While this game may be a port, it's still a lot of fun to play. With some extra things included.
This game places you in a mansion, where you have to explore, fight zombies, solve puzzles, and find the occasional key. The puzzles are pretty simple, and use common sense to solve. Everything in the game is limited, including the total number of saves (almost 40 as Jill, and around 20 as Chris), ammo, and the amount of herbs. This really pushes you to try and use as little of everything as possible, and really makes you act in a way you never could in a game. It gives the game suspense, because sometimes you don't have all the ammo in the world, and need to dodge zombies in a room until you have the ammo to fight them. The game is relatively short, with around a 5 hour span the first time you play, and 2-3(mostly) for every other time you play. If you never played the original, you can get a lot of play time out of this little cartridge. Every time you play the game it's still fun.
Now, the differences between this version and the original isn't very different. It makes it different by adding a couple of new minigames and puzzles. These incorporate the DS's unique functions, which are pretty cool. Normally most game ports stray away from this, making this different from a raw port. If you want to play the game just to play the remade version, you'll have a better time with the Gamecube version. In the "Rebirth Mode," it uses the microphone and stylus to do things like connect wires, use a scale, blow out candles, and more. There are a good couple of these in the game, but there's a whole new part of the game. It involves using the knife and swiping at enemies using the Stylus. This is actually some fun, but can do unnecesary damage to you if you don't know exactly how to do it at first. This can kind of be annoying, but is still fun. The full 360 turn and holding knife with the L button make a return, as well as the auto aim feature in the Director's Edition. The final, and biggest difference, is that there are more enemies everywhere in the game. It tries to be more like RE4 because you'll have to kill more with more ammo. It manages to be a lot more forgiving if you waste a couple of shots.
There are two things that you can select other then the single player. The first is a multiplayer option in this game, which can be pretty fun. However, because you need multiple cartridges it's hard to get a game set up. It's fun though, and worth a try if you have a buddy to play with. These versions include a Co-op mode and a Versus mode. However, if you don't get a chance to play the multiplayer it's not that much of a loss. The second is the Master of Knifing minigame after beating the rebirth mode. This can be fun, especially since it's so short. It's the most challenge you'll get out of the knifing minigame.
The graphics in this game are practically the same. The character models, including enemies, have all been improved with better animations. The models look better and brighter then in the original version. However, the pre-rendered backrounds are all the same. They look a little grainy after being ported to the DS, but they still look fine. Finally, all the full motion video from the original version is still perfectly fine and intact. There are a couple of FMV (Full Motion Video) sequences from the original too. The graphics for the DS version are a little better, and there are absolutely no load times in the game. This game features some of the best graphics i've seen on this console to date.
The audio in this game is also completely intact. It's almost been completely untouched except for a couple of short new lines said in the knifing minigame and some short phrases after being selected in the multiplayer. The stereo system in the DS can tell you which direction a monster is in, and is still useful for telling if a monster is in a room or not. So, for those that are worried, Jill Sandwich is still in the game as well as the bad voice acting and others.
The value for this game can varry. It's only a 30 dollar game, which is good for people that've never played it before. However, if you've played EVERY Resident Evil game and are hungry for more Resident Evil you might want to wait for a price drop. If you've never played it, you can get the length of a console game and a little more from this game.
I personally had a lot of fun with this game. It's a faithful port, and reminds you it's still fun to play. If you haven't played the Playstation version since the 90's, you can find a lot of fun in this game since you probably forgot how to do everything. The game still manages to scare you through shock with several new monsters appearing in different rooms. This game is a good pickup for anyone who wants to play the first game again and see what invented survival horror.