In the Resident Evil 1 remake how come you can't pucnch or kick crimsons heads or zombies?

It would have been more realistic.

I think it makes more sense for them to be kind of unprepared to fight the enemies, versus RE5, where you are more capable of fighting off BOWs like being able to use melee attacks, where at first you would be a bit less capable.

It would have been nice nonetheless.

IT would be nice, but hey, its RE 1. They didnt know technology like RE 4 or 5 used.

I always assumed it was because the people in RE 1 didn't fully understand the virus and enemies, and so didn't want to put themselves at risk for infection. You wouldn't punch a dripping, mutated zombie in the face if you thought it could infect you, would you?

The more evasive control you give to a character the less scary and frightening a game becomes. Because you know you can always get away. In the original games even though the zombies were slow, and yes you could walk around them, what made them scary was that you did not have enought ammo to kill them all. And little by little they would surround you, if they got anywhere close to you they'd grab you and it would all be over. Now, you can let the Ganados and Majini get right up in your face and blow them ALL away with a shotgun and be safe.

In the old games there was very little room for error. You had to plan ahead.

EDIT: Actually the RE4 Ganados added quiet a bit of fear, because Leon couldn't punch them...

But in RE5 you could let a WHOLE group of Majini surround you, shoot only 1 in the face and punch him and EVERYONE will fly back.

Although, the thing about melees stunning or sending multiple enemies flying is very true.

You'd use Chris' straight on one enemy and all of the ones around him would go flying, too.

If you want an action game where you're able to punch a behemoth then play Resident Evil 5. If you want suspense and tension in the form of survival horror, by all means you owe it to yourself to own the original Resident Evil trilogy. My work here is done. I will never long for the ability to backhand a zombie. A handgun, barely any ammo and the option to run a mile will do me just fine.