This is the 8th version of the first Resident Evil, after Resident Evil (1996), Resident Evil (Windows version) (1996), Resident Evil: Director's Cut (1997), Resident Evil (Sega Saturn version) (1997), Resident Evil (Dual Shock version) (1998), Resident Evil (2002) (GameCube version) and Biohazard: Deadly Silence (2006). It would be the 9th version if one also counts the 2008 Wii version of Resident Evil (2002) (which technically was an unaltered port of the GameCube version). A Game Boy Color version was once nearing completion, but scrapped in 1999 because of disappointing quality with the GBC's hardware limitations.
The game can be played at three starting difficulties, Very Easy, Easy, and Normal. Further modes can be unlocked by finishing the game. Beating it on Normal unlocks Hard mode and Real Survival, beating it on Real Survival unlocks Invisible Enemy. Beating the game with both Chris and Jill on Normal or Hard on the same save file unlocks One Dangerous Zombie. Only the Very Easy mode is new to this remaster.
Features new 5.1 surround sound, a 1080p resolution and a new control scheme. Although it appears to have been rendered in the full 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen), this is not exactly the case; the makers chose to keep the original 4:3 aspect ratio in order to maintain the limited width of the image, feeling that it was instrumental to the game's sense of immersion and danger. The image was actually blown up to fill a widescreen, so that 25% of the vertical portions of the screen fall out of frame. The screen will scroll either up or down to reveal these portions depending on the main character's movements.
This is technically a HD remaster of Resident Evil (2002) that was released on the Nintendo GameCube (itself a remake of Resident Evil (1996)). Apart from a release on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in 2015, the HD remake was also released on the Switch in 2019.
As with the 2002 GameCube remake there's two weapons to be unlocked: Samurai Edge (beat the game on Normal or Hard under five hours), and the Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher (beat the game on Normal or Hard under three hours).