The absolute console FPS benchmark from Rare. Twenty Bond-licensed missions with multiple objectives, AI behaviour that was revolutionary for its day and a four-player multiplayer that became outright myth. A genuine genre revolution that redefined what a first-person shooter could be in the living room.
Your verdict
Category
First-Person Shooter1 player16+
Split screen
Description
Revolutionary first-person shooter adapted from the James Bond film GoldenEye, developed by Rare. Published by Nintendo, released in 1997 in Japan, Europe, and North America. Twenty solo missions with multiple objectives, groundbreaking AI, varied weapon arsenal, and split-screen multiplayer for up to 4 players.
GoldenEye 007 review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Blending hushed tensions and spy accents inherited from the James Bond universe, the music wraps every mission in a remarkable electronic atmosphere. From discreet themes to adrenaline surges, it embraces the action and the infiltration with rare precision. This classy soundscape marked a whole generation of players.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Infiltrating bases, varying your approach and aiming true in missions built for ingenuity: the first-person shooter finds a landmark footing here. But it's the four-player split-screen, frantic and unforgettable, that forged its legend. Tense solo, hilarious in a group, a pillar of the genre that defined a generation.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Infiltrating a base, varying your approach and meeting objectives that grow tougher with the difficulty weaves a spy-like tension that pushes you to start over and do better. Split-screen multiplayer sparks whole evenings of ambushes. The controls have aged, but the cleverness of the missions and the freedom of action retain a real pull.
Difficulty
"Difficult"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Chaining twenty missions with multiple objectives, scaled by difficulty, already offers a dense solo to replay in order to unlock everything. But it's the split-screen multiplayer that makes this FPS inexhaustible, renewed at every gathering of friends. Between a generous solo offering and legendary versus, the title keeps a reputation as a timeless pioneer.
Japanese pressing from August 1997, distributed locally by Nintendo Japan in a stiff Japan-dimensioned box and with a redrawn cover placing Bond and Natalya side by side rather than the American silhouette. The Japanese cartridge is noticeably scarcer because the Japanese market for Western console FPS stayed narrow in 1997. For Japanese Rare collectors, it is the hinge piece between a British license and local Nintendo distribution.
A cult cover
The leveled gun barrel and the golden eye in the crosshairs immediately summon the world of spy 007: the whole DNA of the film lives in that motif. Deep blacks and the metallic gleam of the logo breathe the hushed tension of secret missions. Restrained and iconic, it conjures the elegance of spy cinema at a glance.
Is GoldenEye 007 still worth playing in 2026?
GoldenEye 007 remains an absolute touchstone for console FPS, courtesy of Rare. Twenty Bond-licensed missions with multiple objectives, AI that felt revolutionary in 1997 and a four-player multiplayer that became legend. The cart redefined what a first-person shooter could be in the living room, between scripted mission structure, reactive enemies and the compulsive joy of local modes. Analog aiming and stick sensitivity have aged, yet the level writing remains a textbook case. Even today, a full classic to know for anyone serious about console FPS.
