010: It was banned in Germany
The game fell foul of Germany's index of 'Media Harmful To Young Persons' and was banned there in the name of child protection. The European country has a history of strict laws governing the distribution of media depicting violence, and this ban was in effect for many years until being overturned in 2021 at the request of... somebody.
Its removal from the list sparked a fresh round of rumours that a re-release was on the way, of course. In a world where The Last of Us has been remade and re-released twice in nine years, it's incredible that such a celebrated and influential game as GoldenEye is still only officially available for the console on which it launched 25 years ago.
Tangled rights issues or not, that is a rare thing indeed.
011: Not all 'GoldenEyes' are created equal
While the original Rare-developed game is still an N64 exclusive, that doesn't mean that companies haven't tried to cash in on the name. In fact, there are four other separate GoldenEye games that pinched the name:
- GoldenEye 007 (Wii)
- GoldenEye 007 (DS)
- GoldenEye Rogue Agent (GameCube)
- GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (DS).
These spin-offs range from the Eurocom 'remake' or 'reimagining', which switched out Brosnan for the then-current Bond, Daniel Craig, to the blatant cash-grab that is Rogue Agent, which saw EA creating an original story about an assassin nicknamed GoldenEye because — and you'll never guess this — he has a golden bionic eye.
Despite a few nice ideas involving legacy Bond characters, Rogue Agent felt a bit seedy. The Wii one (which launched on other platforms too as GoldenEye: Reloaded) wasn't a bad game at all, though. It shares almost nothing with the N64 game beyond plot points and characters, but it still delivered a decent slice of Bondian action, and at the time of writing it sits at number five on our reader-ranked list of the best James Bond games.
012: Dual analogue GoldenEye is the pro's way to play
Going back to the single-stick GoldenEye experience after years of twin-stick FPS action can be difficult, but dual analogue controls were available from the very beginning — even if it seems the majority of players (according to our poll, at least) either didn't know or forgot about it.
Each control style available through the options menu is named after a 'Bond girl', with the default single pad layout called 'Honey' (after Honey Ryder, Ursula Andress' character from Dr. No), and the first dual pad option named 'Plenty' (after Lana Wood's Plenty O'Toole from Diamonds Are Forever).
So, if you struggle with the game's original controls, grab a second N64 pad and see how you get on with full analogue control. Alternatively, if you're after a real double-O challenge, why not crack out a steering wheel and turn Bond himself into an Aston, like our Managing Director, Ant, did below?
013: Realism was one of the main goals for the devs
Compared to other first-person shooters of the day, GoldenEye offered an unprecedented level of realism in its approach to environment design, animation, AI, weapons, and detail in the game world.
In a long 'Making Of' piece he wrote about its development, Martin Hollis detailed how the inexperienced team's unconventional approach to game design helped create a sense of realism in the game's environments:
"The level creators, or architects were working without much level design, by which I mean often they had no player start points or exits in mind. Certainly they didn’t think about enemy positions or object positions. Their job was simply to produce an interesting space. After the levels were made, Dave or sometimes Duncan would be faced with filling them with objectives, enemies, and stuff. The benefit of this sloppy unplanned approach was that many of the levels in the game have a realistic and non-linear feel. There are rooms with no direct relevance to the level. There are multiple routes across the level. This is an anti-game design approach, frankly. It is inefficient because much of the level is unnecessary to the gameplay. But it contributes to a greater sense of freedom, and also realism. And in turn this sense of freedom and realism contributed enormously to the success of the game."
Realism wasn't the be-all-and-end-all, though. Hollis goes on to describe an example of realism taking a backseat to satisfying gameplay:
"Enemies in GoldenEye can’t see through many windows in the game. The player can see through, and shoot through, but the enemies just won’t see through. The window is opaque to them. This might seem like a bug. It is certainly unrealistic. It is an example of unrealistic gameplay. And, as it happens, it is pretty good gameplay. It means you can spy on people more easily. Which makes sense for a Bond game. And that is fun. Realism isn’t relevant to good gameplay. Only verisimilitude matters."
