Mistakes

When Leon or Claire encounters the first Licker in the hallway, the body of the decapitated cop disappears from the background also the door on the left is also missing.

Sherry is discovered in a room behind the chief's office, but before she got there, a helicopter crashes in a hallway blocking the only doorway to that wing of the police station. So Sherry shouldn't of been able to get to that one room with the helicopter wreckage blocking the only way there.

In FMV sequences Leon has a leg holster and leg belt around his right leg but in real-time cut-scenes and game play the leg holster is gone and the leg belt is around his left leg.

In FMV sequences Claire's belt around her shorts in brown but in real-time cut-scenes and game play its gray.

There's a part where your playing character hears a window crashing and zombies pour in after entering the library. But from the distance between the library and either of the two hallways where the zombies crash the window, you wouldn't be able to hear a window crash at all.

When Chief Irons confronts Claire before he dies, A large, diagonal polygonal seam (where he ends up being split apart by the parasite) is visible on his back when the camera moves behind him.

Trivia (IMDb and GameFAQ)

The female protagonist was originally a blonde-haired motorcycle racing college student named Elza Walker. However, when Resident Evil 1.5 was scrapped, Elza was renamed Claire Redfield to maintain continuity between the first two games.

Ada is the only main character to not be featured in the game's CGI Cut-Scenes. The reason: they had no time to finish her movie model.

The original version of Resident Evil 2, dubbed Resident Evil 1.5, was scrapped at a development stage of 60-80%. Producer Shinji Mikami would later explain this was due to the game "not reaching it's desired quality in time for launch, poor gameplay and dull locations." The decision prompted Capcom to release Resident Evil: Director's Cut with a demo of the new version of RE2, as an apology to the gamers for the longer wait. Since then, gameplay videos from Resident Evil 1.5 can easily be viewed on the internet, and in 2013 the unfinished build of Resident Evil 1.5 was leaked, with modders close to making it fully playable.

The GameCube version omits an extra 'page' from the Secretary's Diary B file. After the entry where the secretary writes that their life may be in danger, there is supposed to be a blank 'page' as if to indicate that something happened before they could finish writing. This blank page is omitted from the GameCube version of the game.

In Resident Evil 1.5, Leon Kennedy and Elza Walker never crossed paths with each other, and both characters had two additional characters helping them instead of just one. Leon was supported by fellow police officer Marvin Branagh and a researcher named Ada. Elza was supported by Sherry Birkin and a man named John, whose design was used for gun shop owner Robert Kendo in the final Resident Evil 2.

The Secretary's Diary B file features an extra entry that was not present in other versions of the game. This entry takes place on June 10th and talks about how the Chief has locked himself in his office and rumors are beginning to spread.

Horror film director George A. Romero directed a commercial for the Japanese release of Resident Evil 2 (known as Biohazard 2) which starred Brad Renfro as Leon and Adrienne Frantz as Claire. The commercial could not be shown outside of Japan, however, due to legal issues involving Renfro.

The first of the EX Files added within this version of the game can be found in Kendo's Shop, behind the counter with the register, only in Scenario A and after having talked to Kendo; it's a letter from Barry where he tells Kendo that he relocated with his family in Stone Ville, that Kendo should reach them there and the two could go fishing again; this is the first reference to a close friendship between the two characters

During the original development of Resident Evil 2 (in the version known as Resident Evil 1.5) Leon and Elza would use the groans and yells of Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine from the first game respectively whenever they took damage. This is why Chris Redfield was included as a playable character in the Extreme Battle mode.

The more-violent Game Over screen is not present in the Japanese version of the game. The US version's difficulty was also increased in order to prevent game rentals from affecting sales in the US.

In the cutscene where Leon first meets Marvin, the latter is leaning against a locker with "JoJo" written on it; this is a reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the famous and long-running manga series that spawned an entire multimedia franchise.

Producer Shinji Mikami planned to end the franchise with Resident Evil 2 when supervisor Yoshiki Okamoto interfered, saying the story was too conclusive for future Resident Evil games. This event led to a series of decisions which caused Resident Evil 1.5 to be scrapped and reworked from the ground up, causing the long delay in the game's release.

During the beginning of either character's "A" scenario, a yellow car with a black hood can be seen in the area where the player boards the wrecked bus. This is the same car driven by the title character in the series Mr. Bean.

The route number on the wrecked bus near the beginning of the A scenario is 33, the same number as the bus in the movie Speed. The two even have similar route names, with the bus in the game having the route name of 'Midtown' while the bus in Speed had the route name of 'Downtown.'

