Welcome to Retro Runback! A Look back at games from believe it or not… 25 years ago.
2001 was a lot of things for the world. It was a formidable year worldwide for many reasons. And while video games are nowhere near the most important events or developments, they still remain a big one for the industry. Over two decades ago, we were blessed with what has become known as one of the greatest years in gaming. The world was introduced to and played incredible PC games, and while we got our hands on the GameCube and Game Boy Advance for the first time, it was another year of the PS2, the now-beloved Dreamcast, and the first-ever Xbox.
It didn’t matter what console you had at home, what handheld you took with you on road trips or to a family gathering you would’ve rather ignored, there was a lot to be played and enjoyed!
Kicking Off With a Capcom Classic
This new series is a book club of sorts. A look back at video games 25 years ago. Pick a game from the launch lineup of the Xbox, the second year of the PlayStation 2, the first for the GBA, or the dozens on PC. Here, I will attempt to break down some of the heavy hitters, as well as some smaller titles, that shaped the industry at the time. I’ll be replaying each and every one of them from start to finish with my own recorded gameplay and playthroughs whenever possible and playing most of them on original hardware.
My goal here isn’t necessarily to uncover never-before-seen or heard-of Easter eggs or play something no one has heard of before. In reality, most of the games on my list you’ve probably experienced in one way or another. But maybe like me, it’s been a while. Maybe even 25 years.
I think it’s important to look back at what’s come before. So even though some of the titles on the list people may have gone back to many times, I want to showcase how something like Halo or GTA 3, or our first game in the series, came to be, how it looks and feels today, and discuss it with you.
With all this being said, I’m going to kick off with a game that launched a massive franchise on the PlayStation 2 that came from one of the most renowned and recognized developers and publishers in gaming: Capcom.
Let’s explore 2001’s Devil May Cry.
Dante’s Debut in Devil May Cry
The main character is named after Dante Alighieri, a famous Italian poet in the 13th century who wrote the Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia), a poem about a journey through hell. The game makes several references to a character named Virgil, Dante’s lost brother.
Released in August in Japan and hitting North American and European shelves in the fall of the same year, Devil May Cry was initially conceived as a new direction or set of ideas for what Resident Evil 4 could be. Internally, this didn’t seem to work, so the team was split up.
The series co-creator and executive producer, Shinji Mikami, decided to start a new franchise when the game began to take a completely different direction from its original intent. A glitch in the game script made the enemies fly up when the player would shoot them. Sound familiar?
Part of the Capcom development team that stuck around, plus a few others, created what became one of the most influential 3D action games of all time. Full disclosure: my most recent playthrough of the game was not on the PS2; it was on Steam as part of the Devil May Cry HD Collection, which also includes Devil May Cry 2 and Devil May Cry 3. This was released on Steam and other platforms about 10 years ago.
With that being said… it still largely plays and looks the way I remember it.
Just how the combination of Metroid and Castlevania spawned one of the most popular genres in gaming with Metroidvanias, or Pong showed us how multiplayer action can be incredible even in gaming’s early days — Devil May Cry arguably created a whole new genre.
Devil May Cry is an awesome game, and it still holds up nearly 30 years later. The HD Collection does not drastically change the core elements of the game, though it does, as expected, look and run better on modern hardware. If you’re interested in seeing where a whole genre was birthed and how things have progressed over the years, Devil May Cry from 2001 is an excellent option.
It has great vibes, fun-as-hell combat, a corny, over-the-top story and cast of characters, and it’s just plain fun. I’m happy to report the debut title on Retro Runback is, in fact, A CLASSIC. Check out the full video above for more on the game, its development path, and some of the best parts of the game’s epic fights and weapons.
So what’s next? Despite the less-than-stellar news and feelings around Xbox lately, I thought it was time to revisit one of the company’s biggest and best games: the iconic Halo: Combat Evolved. Unbeknownst to me, when I was planning out this series, Halo: Campaign Evolved is also just around the corner.
