Legendary 10 Years of Goldeneye 007

[alec006]

Today August,25,2007 is the 10th anniversary of one of the best games of all time,Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 came into our homes way back in 1997 and pretty much everyone was hooked. The single player missions were very well made,enemys actually swatted flys sometimes,and who could forget the multiplayer experience of shooting your friends in the head with a PP7,or other weapons of choice. Then comes to one of the most mysterious game of all time,beta wise. Rare sure did leave a few things in the game,from the Dam's distant unreachable (without a gameshark) island,to a lone guard in silo guarding a non reachable door,to the Citadel,one of the most talked about Goldeneye Beta leftovers in the past years,finally playable in 2004. So whether your Trevelen running and....falling off a huge antenna or Natalya taking forever to type on a computer while guards stop at nothing to kill you and her,or even Boris just following orders as a computer hacker,why not fire up the ole N64 and play some Goldeneye. To 10 years of legendary gaming experience...."For England James?" "No for Me....."........Not to mention YES IM INVINCIBLE!!

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m137/darkknux_2006/boris.jpg

X3

[Graham Mitchell]

Wow, I can't believe 10 years have gone by since then. I remember being a college Freshman playing that in my shitty dorm room like it was yesterday. That, FFVII, Starfox 64, Tomb Raider II and Castlevania Symphony of the Night. That year seriously sucked, but Playstation and Big Black saved my life, so it's all good.

My High School 10-year reunion was also last week. (No, I didn't attend.)

What's really shocking to me, though, is that there has not been much of vertical ascension in gaming from that time. Aside from a more polished appearance, there hasn't been a whole lot of innovation in games since '97. There's tons of games like Goldeneye on the shelves today. Kind of sad, really. Think about how much changed from '87-'97! The last decade's been kind of stangnant in comparison. I do think the DS and the Wii have shaken things up a little lately, though, so I guess there's that to look forward to.

[PentiumMMX]

Hard to believe...However, I didn't play it until recently (Wasn't interested when it was new (I was only 8 at the time)). It's better then Halo IMO.

[smokehouse]

*Dawns flame suit*


























Put me down as a Goldeneye hater…just another cookie cutter FPS with a 4 player mode IMHO…it had been done before and has been done better since…

[Family Computer]

This is a game that is a perfect example of not aging well. I loved this game at the time, and it was a N64 killer software if you are not into PC gaming but wanted a quality FPS with fun live Multi-Player. I played this game for hours upon hours. Definitely in my top 20 most played games of all time.

Today? Not interested in playing it at all. The game aged extremely poorly in my opinion. Also, I don't think it was better than Halo, but maybe on par if you adjust for the time which the 2 were released. I think Halo will hold up better in the long run though. For one because it has a unique story and is part of an ongoing series.

[77punk]

007 was a terrific game. It just flowed.. Im very pissed at them for putting these recent bonds out since it just seems now you have to kill 1000 guys before the checkpoint in the middle of the level. I like how they werent people everywhere, cause frankly i would have just wrote in this thread that the game sucked. Long live 007 and screw HALO and bILL gATES ArMy!

[TurboGenesis]

No flame suit needed. I can take the heat (I already get shit on in real life enough as it is)

I didn't like Golden Eye. It was the game that swore me off Nintendo 64 for a VERY long time :( I missed out on some other games because of Golden Eye.

My friends like the game and it left me alienated because I… 1)couldn't play it - I suck at FPS and 2)don't understand the controller of N64. I didn't play much of any games during the late 90's :(

So happy anniversary to Golden Eye :roll:

[Kid Ice]

Goldeneye was the last game I literally played all day. By that I mean wake up in the morning, play for 16 hours, and go to sleep.

[BHvrd]

My friend loved this game so much, he played it literally for months straight none stop. It really was/is a well designed game and imo truly a classic.