Only in the N64 version of the game, in the B Scenario, there's an extra file on Rebecca's desk that references Resident Evil 0, a game that was originally being developed for said console and of which Rebecca is a protagonist; however, it was so early in development that the last name of the character of Billy Coen, the other protagonist of the game, was spelled differently compared to the finalized spelling.

'Redrum' is painted on a wall in blood in the police station, a reference to the 80's horror film The Shining.

You can unlock hidden characters Hunk and Tofu only after you have got an A score in the game and beaten the normal game 4 times to recieve Hunk and another four more times to receive Tofu.

Right at the start of the game (Either Leon A or Claire A) there's a sign showing the name "ARUKAS" that spelled backward is "SAKURA". That's probably a reference to Sakura Kasugano, a female character of the Street Fighter franchise, also made by Capcom.

You can unlock special costumes if you do the following. Start the game in Normal Mode with any characters, don't pick up any items until you reach the Police Station courtyard. Go to the underground passage way to fight the zombie Brad Vickers, then you get the Locker Key from his corpse. Brad Vickers will only appear if you do not pick up anything before you reach here. Use the key to unlock the cabinet in Dark Room. You get new costumes and weapons for Leon and Claire.  Here's a trick to make getting there easier: activate the infinite ammo in the control screen by holding R1 and pressing square 10 times until the gun aiming type (auto or manual) turns red.  Now you can go the route through the city being able to kill zombies without struggling to get to the RPD courtyard.

The first Resident Evil to give a final grade after the game's completion. Resident Evil 1 never gave a grade after you beat it. In Resident Evil 2, the ranking order in the Japanese version is S, A, B, C, and D, where the highest being an S. In the western version, the ranking order is A, B, C, D, and E, with A being the equivalent to the Japanese S ranking

While the novelization of the game follows the events of Leon A/Claire B, the actual canon of the game series follows the events of Claire A/Leon B. This is evidenced by Leon's encounters with Mr. X in the later canonical game Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (2009), which come from the Leon B scenario specifically.

Leon's story continues in Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 6 and the CGI movies Resident Evil Degeneration, Resident Evil Damnation, Resident Evil Vendetta and Resident Evil Death Island and Resident Evil Infinite Darkness. Claire's story continues in Resident Evil Code Veronica, Resident Evil Degeneration & Resident Evil Revelations 2 and the 4-episode mini series Resident Evil Infinite Darkness..

As Claire Redfield drives the motorcycle on the highway, the sign saying "Welcome to Raccoon City" has the words "Raccoon City" typed in a GameFan font, the title font used by the cancelled magazine company GameFan.

The GameCube port of this game came about when Nintendo signed a deal with Capcom to have exclusive rights for Resident Evil 4 (2005). However, this game turned out so popular that Capcom re-negotiated the deal, so that they could release it on the PlayStation 2 and PC as well. As part of the new deal, they created ports of this game and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) exclusively for the GameCube.

According to the Resident Evil novel series book 3 (which depicts the events of Resident Evil 2/Biohazard 2), the story progression is Leon: Game A and Claire: Game B. This is determined by Claire's constant encounters with Mr. X in the book in which Leon never faces him.

Saw many releases including a PC version, PS1 version, Dreamcast version, GameCube version, N64 version, & Game.com, PS3, PS4, PS5 versions.

The game came out during a particularly important period for 3D gaming, as 1998 saw other notable releases like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), Metal Gear Solid (1998), Banjo-Kazooie (1998) and Half-Life (1998) change the gaming industry economically and aesthetically.

Claire Redfield's jacket has the words 'Made in Heaven' written on the back. This text is a direct reference to Queen and its album 'Made in Heaven'.  It's also the same slogan on the back of her older brother, Chris's alternate costume jacket from Resident Evil Director's Cut.

First Resident Evil game released on a Nintendo console. A Game Boy Color version was made for the original Resident Evil (1996), but it was never officially released.

After the tanker crashes into the police car during the opening cinematic, a "No Trucks" sign can be seen among the burning truck wreckage.

The Tyrant monster that stalks the player in the B scenario games is officially called the T-00, but it is more informally known by the non-canon nickname 'Mr. X', even though neither name is ever used within the game. The name 'Mr. X.' first appeared in GameFan's guide to Resident Evil 2, and was likely based on a piece of Japanese concept art for the creature titled 'Tyrant X'. Over the years, it has also been named "Trenchy" or "Coated bastard".

During the end boss battle, Ada Wong suddenly appears and throws a rocket launcher weapon that can be used to kill the boss. The same thing happens at the end of Resident Evil 4.