Resident Evil is going pretty strong at the moment, but one aspect that's a bit frustrating as a fan is its canon. The Resident Evil remakes, past RE1, frankly wrecked the canon and contradicted many elements of games like RE0 or the Outbreak titles. When the consensus of the RE community is that the actual events use aspects from both the original and remake, one knows Capcom messed up here.

On the other hand, projects like the standout Resident Evil animated movies have done a great job expanding the story and filling in the gaps, but another one is the two Resident Evil rail shooters: The Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles. These two games have sadly been forgotten, but they're must-play titles in of understanding the full lore, and they're solid rail shooters in their own right.

Umbrella Chronicles Is A Must-Play Resident Evil Game

The Origins Of Wesker

On the surface, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles seems like a House of the Dead-style retelling of RE0, RE1, and RE3, but that's not the whole story. The actual meat of the game is the side stories told within the scenarios and the new Umbrella's End campaign, which is one of the most important parts of Resident Evil lore. This is Wesker's game, as he's the narrator and the primary focus, showing his origins and how he becomes this monstrous villain he ends up becoming in RE5.

Umbrella Chronicles is one of the best rail shooters on the Wii

It's a required Resident Evil game for that alone, but there are also cool bits, like showing how Ada Wong escaped the events of RE2. Umbrella Chronicles does receive some criticism for how it handles the classic game retellings, but keep in mind that those retellings aren't canon. The sidestories and Umbrella's End, however, are canon, and they are vital to the overall story of Resident Evil. It's a shame more haven't played this title because it would help when discussing Resident Evil's story with people who've only played the remakes.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is a great rail shooter on its own merits, with a ton of weapons to use and enemies coming around at every corner, like the sea of Crimson Heads in Beginnings 2. Like many great rail shooters, Umbrella Chronicles primarily focuses on headshots to score and rank high, rewarding accurate shooting, and it feels great. The soundtrack is also stellar, with many great tracks like Wesker's theme. Umbrella Chronicles is one of the best rail shooters on the Wii, and it was followed by a sequel two years later.

Darkside Chronicles Is A Solid Sequel

The Origins Of Kra Explained

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles remains a solid rail shooter, with an important part of RE's story, but it isn't as good as its predecessor. There are no sidestories this time, only three scenarios. A retelling of RE2, a retelling of Code: Veronica, and a new scenario showing the backstory of Leon and Kra's relationship. This new scenario highlights Kra's turn to the dark side, hence the title. The graphics are significantly improved, and the cutscenes look much better.

Capcom nailed the cutscenes here, no doubt about it, and while both titles remain forgotten, many the iconic scene with Claire Redfield and Steve in the computer room, with one clip of it gaining almost 8 million views on YouTube. Darkside Chronicles has the look but not the same touch as last time. For some reason, Capcom thought it was a good idea to have shaky cam in this game, replicating a movie like Cloverfield. For a rail shooter that requires precise aiming, this is distracting and quite annoying at times.

While the new Kra scenario is great, the last two levels are exactly the same as the previous two, but with more inner narration from the character. It's pretty lame despite the cool new ending. At least there's a Tofu secret level, which is nice. Darkside Chronicles offers another key piece of RE lore, but it's not as necessary to play as Umbrella Chronicles. However, they're both worth playing.

These Resident Evil Games Need A Remaster

Beginners Must Know These Vital Story Details

The newest Resident Evil titles are some of the Resident Evil 3 didn't live up to its potential, removing Barry Burton, and RE4 changed Wesker's role completely, being a present character instead of someone working in the background.

These two rail shooters, remastered for new consoles, would help beginners understand the full story because it's frankly more confusing now than ever. The origins of Wesker and Kra, Ada escaping, and Umbrella's actual fall put so many puzzle pieces together in the RE story. Only true fans know this information because not many people have played these games. To be fair, there might be some difficulty in remastering these titles for current consoles, but it can be done.

PS5 still s the PlayStation Move for true light gun shooting, and Nintendo Switch 2 has its gyro controls and mouse functionality. Rail shooters play great with a mouse, and these Resident Evil games remastered on Nintendo Switch 2 would be a blast because of it. Fans of the series should defintiely consider checking them out, and hopefully remasters of them will come out soon.

Source: Resident Evil/YouTube