. Considering its success, one might wonder why it is not more talked about. Mainly it is because it never came out in the west.
3 You Play As Several Characters
There are five playable characters in Sweet Home and you are able to switch between them at anytime. Furthermore, these characters can all traverse the mansion solo or explore in parties. Each character also has their own unique item, so you have to take this into consideration during certain puzzles. This idea would eventually be used in Resident Evil 0, where you are able to switch between two playable characters at any time to solve puzzles.
2 The Story
Sweet Home's plot is a supernatural tale about ghosts, murder, and guilt. A team of documentary filmmakers investigate a mansion of a missing artist to recover his lost paintings. A ghost traps them inside and the team must contend with deadly apparitions haunting the place. The protagonists eventually find out this ghost is the wife of the artist. The couple's child died in an accident and the wife started killing other kids in an attempt to give hers friends to play with. After the wife took her own life, she became a ghost. This plot is definitely a far cry from Resident Evil, which deals with science experiments and biological weapons.
1 Why Didn't It Come Out In The West?
Sweet Home stayed exclusively in Japan for several plausible reasons. For one, the game utilizes graphic imagery which likely would have had to be taken out completely for a western release. Secondly, it is an RPG, and the genre was not popular in the west during this time. Don't forget, in 1989 even the first Final Fantasy had not been released in North America. Though fan translations exist, no official English language release has hit markets.