Resident Evil wasn't the first horror game by a long shot, but it was undoubtedly the one that started a horror gold rush among publishers. Its mix of scares, combat, puzzle solving and resource management inspired a myriad of clones and copycats, all trying to put their own spin on the newly-coined "survival horror" genre.

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But games aren't created in a vacuum, and the elements that made up the Resident Evil formula were present in many games before it. Before it became the standard term, there were many games released prior that could be considered part of the survival horror canon.

8 Sweet Home (Famicom)

Sweet Home for Famicom

Being the game which Resident Evil was initially going to be a sequel to, Sweet Home for the Famicom is an obvious choice. Based on the movie of the same name, it is an RPG set in a labyrinthian haunted mansion. It features five playable characters with unique skills and items, who have to work together to survive the trials ahead.

Many survival horror gameplay elements that the Resident Evil series would pick up and refine are present here: items are limited and must be carefully rationed along the way; puzzles often require objects picked up in later areas, necessitating backtracking; and there are many notes strewn around the mansion that provide exposition or clues to puzzles. It even has moments that could qualify as quick time events, made popular much later by Resident Evil 4.

7 Alone in the Dark (DOS)

Alone in the Dark for DOS

Arguably the game most influential on Resident Evil's design, Alone in the Dark has all the ingredients that later survival horror games would make standard. It popularized the use of "tank controls" for 3D movement and polygonal models against 2D pre-rendered backdrops. It even has files that fill in the backstory, a choice of a male or female main character, zombies galore and dog-like creatures that leap through windows to give players a jolt.

Set in 1920s Louisiana, it takes a much more supernatural approach over Resident Evil's sci-fi styling, populating its haunted house with all manner of Lovecraft-inspired ghouls. It's understandably a lot more awkward to play, especially after descending into the catacombs where clumsy platforming sections rear their head. Its two lackluster sequels are less forgivable, doubling down on the clunky combat and obtuse puzzles while losing its abstract, off-kilter feel.

6 Ečstatica (DOS)

Ecstatica for DOS

Among the several Alone in the Dark imitators, Ečstatica tried to differentiate itself in several ways. The first and most obvious is its use of spheres and ellipsoids to create its characters instead of polygons, giving them a bizarre but unique look. Secondly, it trades in the Lovecraftian overtones for something closer to folk horror, as the protagonist investigates a town in the countryside ravaged by monsters seemingly brought about by pagan rituals.

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Ečstatica has a much more absurdist tone, even more so than Alone in the Dark. This is especially prevalent in the enemy designs, which include malevolent yet miniature trolls, a drunken pig-man and a table that comes to life and curses out the protagonist when they try to steal its knife. The most persistent adversary is the werewolf, who almost resembles later stalker characters from the Resident Evil series such as Lady Dimitrescu and the Tyrant. He's a tough adversary who regularly appears to antagonize players, until they have strong enough weapons to put him down for good.

5 Project Firestart (Commodore 64)

Project Firestart for C64

In the not-too-distant future, Agent Jon Hawking arrives at the research ship Prometheus. He finds its crew gruesomely (at least as gruesomely as can be shown on a Commodore 64) killed by hostile creatures, who are multiplying at an alarming rate. Hawking must use what scarce supplies he finds to unravel this mystery, rescue whatever survivors he can find and keep himself alive against the creatures. In other words, it's vintage survival horror.

It cannot be overstated how influential Alien and its sequel were towards video games, and Project Firestart does little to hide its inspiration. The ship's barren corridors wouldn't look out of place on the Nostromo or LV-426; in particular, the cryosleep rooms are near-exact replicas of those from Alien. Despite the xenomorph-adjacent creature on the game's box, the design of the actual in-game monsters is based on an action figure from the Inhumanoids toyline.

4 Alien (ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64)

Alien for ZX Spectrum, C64

Speaking of Alien, the franchise is no stranger to video game adaptations of its own, even for the generation of home microcomputers popular in the '80s. Careful resource management is an important element of most survival horror games; in Alien, the resources in question are the characters themselves. Instead of having direct control of the crew of the Nostromo, the player gives directions to them individually.

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Ultimately the crew must eradicate or at least escape from the xenomorph crawling around their ship. Their mood will change as the situation develops, often leading to problems when terrified crew mates refuse to follow orders. Some elements are randomized to keep players on their toes, such as the unlucky crewmate who is the victim of the alien chestburster. To enhance the paranoia, another character is randomly selected to be an android, who works against the others until they are rooted out.

3 Waxworks (DOS, Amiga)

Waxworks for Amiga

The appropriately-named developer Horror Soft created several games that fused first-person dungeon crawling with a horror aesthetic. They started with Elvira: Mistress of the Dark and Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus, both featuring the eponymous horror hostess, then developed their wholly original concept with Waxworks. In it the player travels to four different time periods using magical waxworks, such as Victorian London and Ancient Egypt.

Waxworks has plenty of enemies to kill and puzzles to solve, but it is most well known for its brutally violent game over screens. These include being devoured by zombies, beaten to death by a lynch mob and torn apart by mutated plants, all rendered in highly detailed pixel art. A remake called Waxworks: Curse of the Ancestors was quietly released on 2021, garnering mediocre reviews.

2 Friday the 13th (NES)

Friday the 13th for NES

An early release by Atlus and their second to be based on a movie license (they had previously worked on The Karate Kid), Friday the 13th is infamous among aficionados of terrible retro games. Its confusing map design, unclear goals and brutal difficulty has driven many a gamer to complete frustration.

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It's unfortunate, as the game does contain some interesting concepts that later horror games would implement more successfully. In particular there's the constant presence of Jason Voorhees, whose health must be slowly whittled down over the three in-game days. Players must keep an eye on their map to stop him from killing the other campers at the ever-dangerous Camp Crystal Lake, and navigating the cabins when Jason could be lurking in any corner can be surprisingly tense.

1 Doctor Hauzer (3DO)

Doctor Hauzer for 3DO

Released only in Japan and exclusively for the Panasonic 3DO, Doctor Hauzer is an interesting take by Japanese developer Riverhillsoft on the Alone in the Dark formula. Journalist Adam Adler is searching the mansion of the titular archeologist, trying to solve the mystery of his disappearance while trying to survive the house's numerous traps.

While lacking in direct combat, Doctor Hauzer sticks pretty closely to the Alone in the Dark mold. The character models are animated more stiffly than those of Alone in the Dark, but they are much more facially expressive during cutscenes. It also eschews pre-rendered background for fully 3D ones, which is a double-edged sword: it gives players access to extra camera angles to better survey their surroundings, but it runs up against the 3DO's technical limitations and many rooms produce glacial frame rates. Like many games that pushed early hardware beyond their limits, it's an interesting if flawed experiment.

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