Resident Evil: Village is underway, a remake of the 4th entry of the game has been heavily rumored and fans are clambering for Code Veronica to get the same treatment. However, the franchise’s early sister Dino Crisis hasn’t been entirely forgotten. It is a survival horror of sorts where the main threat is dinosaurs that have gone rogue, a la Jurassic Park.
It’s one of the more requested remasters from the community, given that it never did get any ports over to current-gen consoles, nor did it get any remasters like the wealth that the original Resident Evil received. As such, it has somewhat faded into obscurity, garnering a cult following. Still, there’s a lot of interesting trivia when it comes to this dinosaur-clad horror gem from a bygone era, so here are ten things that you may not have known.
10 Paula Was Originally Going To Be Kirk’s Daughter
Canonically, Paula is the daughter of Dylan Morton and Julia, but that isn’t exactly how the developers behind Dino Crisis originally intended to tell her story. This was revealed in the second game, but, at first, she had ties to the first.
Originally, she was to be the offspring of the original Dino Crisis’ main villain, Edward Kirk. However, at some point in development, this idea was shelved in favor of the Mortons. Dylan, her father, didn’t debut until Dino Crisis 2 either.
9 Regina Appeared In Dead Rising 3’s Arcade Remix
Ever since the bombshell that was Dino Crisis 3, the franchise has been more than shelved, not even getting the sparkly remaster treatment that its sister horror series Resident Evil netted.
However, that’s not to say that the third installment was the last in Dino Crisis content from Capcom as Regina herself made an appearance in the comedic zombie series Dead Rising, a strange cousin to Resident Evil in many ways.
8 Dino Crisis Was Inspired By Aliens And The Lost World: Jurassic Park
It’s no surprise that the dinosaur-theme-park-gone-wrong series Jurassic Park was a big inspiration for Dino Crisis, but what might be news is that it was actually The Lost World that got the juices flowing.
Not only that, but the classic action-horror sequel Aliens was also a big inspiration for the games which isn’t too surprising given the tight-knit laboratory corridors that you stumble through whilst hiding from big monsters.
7 Regina Appeared In Namco X Capcom
Dead Rising 3 wasn’t the only instance of Regina continuing past the sell-by date of the franchise’s untimely death as she also appeared in Namco X Capcom.
This game was a tactical RPG that housed a plethora of iconic characters from both Capcom and Namco’s libraries. These ranged from Tekken’s Kazuya Mishima to Mega Man.
6 Originally, Regina Had A Lover Called Alex
A lot can change in the development of a game, whether that’s ideas not quite panning out due to creative decisions or gameplay restrictions. One of these alterations was that Regina’s superior, Alex, was going to be her lover.
It was a fairly strange character-focused side-plot that would’ve tied up at the end of the game. Alex was obsessed with trying to kiss Regina at any given opportunity and so the finale would’ve had Regina jump into his arms and do exactly that. Capcom’s early writing was definitely a cheesy treat.
5 Shinji Mikami Dubbed Dino Crisis “Panic Horror” And Not “Survival Horror”
It’s no secret that the mind behind Resident Evil and The Evil Within, Shinji Mikami, was also the brains behind Dino Crisis. The two were no doubt both halves of the same coin with very similar gameplay, writing, characterization, and so on.
However, in an attempt to differentiate the two, Shinji Mikami called Dino Crisis a panic horror as opposed to survival horror, a genre that Resident Evil kicked off in style way back in the 90s.
4 Regina’s Portrait Is Different In The Japanese Version
There’s usually some obscure changes between regions when it comes to Japanese and Western copies, whether that be something as superficial as the box-art, but one weird alteration came in the form of Regina’s portrait.
For whatever reason, the Japanese version was completely different from the English port. She has less noticeably red hair, a different color background an entirely different pose.
3 The Third Dino Crisis Was Going To Be Set In A Dino-Infested City
Raccoon City is an iconic landmark in gaming due to its appearance in both Resident Evil 2 and 3, classics of the survival horror genre their predecessor birthed. It was a zombie-infested hellhole nuked to kingdom come to prevent an apocalyptic outbreak.
Capcom nearly gave Dino Crisis the same treatment. Before the more action-oriented Dino Crisis 3 that launched exclusively on Xbox, they had planned to set the game in a city overrun by escaped dinosaurs.
2 Gail Resurfaced In The Dino Colosseum Bonus Mode Of The Second Game
Gail was the leading protagonist of the first Dino Crisis. However, it was Regina who became the flagship character, netting herself further appearances beyond the franchise’s last outing and even winning fan’s hearts with a Resident Evil 3 remake mod.
Gail didn’t appear as a main character in the sequel despite having survived the Ibis Island mission but, as a small favor to fans, he can be played in the bonus mode Dino Colosseum.
1 Dead Rising Developers Pitched A Dino Crisis Revival
When it comes to the weird relationship between Dead Rising and Dino Crisis, it doesn’t stop at a Regina cameo in 3. The developers behind Dead Rising actually pitched a revival of the Dino Crisis franchise.
However, this never made it past the pitching phase, so there’s no early build or hint at what could have been. Given the reception of Dead Rising 4, perhaps this was for the best - maybe a remaster in the vein of Resident Evil 2 and 3 would be the best way to bring this classic horror series back to the forefront.
NEXT: 10 Horror Games To Play During The Wait For Resident Evil 8
