Lost Resident Evil Game Boy Color Prototype 98% Restored

The Lost Resident Evil Game Boy Color Port Recovered in Near-Final State

In a monumental win for video game preservation, the long-lost Resident Evil port for the Game Boy Color (GBC) has surfaced in its most complete form to date. While earlier, buggy prototypes leaked back in 2011, this new version, shared by the digital archive Games That Weren’t on December 17, 2025, is estimated to be 98% complete.

The “Impossible” Port by HotGen Studios

Developed by the British studio HotGen Studios in 1999, the project was an ambitious attempt to cram the 32-bit PlayStation classic onto a tiny 8-bit handheld cartridge. The port utilized impressive technical tricks to recreate the original’s fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds using scaled 2D sprites.

• The Cancellation: Capcom pulled the plug in mid-2000. Assistant programmer Pete Frith recently revealed that the “original creator” of Resident Evil—believed to be either Shinji Mikami or Tokuro Fujiwara—personally ordered the cancellation because they felt the GBC hardware wasn’t worthy of the masterpiece.
• The Aftermath: Following the cancellation, Capcom pivoted to a different GBC project, the non-canon Resident Evil Gaiden, which used a top-down perspective instead of the original’s cinematic style.

What’s in the “Final Build”?

This newly recovered version is significantly more stable than previous leaks. For the first time, fans can experience content that was missing for decades.

Preservation Choice: The community has decided to leave the file as-is rather than “modding” it to completion, in order to preserve exactly how the game looked the moment HotGen was forced to stop development.

Completable Campaigns: Community members have confirmed that Jill Valentine’s story can be played from start to finish, including the final Tyrant battle and the ending credits.

Missing Elements: While nearly finished, it is not 100% polished. Zombie death animations are still missing (zombies often just kneel when “killed”), and some cutscenes remain unrefined or use placeholder assets.

Seeing a “lost” game like this return from the dead is like finding a digital fossil. HotGen Studios were essentially wizards for getting this to run on a Game Boy Color; the fact that you can actually see the mansion’s detail on an 8-bit screen is a testament to their engineering. Capcom’s decision to cancel it because it wasn’t “worthy” of the brand might have been a move to protect their IP’s prestige, but it also robbed players of one of the most technically impressive feats in handheld history. If you’ve ever wondered how the Spencer Mansion would look through a neon-green GBC lens, this is the ultimate retro time capsule.