GoldenEye 007 from Nintendo 64 would be a 2D platform game

The development of GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 is as interesting as the game itself! Developed by Rare and directed by Martin Hollis, the team's initial idea came in 1994 and the objective was for the game to be released for the Super Nintendo and be a platform, taking inspiration from the great success of Donkey Kong Country to the console. However, Hollis proposed that it be a 3D shooter released for BigN's future console, the Nintendo 64.

The team visited the studios where GoldenEye filmed to collect photographs and get ideas for the sets. Eon Productions and MGM licensed the Rare have the freedom to expand on the concepts of the film, giving players opportunities to participate in sequences that are not seen in the feature film, but they had to use reference material to ensure authenticity so as not to be too far removed from what “is the film”.

The game itself was inspired by several other classics, such as Virtual Cop from SEGA, Doom from iD Software and even Super Mario 64, the latter being responsible for each phase having several missions. One of the initial ideas was for weapons to be reloaded by removing and reinserting the Rumble Pak into the controller, which was responsible for making the joystick shake, but Nintendo rejected the idea.

The scenarios were created before developing the objectives, because according to the director, the game would be more realistic and non-linear that way. For this reason, there are environments that have no relevance to the phase and the player can carry out the same mission in different ways. They all came from the artist Karl Hiltonwhich modeled all stages based on material from the film, and the characters are based on the characters' photos and clothing.

Throughout development, Hollis hired more people to develop the game, including the programmer Steve Ellis, who was responsible for implementing multiplayer mode just six months before launch. As the team could use anything from the James Bond universe, the multiplayer mode features characters that appeared in the previous films.

Another curiosity is that all GoldenEye 007 cartridges have a GoldenEye 007 emulator. ZX Spectrum with ten games from Rare. This function was originally an experimental project by Rare that was disabled in the game, but with the popularization of roms and people hacking the projects, fans were able to activate it in patches.

As it was a game based on a film, the expectations of the video game media were very low and the game didn't get much “fanfare” during its launch, especially because it was exhibited at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta and people didn't seem very interested. However, contrary to all expectations, the released game was a success with the public and critics, selling around eight million units (more than the Zelda Ocarina of Time!), and is currently considered by many to be the best movie-based game of all time. By the way…does anyone remember the movie?