Akuma has been made playable in RE2, bringing a classic gaming hoax to life

It’s been a long time coming, but you can finally play as Akuma in the original Resident Evil 2 in a “secret” mini-campaign called Akuma Mode.

It’s normal for readers to wonder why I’m making a fuss about such a thing, so allow me to shine the light of context upon this very important piece of news.

Way back when, a 1998 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly featured an April’s Fools joke claiming you could unlock Akuma as a secret playable character in RE2. The magazine said you could unlock Akuma simply by typing in the word AKUMA, instead of GUEST, on the laboratory computer. Oh, and beat both scenarios six times with an A ranking, using only the knife and handgun.

Even though today’s speedrunners complete more difficult tasks every day, EGM likely went with a challenge so daunting no ’90s gamer would ever consider wasting time with it. Still, this obvious hoax got a lot of traction back in the day, probably because the article shows a bunch of really cool screenshots featuring a 3D Akuma model that perfectly fits into the world of RE2.

The hoax becomes reality

As with characters like Ermac from Mortal Kombat before him, beginning life as a hoax didn’t imply RE2 Akuma would die a hoax.

Twitch streamer and overall Capcom fan Maximilian recently claimed he got in touch with some modders who dove deep into the code of RE2 and finally managed to find Akuma without the whole A-ranked playthroughs ordeal.

This is a joke, another hoax if you will. Max just commissioned modder Snipzu and their team to put Akuma into RE2 and finally realize this long-lost dream of many Capcom fans. The result is Akuma Mode, a neat mini-campaign where you escape Racoon City using only Akuma’s fists, fireballs, uppercuts, and spinning kicks (to push objects, somehow). Akuma’s naturally way stronger than Leon — from the pre-Resident Evil 4 times, at least — so expect to enter a room and be greeted by four Mr. Xs where you expected zombies to be.

You can get Akuma Mode here, and get it to work if you have Resident Evil 2 installed with the latest version of Classic Rebirth. Akuma will also join the roster of Street Fighter 6 on May 22 — yes, for real.