014: It's Rick Astley's favourite video game
Speaking to Metro in 2021, pop (and meme) legend Rick Astley confirmed that while it was Doom that got him into video games in the first place, it's GoldenEye that tops his all-time favourite games list:
My ultimate would have to be GoldenEye 007, the James Bond game for the N64. That game was just phenomenal. It’s probably primitive by today’s standards but when you used the telescopic sight with the sniper rifle — wow!
Thinking about it, Rick's signature hit wouldn't make a bad Bond title. Imagine it: Ian Fleming's Never Gonna Give You Up. It works, right!? Almost. Get 'die' in there somewhere and we're golden.
Strange as it may seem, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was also big fan, having been introduced to the game by her grandchildren. You can check out the GoldenEye mention on her official royal profile here.
015: Dr. Doak had to be snuck in
When developer David Doak added a double agent character into the Facility level — a scientist for Bond to meet and an important objective for the player — he gave the angular NPC his own name and likeness as a placeholder.
According to an interview with Boss Fight Books author Alyse Knorr, Rare boss Tim Stamper instructed that the character should be renamed, which rubbed lead designer Martin Hollis the wrong way. Consequently, Hollis waited until just before a build was sent off for localisation (thus becoming much more difficult to amend in the pre-patch era) and popped 'Doak' back in.
"I think they said we should call him Dr. Dust or something like that," said Duncan Botwood, "but we stuck to our guns because Dave was an actual doctor."
Time to leave, Dr. Dust... Nope, that's terrible.
016: Unsurprisingly, Nintendo wanted a sequel, but Rare said no
Once the game came out and proved to be a modest success at launch which snowballed to become an evergreen system seller for several years (it ended up selling over 8 million copies, putting it behind only Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 in the worldwide N64 software sales chart).
Unsurprisingly, Nintendo asked the team at Rare if they fancied another go at the Bond IP. Weighing up the pros and cons, the team decided against it and went on to develop Perfect Dark instead.
While the added stress of the Bond licence may have been a factor, from Rare's business perspective it was more attractive to own the IP. "Even though it’s a great licence, all the money goes to Eon [Productions] who own everything Bond," Grant Kirkhope told Game Grumps, shedding some light on the financial factors of the polite decline. Perfect Dark may 'only' have sold just north of 2.5 million copies, but Rare owned the IP and self-published the game, meaning it took home a vastly improved percentage of the profits.
017: There's a ZX Spectrum emulator and 10 games buried in the code
Originally planned as an Easter Egg in the vein of the Donkey Kong arcade cabinet in Donkey Kong 64, every GoldenEye 007 cart contains a fully functioning ZX Spectrum emulator with ten Rare-developed games (well, Ultimate Play The Game-developed games), including Jetpac, Sabre Wulf, and Knight Lore.
In an interview with Retro Gamer, programmer Steve Ellis confirmed that he was responsible for adding the Speccy emulator. Unfortunately, the idea was ultimately abandoned due to time constraints.
As detailed in this archived Rare Witch Project post, it's not possible to access the emulator in-game without modifying the ROM with a patch, but the data is all there and playable once accessed.
018: Bond was going to use a motorbike on 'Runway', and it's still in the game
As noted by Alyse Knorr in her GoldenEye 007 book, the devs originally wanted Bond to ride a motorcycle. Specifically, they wanted him to ride it off the edge of the runway (in the level called ‘Runway’, of course — the team didn't overcomplicate matters when it came to naming missions) as he races to escape in the plummeting plane, just as he does in the movie.
While this was unfeasible for the team at the time, the motorcycle model is still in the game, sitting in miniature form on a desk in one of the huts in the first Surface level.
Other scrapped vehicles include a boat for the Dam level (which would have been used to get to the infamous distant island), General Ourumov's getaway car (which you would have chased through St. Petersberg), and Bond's BMW Z3 Roadster.
Comments 51
The game was released late cause it was originally not suppose to be a movie tie-in game. It was suppose to be just a James Bond game that took advantage of the N64 but because Nintendo bought the license at the time GoldenEye 007 was out, MGM only gave them that license to based on so a game using the GoldenEye title make sense.
Nintendo had to deal with what they got at the time. Tomorrow Never Die or the World is Not Enough would had been what they got if they missed out on GoldenEye 007 anyways. In reality this game could had been based on any one of the three Bond film at the time, they are lucky to had gotten GoldenEye or GoldenEye was lucky to had been picked by Nintendo.
