24 Years Ago, Capcom Released One of the Worst Video Games Ever Made

Capcom is currently on the top of the video game world and is held in high regard by most video game fans. Recent releases like Pragmata, Resident Evil Requiem, and Monster Hunter Wilds have delighted gamers, and 2026 is far from over for the publishing juggernaut, as Onimusha: Way of the Sword is due out in September. Before all this success, though, Capcom, like most developers and publishers, went through a rough patch, and one of its most infamous games just turned 24 years old.

Today, June 3, 2026, is the 24th anniversary of the North American release of Resident Evil Gaiden on the Game Boy Color. Despite being a part of one of the most popular video game series in history, Gaiden would be one of the few bumps in the road of an otherwise long line of major successes for the series and Capcom as a whole.

In 2002, Metacritic did not aggregate Game Boy Color games, and Gaiden was one of the last major releases for the ill-fated handheld, which discontinued production in 2003. Therefore, there aren't a whole lot of reviews still published and available about Gaiden.

One review that is still available online is from IGN. The reviewer scored the game a 4/10 and wrote, "The game, unfortunately, lacks the Resident Evil charm...this GBC game reduces the whole Resident Evil game into a search-and-unlock challenge with action sequences that are better suited for a game of golf than the world of Survival Horror."

That reviewer in particular took issue with the game's combat system, which had players stop a left-to-right moving block on top of another stationary block in time to successfully attack zombies or other creatures.

Gaiden's music was also heavily panned by critics and fans. Parking-Coast-1385 on Reddit wrote, "The soundtrack can be annoying, and some of the graphics are a little bit weird," despite stating they enjoyed the game overall.

Luckily, for most fans, Gaiden has been deemed non-canon by Capcom, so super fans do not have to bother with the title at all to enjoy the mainline series.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 3:44 PM.