He stopped playing it when EGM posted that you could unlock the original bonds by getting certain times "that they thought impossible" on secret agent setting. My friend got all the times they said that were needed believe it or not "even got better on some", and man was he EVER pissed.

Anyway, the multiplayer nights of that game will NEVER be topped. I played my buddy recently and he still "has it".

I swear when I play that game with him I feel like a rat in a cage.

[playgeneration]

Its simply an awesome game, and without it N64 would have died and deserved it!
The level deisgn is brilliant and very varied, the stuff you unlock keeps you coming back for more, and the way the difficulty levels added different objectives and requried a different playing style - stealth over all guns blasting was superb - I can't think of any game that measures up in that regard. The single player was fantastic and had enough to keep you entertained for months, and the multiplayer was equally as good, I must have spent hundreds of hours playing with friends.

I haven't remotely enjoyed any FPS game as much since, Halo just doesn't compare at all, to me its just a chore to play. But I understand why people love it, while I dont like the level design, weapons, characters etc at least the game actually works properly and does try to be a bit different, which can't be said for a lot of console fps games

[Hep038]

I have to agree this is a game that has not aged very well. I played the crap out of this game. I just finished college at the time and had disposable income and disposable time. After this I moved on to perfect dark and Golden eye started collecting dust. About 2 to 3 months ago my nephew came over with his 64 and we popped in golden eye, it was REALLY hard for me to play.

[Little Samson]

I realize that without Goldeneye, there would have been no Perfect Dark, so I'm grateful to it for that. Also, Goldeneye had a great 1-player mode, and at the time I was in college, I didn't know of any other multiplayer First-Person Shooters for console systems. When comparing it to its descendant, however, Perfect Dark is far better -- the 2-player cooperative challenges make it my wife's favorite game!

[Damaramu]

Yup, my friends and I spent many a late night playing Goldeneye, Twisted Metal 2, Mario Kart 64 and Bushido Blade.

The Goldeneye frag fests were quite memorable and many laughs were had. This reminds me, I need to track down a copy....

[hbkprm]

i remember playing goldeneye when i was a kid

[Snapple]

I can't speak about how well the game has aged, because I haven't played it in eons. However, this game proved that FPSes could be done well on a console, and were even enhanced in this case by the easy-to-pick-up controls, and it became one of the greatest party games of all time.

I normally do not like FPSes, at all, but Goldeneye won me over in a big way. Proximity mines for the win.

Screw Xbox. The N64 controller was born for FPSes. It even grips like a gun, c'mon.

[Frica89]

Ahh, one of my favorite games ever. The unlockables, the different objectives for different difficulties, and the awesome multiplayer gave the game an infinite replay value. I remember getting a gameshark just for Goldeneye. Sure, I wanted to access that island in the Dam level, but I found the GS most useful for unlocking the locked doors in multiplayer. There was so much to mess arou with in the game.....I remember turning on the invincibility cheat and walking through the explosions after the Bunker level blew up.

The only FPS to do it better IMO was its spiritual successor Perfect Dark.

[heybtbm]

Around late '97 to early '99 this game was the shit if you had a N64 and 3-4 people. Fun times. It's true that Goldeneye hasn't aged well, but for its time, it was king.

[Greg2600]

Goldeneye 007, along with MarioKart64, are among my favorites of all time. The multiplayer mode was simply fantastic. We played for hours and days and years. It was the first game we had the girls in my family, uncles, whoever playing since the early NES. I have all the recent Bonds on XBOX, and while I find their 1 Player modes very enjoyable and Bond-y, the multiplayer modes have never lived up to the fun and simplicity of Goldeneye. Has it aged well over time? I think so. When I play it again, I do so to recapture the feel and fun as I remember it.

PS: As for the All Bonds deal, yeah that was an April Fools from EGM. There are still All Bonds photos in the game, which are unlocked with a Gameshark. http://goldeneye.detstar.com/beta/allbonds.asp Several years ago, a group created a way to edit the Goldeneye ROM, which shows that the images for the old Bonds are still in the ROM. http://www.rarewitchproject.com/specials.php?id=geromeditor1 They show how to edit the game to put their faces back in, but it looks pretty bad.

