On the 3rd of February, twenty years ago, Resident Evil - Code: Veronica was released in Japan for the Dreamcast.
The game is set three months after the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3 and follows Claire and Chris Redfield attempting to survive yet another viral outbreak, this time in a remote prison island in the Southern Ocean and a research facility in Antarctica.
Traditional Resident Evil controls and gameplay carried over in this game but 3D environments and camera movement were implemented for the first time, compared to previously-used pre-rendered backgrounds.
Code: Veronica is actually a byproduct of a failed attempt to port Resident Evil 2 on SEGA's Saturn. Code: Veronica was actually supposed to be the true sequel to Resident Evil 2, developers still consider it as such, while what eventually became Resident Evil 3 was supposed to be a PlayStation spinoff.
Claire has undergone considerable character development, as this time she appears and acts more tough, due to her past experiences during Resident Evil 2.
Unlike previous games in the series, Code: Veronica dropped the traditional American horror themes and instead adopted a more European gothic design which is evident both in environmental design and the way the game's story is written.
Although the game did not sell as good as it's predecessors, this is not due to the game's fault but rather due to Dreamcast not being very successful as a console in general. The game still fared much better compared to other Dreamcast-exclusive titles and was still critically praised as both one of the best Resident Evil games and one of the best Dreamcast games.
