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Let’s go back to 1997. We were all deep into Nintendo 64 – it was blowing our minds. The console was less than a year old, and it seemed like every game was a banger. Maybe that’s because we were all hopped up on Surge and convenience store candy. Who knows? But it wasn’t until August 25th, 1997 that we were all sent into overload with the release of GoldenEye 007. Developed by Rare and published by Nintendo, the video game based on the 1995 James Bond movie absolutely sent our prepubescent minds into a tailspin. A first-person shooter with a realistically animated Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, the player goes through the entire 1995 movie, level by detailed level. The objectives closely mimic the film’s plotline in which James Bond stops the Janus crime syndicate from using a satellite system to destroy the world. The game was a revolutionary shooter with an array of weapons to collect, secret weapons from James Bonds past like the Moonraker laser rifle and the fan favorite Golden Gun. Players with the Golden Gun can take down an enemy in one shot, making it the most coveted weapon. The single player campaign was a masterpiece among movie-based video games, helping bring about a new generation of James Bond fans.
The best and most revolutionary part of GoldenEye 007 was its multiplayer mode. In 1997, there was no Call of Duty, no Overwatch, and no Valorant – we had GoldenEye. Using split screen technology, you could invite 3 of your friends and battle either in teams or an all out deathmatch – every person for themselves which offered five diffent intenselely competitive modes. The fun wouldn’t stop until someone had to go home (the trick was to get everyone together on a weekend and ask your parents for a sleepover – nicely of course). There wasn’t online gaming, but the gunplay in the several selections of weapons and the competitive nature of multiplayer would be the blueprint for first-person shooters of today. Without GoldenEye 007, who knows if we’d have the games I mentioned before? Some of us still miss the multiplayer to this day.
Would you believe GoldenEye 007 had low expectations? Its true! Rare and Nintendo had a very buggy and disappointing showing at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in 1997, but they went back to work and created a critical success. By 2001, it had sold over 7 million copies worldwide! It is the third best selling Nintendo 64 game behind Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 (the other games we were playing). It grossed over $250 million worldwide, making it at the time the most successful video game based on a movie. The title would go onto win multiple awards including a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Games award as well as picking up AIAS (Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences) awards for- Interactive Title of the Year, Console Game of The Year, Console Action Game of The Year, and the Outstanding Achievement in Software Engineering. AIAS at the time could be compared to The Golden Joystick or The Game Awards of today. It was the primary award organization for console and PC games.
GoldenEye 007 has a chance to bring in a new generation of fans as it was announced that a rerelease is coming to Xbox Game Pass and Nintendo Switch featuring online multiplayer. An exact date has not been announced as of this writing, but it’s a game that deserves to be in in every modern gamer’s collection. Not because of the nostalgia, but because of the groundbreaking and addictive fun that some would say to this day…hasn’t been matched.