[theshizzle3000]

I constantly remind people that though Halo is good it owes a lot of its credit to Goldeneye, but people always give me a stupid stare when I say that.

[Family Computer]

it has far more to owe to Bungie's own old school FPS series Marathon ;p

[Steven]

Around late '97 to early '99 this game was the shit if you had a N64 and 3-4 people. Fun times. It's true that Goldeneye hasn't aged well, but for its time, it was king.


Well said. I was never a big fan of GE but I understood its appeal. It was really the last 'great multiplayer game' that my circle of gaming buds enjoyed. At the turn of the century key members of the group fell out of gaming. But I digress.

[Hitman Tyler]

this was a great game. I remembering playing with all my friends,brother,borther's friends. Also playing multiplayer with Oddjob, the hardest person to kill since he is so short. (lol). Good times, good times.

As a matter of fact I was playing it just a couple of week ago,having no idea what year it came out.

[BydoEmpire]

I absolutely loved it in the day. Played it nonstop, and it was THE game people wanted to play at parties after college. I loved the little awards you'd get for your multiplayer performance - even if you lost, you could get a little something. I haven't played it in many years, and I would imagine it hasn't held up well at all graphically. I love 8-bit game graphics, but the early 15fps 3D stuff is hard on my eyes today. Still, I think it was a classic, and an amazing game in its time. Congrats on 10 years!

[alxbly]

I loved Goldeneye for being more than just another doom clone for consoles. The game had bags of content; levels that opened up as you increased the difficulty, cheats that made repalying levels worthwhile and those secret levels for completing the game on the harder difficulty settings.

Whilst it's easy to say it's aged, it's perhaps just as easy to forget the fun that picking up a sniper rifle for the first time was. Or the discovery that enemies reacted differently depending on where they were shot. These were new things in console gaming that really open up the FPS genre.

Goldeneye is still my favorite game of all time. Even if the graphics and the single analogue control system has aged, the gameplay is still exceptionally good. :)

[RegSNES]

Ah, GoldenEye was the freaking game. My friends and I would spend many nights playing multiplayer mode until 5-6AM.

I remember when I beat my friend in his own scenario, which was Grenade Launchers in The Stack. The score was 10-0. He was so irked.

[Frica89]

this was a great game. I remembering playing with all my friends,brother,borther's friends. Also playing multiplayer with Oddjob, the hardest person to kill since he is so short. (lol). Good times, good times.

As a matter of fact I was playing it just a couple of week ago,having no idea what year it came out.

Hey, no being Oddjob! That's cheating! LOL

I remember I would pick him and crouch the entire game......I was unstoppable!

[Xizer]

That first post gave me a brain hemorrhage.

These forums really need some kind of rule that a post must contain a certain amount of grammatical quality.

As for the topic at hand, GoldenEye is still enjoyable. I played it just last week through 00 Agent.

[Chris]

Goldeneye is really something special, just a shame that it didn't had the same influence on the genre like Quake or Half Life.

I'm still wondering if I'll ever find an FPS game with such an addictive single player mode (multiplayer was ace too.. oh proximity mine, how I love you).
As a side note: Chikyuu Boueigun (aka Earth Defence Force) had a similar game structure, but was 3rd person.

I also happened to play it recently, without really noticing that the 10 year anniversary was around the corner. It hasn't aged at all imo, it's really interesting to see how few things have changed control-wise between this and more recent titles like Halo 2.

[DigitalSpace]

As a person who gets bored easily with most of what the FPS genre has to offer, I have to say that Goldeneye is one of the few I can play to this day. The multiplayer is awesome too. I still play multiplayer with my friends sometimes.