I really wish Rare could develop for Nintendo again. I'm not sure how many here have played it - but Sea of Thieves is as objectively good as anything they have ever done. They are MSs best acquisition imho.
PSA: Do not replay Goldeneye 007 unless you want your childhood memories destroyed. Controls have aged like milk in the sun.
"we named it after you because it's loud an inaccurate", made me laugh.
Another fun fact: you CAN NOT. EVER. UNSEE it. You know if you know, I won't show.
#13, about the realism in the levels and empty rooms. This was especially important back in the day. Games generally weren't open ended like this so being able to explore even more than intended was HUGE and insanely fun back then.
I remember the secret island at the dam being such a find back then. And all the rumors surrounding it. Honestly, that place could have made it to the list as well.
Where’s the new port you cowards?!?
I used to play this game all the time in a sandbox styled mode where I used an xploder to fill it with cheats and just play around with it. I did that for years, visiting it frequently.
When I saw this at the top of the home page I thought it had been finally announced...
@awp69 ask Eon Productions. They seem to be the ones stopping it.
26. And is out on Switch Online this friday….. 😭
@Shambo I wish I knew what you mean... sounds interesting!! I'm sure they won't be any spoilers if you mention it now... 😀
Statement about the RCP90 is accurate and unquestionable. It's my favorite gun in the game!
Happy 25th birthday Goldeneye 007 game by Rare!
My favourite weapon is the silenced D5K. Sadly it’s only in Frigate but being silenced means you don’t attract all the guards in the area. Dual wielding silenced PP7s is the next best thing, especially as the game will keep spawning enemies if you make too much noise.
I can unlock the Facility cheat, in fact I unlocked it for three or four people back in the day, but it usually requires several tries. Even if I get to the end of the level with enough health, there’s no guarantee Dr. Doak will be in the right place (usually he’s not! 😩)
I’m hoping if this does release on the Switch that the emulator developers will do what they did with Sin & Punishment and map the N64’s analogue stick to the right Joy-Con stick so the Solitaire control scheme can be used. Alternatively they could map a second N64 controller analogue stick to the right Joy-Con stick so the dual controller schemes can be used. The default control scheme just won’t work without six face buttons.
The dual stick gameplay fact just blew my mind right now.
World tournament happening this weekend in the UK!
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/68544/GoldenEye-World-Championships-Saturday-27th-August-2022/
The most important fact: still not (legally) available to play on current hardware.
So many memories tied to this game. From high school to college and beyond. Just a fantastic game.
I think the most important thing is that after it not being announced today we can put the rumours of a remaster to bed
Although, even if it was cancelled due to the war, I thought it was terrible that Nintendo or Microsoft didn’t at least acknowledge that game for what it did for the FPS console game
Excellent article. I either didn't know (or didn't remember) any of these facts. Thanks NL.
Along with Killer7, Goldeneye is one of my All Time Top Ten!
@Shambo It´s all about the cover right ? Yeah ... hahahahaha. I definetely cannot unsee it anymore
That rickroll got me, well played.
Best game ever! Controls have aged well, they are just different to modern FPS.
@Johnno137426 I'm pretty sure this is the box art. If you look at Bond's mouth and then his hand to the left of the gun... it looks like an extension of his mouth lol You can't unsee it.
@nocdaes haha cool
@ketrac I played a few years ago and still enjoyed the control scheme.
My favourite moment was Goldeneye winning game of the year in Hyper magazine. It was run by PC elitists and to see the readers pick GE over Half Life made them choke. They couldn't explain it, other than perhaps it had more popularity. Derr! It was the game of a generation and redefined FPS games, as the likes of Half Life would build on.
PS: Perfect Dark sold just "over" 2.5 million, not "north of". We don't need the expansion of this ugly American habit, nor incite bigotry against the southern hemisphere as "lower" class or status. Compass points relate to the ground anyway (latitude and longitude), not height (altitude), so there's no "up" or "more" concept to them anyway.
@TioRogerio yes it is I really can't take this game serious anymore since I saw it.
