12. Resident Evil 6 (Switch eShop)

Considered by many to be the point where the mainline series stepped too far away from its survival horror origins, Resident Evil 6's four campaign threads weave together the stories of Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong, Chris Redfield, and Jake Muller. Variable quality between the four player characters' scenarios didn't help, and the game arguably suffered from stretching the RE4 template to breaking point after every other third-person shooter had already picked its corpse clean.

RE6 has its defenders — and there's certainly plenty of it to reappraise — but this is generally considered to be the mainline series' weakest point.

11. Resident Evil 5 (Switch eShop)

Although the game can be a drag if you're playing on your own thanks to some ropey partner AI, we recall enjoying our co-op playthough of Resident Evil 5 immensely back in the day and it's now on Switch to enjoy, too. Having a pal along for the ride neuters the survival horror somewhat, but also sidesteps the alternative horror of a bumbling, incompetent AI partner.

RE5 turns the action up to 11 and while it's not as fresh as its predecessor, it's still a blast as long as you have an actual human friend to lock-and-load alongside you.

10. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii)

A pleasant serving of light-gun shooting action with a big old side dish of reheated stories and narrative gap-fill, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles mixes retelling various events from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica with new scenarios set several years after. For a Wii title, it's got some fine visuals and there's plenty of meat for fans to chew on with series favourites Leon S. Kennedy (the 'S' stands for 'Sensational hair') and Claire Redfield.

9. Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (DS)

While the DS doesn't offer the cinematic scope of the TV-bound PlayStation original, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is a hugely admirable port of the game that kicked off the entire series, serving up an essential part of gaming history in handy portable form for Nintendo gamers. Beyond throwing in some knife-flicking touchscreen gimmicks and the boon of having your map visible at all times on the top screen (plus the 180-degree quick turn from the later games and optional new puzzles in Rebirth Mode), this is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the original game in its 1996 pre-REmake guise, with all that makes that game special and clunky in equal measure.

If you only play one version of the first game in the series, REmake is the way to go. Still, series devotees and horror aficionados will want to check out this brighter version of the Spencer Mansion, too.

8. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (Switch eShop)

An episodic entry featuring Claire Redfield and the return of Barry 'Jill Sandwich' Burton from the original RE, we also got to meet his daughter Moira in Resident Evil Revelations 2. Co-operative gameplay was served with a twist; of the four playable characters, only two use firearms. This forces you to approach scenarios differently and gives parts of the game a stealthy flavour.

Although it might lack the prestige of the mainline entries, this is a fine, full-fat addition to the lineup, and as fans of Barry from the original game, it was great to see him return in his new paternal role here.

7. Resident Evil Code: Veronica X (GCN)

Originally developed for Sega's Dreamcast, Resident Evil Code: Veronica X followed Claire Redfield once more and was the first in the series to feature fully-3D backgrounds as opposed to the pre-rendered versions in previous games. This was the first of the 'spin-offs', although it began life as a Resident Evil 2 port before becoming a wholly original game. The 'X' version featured some extra cinematics when the game jumped ship from Dreamcast onto GameCube and PS2.

Despite not being a numbered entry, this is essentially more of a 'sequel' to RE2 than Resident Evil 3 (which itself began life as a side-story spin-off) and maintains the horror flavour of the first games before RE4 injected the series with a potent dose of third-person shooter action.

6. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)

As with all the very best Hollywood franchises, the makers of the Resident Evil series won't be satisfied until they've filled in every conceivable gap in between the mainline games with a prequel, sequel or — forgive us — 'interquel'. No, Chris, Jill, Leon, and the gang can't pause to pee without finding themselves in a spin-off, or a remake that adds some new bits.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is that some of the spin-offs have been quite good. There are plenty that haven't made it to Nintendo consoles, but the Wii did receive arguably two of the best in the form of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and its sequel. An on-rails shooter with plenty of interstitial fan service that references the mainline entries and focuses on the quite literally shady exploits of Albert Wesker, it's a fun, arcade-y experience that arguably acts as a fine 'Previously on Resident Evil' refresher for anyone who wants to jump in at a later point in the series.