[swlovinist]

Some of the Goldeneye haters that say that Goldeneye has not aged well should not play any retrogames due to their "primitive graphics". As for gameplay, it still holds up quite nicely to many of the shooters still around today. If you can be unbiased about the N64 and the FPS shooters, 007 Goldeneye is proof that the game is still fun to play. Want proof? I helped run the Penny Arcade Expo this year and the retro game room. Most Popular? Nintendo 64. Goldeneye was played by many who visited the room and ASKED for the game.

[Family Computer]

I just can't agree. I am a huge Famicon and even original GB fan, but the graphics on Goldeneye just make it such a chore to play. Add to that the fact that controls that have been eclipsed by Halo (the only FPS I have played are Marathon Series, Goldeneye, Halo).

Like I said, this is one of my top 20 most played games of all time, but it is also one that I have completely no desire to play now. Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest problems with some of the early 3D games.

If you haven't beaten the single player game & unlocked all the extras then I think it would definitely be worth your time (especially if you are a Bond/N64/ or FPS fan), but aside from that I wouldn't really recommend it.

Just my opinion.

[Chris]

I just can't agree. I am a huge Famicon and even original GB fan, but the graphics on Goldeneye just make it such a chore to play. Add to that the fact that controls that have been eclipsed by Halo

I think the graphics have a clean look to them, I even prefer them to Perfect Dark's.

I also don't get all the hate for early 3D stuff, for me it's just like with the more abstract 2D graphics from the 70's and 80's, the simplistic beaty of games like Virtua Racing is as artistically pleasing to my eyes as the newest XBox 360 showcase.

And pls don't forget that you can play Halo with the digital pad instead of the 2nd stick and Goldeneye with two N64 pads for dual analog controls.
I don't see a big difference here.

[Rob2600]

Goldeneye is really something special, just a shame that it didn't had the same influence on the genre like Quake or Half Life.

It didn't? The genre went from being all about brute force to being all about strategy, patience, stealth, and logic, largely because of Goldeneye 007. Compare Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Duke Nukem 3D to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Half-Life, and Halo.


the graphics on Goldeneye just make it such a chore to play. ... Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest problems with some of the early 3D games.

In that case, you must really hate playing old PlayStation and Saturn games.

[Family Computer]

some of them yes.

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh man, it's only been ten years?

The game still plays just as good as it ever did, of course. Legendary game, still one of my favorites without a doubt.

[Hep038]

Some of the Goldeneye haters that say that Goldeneye has not aged well should not play any retrogames due to their "primitive graphics". As for gameplay, it still holds up quite nicely to many of the shooters still around today. If you can be unbiased about the N64 and the FPS shooters, 007 Goldeneye is proof that the game is still fun to play. Want proof? I helped run the Penny Arcade Expo this year and the retro game room. Most Popular? Nintendo 64. Goldeneye was played by many who visited the room and ASKED for the game.



We are golden eye haters because we say it has not aged well? :-/

[Xizer]

I thought GoldenEye has aged pretty well, actually.

Like most 64 games, it has a problem with blurry graphics...however...it is one of the clearest games on the system. It's still playable.

There's quite a few Nintendo 64 games that are so blurry they're almost painful. The PS1 also suffers from a problem characteristic of early 3D games, which is much more pronounced: extremely low resolution / pixellated textures, which results in a very unclear picture, but in a different way than blur.

[tom]

No, it hasn't aged well at all, but none of the N64 stuff has. Mind you, MGS on PSX hasn't aged well either.

[Rob2600]

No, it hasn't aged well at all, but none of the N64 stuff has. Mind you, MGS on PSX hasn't aged well either.

I disagree. A few days ago, I played Star Fox 64 for the first time in about five years and was pleased by how well the gameplay, graphics, and sound held up.

Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64, Beetle Adventure Racing, Conker's Bad Fur Day, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Donkey Kong 64, and many other Nintendo 64 games have graphics that still hold up, too.

