This article was initially printed in July, however in honour of ‘James Bond Day’ — the sixtieth anniversary of Dr. No‘s cinematic launch on October fifth 1962, do not you recognize — we thought it the right time to revisit it.
Remember, the rating beneath isn’t set in stone, however is ruled in real-time by every recreation’s User Score on our video games database. If you have not assigned a rating to any of the video games beneath, merely log in and faucet on the star in every of the banners beneath to attain the sport out of ten and exert your affect on the rating. Enjoy!
With James Bond lastly confirmed to be returning to a Nintendo console after years of rumours (pah, ‘quickly’ my Aston!) with the Nintendo Switch Online re-release of GoldenEye 007, we have as soon as once more been excited about Rare’s seminal N64 shooter. Mention ‘James Bond’ and ‘video games’ in the identical sentence and players of a sure age will get a faraway look of their (golden)eye as they recall crawling by means of vents into the gents in Facility or taking out safety cameras with a PP7 within the Severnaya Bunker. Good instances.
However, the video games that carry the title of the world’s least undercover agent have been many and assorted, with winners like Everything or Nothing, the underrated World is Not Enough, and a bunch extra showing on Nintendo consoles. 007 may need been quiet for some time — since 2012’s 007 Legends, the truth is — however we depend 20 James Bond video games launched for Nintendo platforms through the years.
So whereas quantity 001 could be a foregone conclusion, we had been very to listen to about how the different video games in Bond’s previous rank. Similar to our different reader-ranked polls, we requested you Nintendo Life readers to charge each James Bond title you have performed from the record beneath.
Missed the ‘voting’ section? No, you did not. Remember: the order beneath is up to date in real-time in response to every recreation’s corresponding User Rating within the Nintendo Life recreation database. Even as you learn this, it is completely potential to affect the rating beneath! If you have not rated your favourites but, merely click on the ‘star’ of the sport you want to charge beneath and assign a rating proper now.
So, holster that Walther for a second, seize your self a Martini, and let’s take a look at the very best (and worst) James Bond video games on Nintendo programs…
Publisher: EA Games / Developer: JV Games
We cannot lie, we forgot this recreation existed. The dwelling console model of Nightfire drew all of our consideration on the time, and this GBA model from JV Games flew completely underneath our radar — to the purpose the place we missed it in our preliminary submit asking in your scores.
As a first-person shooter on a system that actually struggled to deal with first-person shooters, it appears to be like like a technical triumph for the developer if nothing else. Feel free to tell us what we missed within the feedback when you performed this one!
Publisher: THQ / Developer: Gray Matter
Based on a cartoon collection of the identical title, James Bond Jr. is a side-scrolling journey title that suffered tremendously from poor animations and a definite lack of problem. Although it saved issues comparatively contemporary with segments that includes gameplay not too dissimilar to R-Type, this sadly wasn’t sufficient to bolster its quite restricted attraction. One for true hardcore followers, solely.
Publisher: EA Games / Developer: EA Tiburon
What do you imply the ‘GoldenEye’ title was milked to loss of life? How absurd.
Nevertheless, we received one other ‘GoldenEye’ recreation eight years after the N64 basic, and it’s protected to say that the DS model of this definitely-not-a-crass-cash-in-on-a-popular-name actually did not hit the spot for long-time followers of the franchise. With poor enemy AI and a multiplayer mode that lacked in all areas, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent was a low level for the collection, certainly.
Publisher: THQ / Developer: Eurocom Software
The NES model of James Bond Jr. is arguably a extra substantial expertise than its SNES sibling, with fairly expansive environments and extra concerned goals to finish. The gameplay is vaguely reminiscent Mega Man, however James Bond Jr. simply doesn’t fairly show the identical aptitude.
Though it does admittedly showcase some fairly killer music.
Publisher: Activision / Developer: Vicarious Visions
Featuring a barely bizarre top-down viewpoint, Quantum of Solace for the DS felt like a bootleg model of Metal Gear Solid — actually weird stuff. Visually, the sport is fairly poor, nevertheless it’s the gameplay that commits the worst sins, specializing in gradual, lumbering fight that feels about as polished as a rusty fork.
Not very 007, then.
Publisher: Electronic Arts / Developer: Griptonite Games
Using an isometric viewpoint, Everything or Nothing on GBA could not maintain a candle to its dwelling console counterpart, nevertheless it remained type of satisfying nonetheless. There’s a good vary of environments to discover, the fight isn’t horrible (although it isn’t nice), and who can overlook the hilarious sprite photographs of Judy Dench and Willem Dafoe.
Occasionally diverting, however hardly worthy of the world’s biggest undercover agent.
Publisher: Activision / Developer: Eurocom
007 Legends was billed as a little bit of a celebration of the franchise, with its marketing campaign happening throughout a number of iconic Bond eras, inserting Daniel Craig into non-Daniel Craig Bond movie situations. Despite the celebratory intention, developer Eurocom did not create a worthwhile expertise for 007 followers, with each the visuals and gameplay falling beneath par. It clearly tries to capitalise on the success of franchises like Call of Duty, however struggles to carve out its personal identification because of this.
Wii U had greater than its share of gems, however this isn’t one in all them.
Publisher: Activision / Developer: n-Space
Despite some quite rudimentary visuals, the third-person taking pictures gameplay seen in Blood Stone on DS wasn’t that unhealthy! Heck, we gave it an 8/10 in our assessment and known as it “surprisingly fun and well put-together”, praising the weapons together with the various environments.
Double-O heaven? No, however double-O satisfactory, not less than.
Publisher: Electronic Arts / Developer: 2N Productions
Thanks to the Game Boy Color’s restricted capabilities, The World Is Not Enough is without doubt one of the most archaic-looking of all the foremost Bond video games. That mentioned, the top-down gameplay is favourably harking back to the unique Metal Gear titles, with loads of exploration and experimentation on supply. We’d undoubtedly take the N64 model first, however Bond has received into far worse scrapes than this 8-bit journey.
Publisher: EA Games / Developer: EA Tiburon
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for the GameDice is not a nasty recreation by any means — in some methods it felt like a real evolution of the N64 basic. There are some thrilling additions, like dual-wielding, and it blends components and characters from Goldfinger, The Man With The Golden Gun, and GoldenEye (it appears EA had gold on its thoughts throughout its preliminary brainstorming periods), however total the fight is probably just a little too bombastic for a Bond recreation.
EA’s blatantly deceptive use of ‘GoldenEye’ within the title left a nasty style within the mouth, too.
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