With Resident Evil 6 almost upon us, we thought it was time we took a look back at the greatest moments in the series' long history. We'll be totally honest with you: Our list ended up being full of suggestions from the first game and Resident Evil 4. Strange, that. Still, we whittled away the chaff from the wheat and came up with a definitive list of unforgettable moments. And these are they. Spare underpants at the ready? Good. Then let's go...

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We have a rule when we’re making ‘best moments’ list at GamesRadar. You can’t just say ‘Resi 3: The whole thing’. But each moment the eponymous Nemesis smashes through the wall is another defining moment in the series. The first time is bad enough, but it just keeps happening. So we’ll go with the one where you really hoped it wasn’t about to happen, but then it did. Which is pretty much all of them.

Before it became a predictable and boring trope, the countdown timer at the end of the first Resi was a brilliantly tense moment. Waiting for a helicopter on the helipad, you’re left to run around trying to avoid the Tyrant, who is faster, stronger and more aggressively-named than you. The bastard. Good job the chopper drops a rocket launcher allowing you to literally blow it to pieces. And with hardly any time left on the clock! What luck.

Poor, poor Steve. As if his ‘family problem’ from earlier on wasn’t bad enough, he ends up turning into a huge green monster, attacking his newfound love with a ****off battleaxe, then saving her from certain death, before turning back into a man (now naked), telling her he loves her, then dying. Leaving her stuck in a room with a corpse. And all this in the space of about 5 minutes of game time? Like we said: Poor, poor Steve.

There’s a lot to be said for the Merchant’s introduction to Resident Evil 4. He first appears outside a window in a cut-scene. Until now, everyone you’ve met has either tried to stove your head in with a pitchfork (as messy as it sounds – you need something blunter for that, really) injected you with something awful, or insulted you for being American. So you wonder what on Earth he’s got under that coat as he opens it. Thank goodness it’s ‘guns’ and not ‘nothing’.

You’ve made it out of the streets and into the relative safety of the police station. Some first day on the job for Leon. It’s mercifully quiet and zombie free. That’s when the camera flicks to the next screen. And you see movement. Your eyes are drawn to it, but it’s already gone... there’s just a window. What was that? You find out a few moments later, but the sense of menace and threat that this simple trick conveys is palpable. If any one moment can announce ‘Resi’s back’, it’s this.

Every game should have a mine cart. It should be the law. This one is particularly noteworthy, and not just because it brings yet another new element to the already bountiful gameplay feast offered up by Resi 4. Defending your cart from Ganados who manage to jump down into it (or, comically, under it) as you trundle along is great fun. It’s Uncharted 2’s train section, only years earlier. And deserves just as many plaudits.

Not too far into the first Resi, you think you’ve got things sussed. Zombies don’t move that quickly and you have your gun equipped now which is always a bonus. Even the camera angles are getting friendlier. Look: This camera is allowing you to see all the way down this empty corridor. Feeling bolder, you run forwards – and that’s when you jump right out of your skin. Zombie dogs smash in through the window and start eating your face. Perhaps you should have bought Crash Bandicoot after all…

An angry mob is coming up the hill after you, complete with burning torches, is enough to put Straw Dogs-style fear into anyone. And they just keep coming! It’s a shame Resi 5 re-used the idea so shamelessly. In isolation like this, it really feels terrifying. Used too frequently, it’s an arcade actioner in the style of CoD Zombies. Which is admittedly great, but no-one gets scared of that. Cabin siege, though? Badassery in videogame form, and totally unforgettable.

Hmmm… that’s funny. That sounds like a one-stroke engine. Like a dirtbike or something. It’s coming closer. It could be a dirtbike. Although I don’t see one. In fact, all I see is one big guy with a sack over his face carrying a… oh, right, he’s got a massive chainsaw and wants to kill me. I’d better start shooting him. It’s doing nothing! He’s coming closer. More shots, still nothing. Reloading? Oh no! Too late. Oh my god, that’s a lot of blood! And that thing rolling on the floor has floppy hair like Leon’s head. Ah. That’s that then. Crikey.

The security camera-style viewpoint obscures your line of sight at the end of a corridor, forcing you to venture forward into the unknown. That’s where you discover a zombie munching on one of your colleagues, who is obviously dead. How do you know? Look, his head’s just fallen off. Then the zombie looks round, sees you, then gets up, presumably to shake your hand. It’s shaking already. You haven’t got your gun equipped, the door at the other end of the corridor is locked and the zombie just keeps coming. This is terror. And it’s freakin’ brilliant.

It's just the end of the article. We hope you enjoyed this feature and its Reminiscent Evil. But perhaps we missed out your own favourite moment? Tell us all about it in the comments.

There's loads more on GamesRadar to read about Resident Evil, from 11 important changes that make Resident Evil 6 play unlike any Resident Evil you've seen before through to our History of Resident Evil box art. And there's always the mystery of Jessica's Sexy Leg. Not sure we'll ever really know what that was all about...