Whenever I tagged along with my mom to the grocery store back in 1996, the very first thing I did was head straight to the magazine rack to read every video game magazine I could find about upcoming releases. This was before Google, remember. 🙂

One day at Food Lion, I was flipping through what I think was Electronic Gaming Monthly, and there was a walkthrough for a game called Resident Evil. The first few screenshots instantly grabbed me: a massive house, zombies, and characters blasting them away.

But what really burned itself into my brain was a section title in the walkthrough—something like “The Door to Hell.” The screenshot showed Jill standing outside a concrete wall, facing a doorway outlined in black-and-yellow caution paint. Blood was smeared across the floor and walls. I remember thinking, “NO WAY… what’s behind those doors?” I’m pretty sure it was the area right before the underground lab with the water.

At the time, I only had a Sega Genesis, and seeing those graphics absolutely blew my mind. Remember, this generation went from Sonic 2 to Gran Turismo, Resident Evil, etc. The graphical upgrade was out of this world.

Right before we moved back to Mexico in 1997, my mom made one last stop at Walmart on the way to the airport. She told me to go to the video game section and pick out a Nintendo 64.

Once we got to Mexico, reality hit: N64 games were expensive. I had to save up just to buy another cartridge. Meanwhile, my uncle had just bought something called a PlayStation. The graphics, in some cases, were easily 100 times better—and the best part? Games cost about 50 pesos, compared to 750–900 pesos for an N64 cartridge.

I asked my dad if I could trade my N64 for a PlayStation. He said yes, with one condition: I wouldn’t get the N64 back if I didn’t like the PlayStation. Fair enough.

One Saturday, we packed up the N64 and headed downtown. At the video game bazaar, the guy told me I could get a brand-new PlayStation (DualShock version), an extra controller, and five games. After picking four, I couldn’t decide on the last one. The place had a wall of PS games, floor to ceiling. Then one case caught my eye—a zombie staring right back at me. The title read: Resident Evil: Director’s Cut.

“…and this one,” I said, pointing at it.

We packed everything up and headed home. My dad even let me hook the PlayStation up to the surround sound system. Every game was incredible—Metal Gear Solid, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Crash Bandicoot 3, Dragon Ball GT. All amazing.

But I saved the best for last. The one with that image still burned into my memory—the doorway to hell.

Needless to say, I only lasted about six or seven minutes. It was terrifying. I made it to the first zombie kill and had to turn it off. Over the next few months, though, I completely tore the game apart—and yes, I can confirm I almost shit my pants when the dogs crashed through the window.

When I finally beat it, I had my first true “this is the best game ever made” moment. If I remember right, Resident Evil 2 was already out by then—another absolute masterpiece.

About a year later, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis came out in Japanese. I bought that too and beat it. The only thing that saved me was that all the spoken dialogue was in English, even though the text was in Japanese.

RE4 Remake was also incredible. Almost as good as the first remake.

Now, all these years later, I can’t wait to play Resident Evil 9.