[tom]

Oh, yeah I still like Conker, DK64 and Beetle, and of course, Tigger's Honey Hunt, love that game.

[Family Computer]

See this is where we differ...I would say MGS tremendously better than Goldeneye. First of all the overall menus & communication sequences have an amazing 2d look with a lot of style. Secondly, the game always had this dark, edgy style to it from the beginning.

I am not a Goldeneye hater, like I said this is one of my most played games of all time. I just can't see how you say the game aged well. To me it is basically the epitome of aging poorly. To each his own I guess, I just don't understand it.

[Oobgarm]

I fucking love this game.

That is all.

[8-bitNesMan]

i remember playing goldeneye when i was a kid

'Round the fall of '97 I played the Goldeneye 007. Alas, it was not on the Cube which would not debut until round the fall of '01.

[Ed Oscuro]

See this is where we differ...I would say MGS tremendously better than Goldeneye. First of all the overall menus & communication sequences have an amazing 2d look with a lot of style. Secondly, the game always had this dark, edgy style to it from the beginning.
WHERE'S THE BEEF?

No mention of gameplay anywhere in there... ;)

[Family Computer]

We were talking about graphics. As far as the better game? I am a huge Metal Gear fan so I gotta go with MGS...but this is getting WAY off topic. Comparing the gameplay of a Metal Gear PSX game and a N64 FPS is pretty lame.

I dunno but I think one of the reasons that I feel it has aged is that Goldeneye is a FPS. At the time the graphics/controls were highly realistic compared to other console games. Now, if I wanted to play a FPS, I would have to go with a Halo game.

Like I said earlier though, if you haven't played through / unlocked everything in Goldeneye before and you are into N64 stuff then it is worth a play through. All I know is that I don't enjoy playing this game anymore, and I loved tit to death when it was released. If that isn't aging poorly I don't know what is. Maybe me?

[Rob2600]

All I know is that I don't enjoy playing this game anymore, and I loved it to death when it was released. If that isn't aging poorly I don't know what is.

I used to play Super Mario Bros. every day in 1988. Now, I hardly play it. Does that mean Super Mario Bros. aged poorly?

[Family Computer]

What does that have to do with me not liking Goldeneye when I play it?

I don't play Super Mario Bros. everyday, but if I decide to pick it up and play it, I have fun.

*but again this is not a very good comparison as Super Mario Bros. is practically the definition of a timeless game

[Barbarianoutkast85]

I was never a huge fan of Goldeneye, I always felt it was just another FPS. I mean its not terrible but I wasnt crazy about it like most people seemed to be.

[Greg2600]

To interject, my scale for whether a game has aged well, is if you can turn it on and play it, and feel as if you've gone back in time. Goldeneye was such a well designed and easy game to play and get, that you turn it on and you're right back in the action.

[otaku]

great game! One of the best 64 games and console shooters ever truly a revolutionary game. It hasnt held up real well today thanks to graphics and dual sticks on todays consoles but still great.

[Nesmaster]

I spent HOURS and HOURS on this game in its day. Beat the whole game on 00 Agent, unlocked every cheat, lots of multiplayer parties. Being 9 at the time it was pretty impressive for me to unlock every cheat and beat the game on 00 Agent. Man, some major screams were had when trying to unlock unlimited ammo, invisibility, and invincibility! LOL

[Kevincal]

I rented Goldeneye not long after i came out. I could not for the life of me figure out how to beat THE VERY FIRST LEVEL!!! LOL. :D I returned it to Blockbuster thinking what a crap game it was...Then a friend got it some time later and 4-player Goldeneye deathmatches became a way of life for over a year... We played damn near every day for hours. That and Mario Kart 64... That's the most fun gaming experience I've ever had with friends. I miss those days... :(

