10 Scariest Retro Video Game Moments That Still Terrify Us Today

7. Dogs Breaking The Window - Resident Evil

It may be a mainstay of any 'scary game moments' list, but that shouldn't devalue the brilliance of one of the very first jump scares in the Resident Evil series. With Resident Evil's fixed angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, Capcom made ingenious use of the game's defining design features. The backgrounds were completely static and were visually distinct from interactive objects and characters in the game - which stuck out like, well, crude polygonal objects against smooth pre-rendered backgrounds. That means that you're completely unprepared for the few occasions when the background/object divide quite literally gets shattered by a dog jumping in through a window. The moment is made all the more effective by the camera angle, which positions the window in the foreground, ensuring that about half the screen is taken up by the harrowing event, sending your panic to critical levels as your view of your character is temporarily obscured. As you scream and try to run away using the awkward tank controls, another window shatters and another dog jumps in to block your path, causing you to distrust the seemingly inert Resident Evil backdrops for the next two games in the series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI_5gohqtnQ