@Johnno137426 it doesn't spoil the game, it spoils the entire box art, so everytime you see it you will think "this is stupid", and everything Goldeneye ever meant beyond that will fade next to it. Every life choice you made leading up to the point where you first saw it will instantly turn into an eternal regret.
I may be slightly overexaggerating, but I really need you to know there's no turning back...
@NTELLIGENTMAN Some people enjoy pain.
What the hell is hiring a car?
"The influence of Rare's seminal shooter on the FPS genre and console video gaming in general is enormous"
Is it? Pretty much everything about Goldeneye is outdated and clunky and has been abandoned for the better. Even it's main feature, four player split screen, can be found exactly nowhere.
I'd say Halo, then CoD are the big influencers of FPSs today.
@zgillet
It proved FPS games could be popular on consoles. Not just ports of PC titles, but console exclusives. In terms of game design, it popularized a more grounded, realistic approach to level design, moving away from Doom's abstractions. Not just because of the real-world setting, but because of how the levels are constructed, with some rooms not built for gaming but for narrative and architectural coherence. Duke Nukem and Dark Forces had already laid the groundwork for this, though. And Half-Life would really cement the idea a year later.
Dual analog controls also suck compared to playing the Wii-make with motion controls. It's so much better playing FPS games on the Wii, Wii U, with Playstation Move, or with mouse/keyboard on PC than any other system (including the Switch with its lack of sensor bar)! I don't understand how anyone can enjoy such archaic control schemes after experiencing one of the good ones.
@HalBailman You're technically correct, but there's no bigotry involved in the statement. It works just fine as a reference to how most maps are oriented with north pointing up.
@BulbasaurusRex I was being facetious about hemisphere bigotry. Regardless of how maps are presented, movement is still on a flat 2D plane.
@Beaucine eh, I liked Medal of Honor 🙂
I always remember the follow up to this game and being absolutely ecstatic at the time but then I found out it wasn't a sequel or follow up at all. Instead it was about an agent with a Golden Eye who killed James Bond LOL
I laugh now but my disappointment back then was immeasurable.
everytime I see 007 and the Goldeneye picture on home page my heart skips a beat! because I thought it would be the Xmas surprise game! I played Perfect Dark on Xbox recently and although I played Goldeneye to death back in 1998 my mind is used to twin stick controls now and I found it difficult to get used to it (but I think it has some controls options I wanted it to play it like it was on N64)
@ketrac I played it on a real n64 recently, just as easy as it was back in 1997.
I'm probably just naturally good at adjusting to different control styles, one of those things being an 80s gamer.
Will never forget the crazy draw distance on the Dam. It was insane in 1997.
Please stop posting articles about Goldeneye until it's on NSO, I see the artwork and think this must be it! My poor heart can't take this anymore...
@BrianJL it was my favorite too! My friends knew it was game over if I managed to get my hands on it in multiplayer
This goldeneye release is fascinating to me. The game has obviously been done for ages and was convinced it would release for or on Xmas day. If it hasn’t released by New Year’s Day I gotta ask why? Say it’s released 8th January why ? Say it’s released end of January or start of February what is the reasoning? Basically what I’m saying is give us the Goldeneye like now! Xxx am I the only one who is checking the internet like every 30 mins, I need a lye down xxxx
People credit Id for being the grandfathers to first-person shooters, but it was always Rare that holds the crown title for being the lead innovator in this genre. Not only were they among the first to create a much larger multiplayer experience, but they created the most important control scheme for shooter games that is still being used today.
Announce the re-release, then pretend it doesn't exist.
Nintendo/MS/EON sure love giving fans two giant middle fingers... 😭
It's been a while since that last Nintendo Direct, it seems this game is almost as vaporware as Nintendo's own Metroid Prime 4.
Where is the darn game? Nintendo? Xbox?
(Though I'll get it on xbox since you can actually own the game)
Bang bang shoot shoot 😄
"It shares almost nothing with the N64 game beyond plot points and characters"
I beg to doffer, Wii GoldenEye has all the same multiplayer modes and several relevant cheats, like DK mode and paintball mode
Dual controllers is a novelty at best. If you really want modern FPS controls in Goldeneye, set the controls to 1.2 and hold the left and middle handles. You lose analog input on your left hand, but any WASD PC player will confirm that’s entirely optional.
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