[tom]

and in Germany, the game is still on 'the index', meaning it cannot be mentioned by name in the press, nor sold /displayed in second hand shops, not sold to under 18s, or cannot be sold as a named game over ebay DE:
http://cgi.ebay.de/NINTENDO-64-SPIEL-N64-TOP-ANSCHAUEN-ANSCHAUEN_W0QQitemZ190145681877QQihZ009QQcategoryZ 8160QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Xizer]

and in Germany, the game is still on 'the index', meaning it cannot be mentioned by name in the press, nor sold /displayed in second hand shops, not sold to under 18s, or cannot be sold as a named game over ebay DE:
http://cgi.ebay.de/NINTENDO-64-SPIEL-N64-TOP-ANSCHAUEN-ANSCHAUEN_W0QQitemZ190145681877QQihZ009QQcategoryZ 8160QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Guess the Nazis never lost power in Germany then, eh?

[tom]

Guess the Nazis never lost power in Germany then, eh?

You know, I lived almost 20 years in UK, and being back in DE since 2005, everything is 'can't do this', 'not allowed that', etc. I really feel like in Gestapo land here.
On the other hand, little crime in DE when compared to UK (rising by an alarming rate, it is now an everyday occurance in UK (and not just London based, but all over), someone been shot, knifed or beaten to death): http://www.guardian.co.uk/gun/

So take your pick.

[Ed Oscuro]

Man, some major screams were had when trying to unlock unlimited ammo, invisibility, and invincibility! LOL
Same here. I've actually unlocked invisibility twice - although you can be sure that I never deleted the original save file with invisibility on it ;)

[shoes23]

As probably with many of you, this is the game that MADE me go get a N64. Up to that point I was on the fence about getting the system. I enjoyed the game so much that for another year after I bought the game and system I didn't purchase another game (just three additional controllers). The multiplayer never seemed to get old, and the additional single player objectives on higher difficulties are something that I wish more games would do, not to mention all the unlockables.

FTW Proximity mines in the complex.

[kainemaxwell]

Fun game then and still is now.

[Xizer]

You know, I lived almost 20 years in UK, and being back in DE since 2005, everything is 'can't do this', 'not allowed that', etc. I really feel like in Gestapo land here.
On the other hand, little crime in DE when compared to UK (rising by an alarming rate, it is now an everyday occurance in UK (and not just London based, but all over), someone been shot, knifed or beaten to death): http://www.guardian.co.uk/gun/

So take your pick.

I think I'm going to opt out of shitty countries like Germany and the U.K. and pick one of the Scandinavian countries which feature practically no media censorship and some of the lowest crime rates in the world, while being among the top developed nations in the world.

[Superman]

I'm not a big fan of FPS/multiplayer games, but I like the single player mode in Goldeneye.

I think it was a well done game since it got someone interested who normally wouldn't be.

[cyberfluxor]

I'm another person that liked the game when it came out and still like it today. It does look like ass but it's the same game as then so it's still kicking ass in my book.


and in Germany, the game is still on 'the index', meaning it cannot be mentioned by name in the press, nor sold /displayed in second hand shops, not sold to under 18s, or cannot be sold as a named game over ebay DE:
http://cgi.ebay.de/NINTENDO-64-SPIEL-N64-TOP-ANSCHAUEN-ANSCHAUEN_W0QQitemZ190145681877QQihZ009QQcategoryZ 8160QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Aww man, $30 for Goldeneye?! I need to go there and sell some violent games in the video game black market. :D

[Little Samson]

I'm not a big fan of FPS/multiplayer games, but I like the single player mode in Goldeneye.

I think it was a well done game since it got someone interested who normally wouldn't be.

Yeah, that's a good point. I don't like most other FPS like Doom, etc., but I do really like Goldeneye and Perfect DArk.

Also, I think it does a really good job of recreating the sets and characters from the movie. I saw the movie after I had played the game to death, and it was awesome to see all these things in the movie that I recognized -- the leap off the dam, Boris, the cradle, and so on.