Cube
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Posts posted by Cube
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I love the amount of effort put into random games like Volleyball
https://www.nintendo.com/jp/famicom/software/fmc-vbw/index.html
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GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
- Original Release: 2004
- Developer: EA Los Angeles
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: GameCube, PS2, Xbox
- Version Played: GameCube
A blatant cash-in trying to use the name to bring up memories of the N64 game, this certainly had a lot of competition in the first person shooter genre. Not only does the name invite comparisons to the classic GoldenEye, but Rogue Agent also came out two weeks atter Halo 2 and one week after Half-Life 2. In this, you don’t play as Bond, but another 00 Agent that became unreliable and brutal after getting shot in the head by Dr. No. The game prided itself on letting you play and evil and brutal character.
Rogue Agent starts off on a simulated mission to getting into Fort Knox and stopping Goldfinger from setting off a bomb. Your helicopter goes down and Bond is killed. You get introduced to the main mechanics, which focus heavily on dual wielding: you can mix and match any of the single-handed guns in the game, firing them independently. This system works well, and would be good in a better game. You fail this mission and M blames you for the death of virtual Bond (who is somehow the best spy even though all his villains are still alive) and for the bomb going off – even though you’re not actually responsible for either, and you did nothing particularly “evil” that slowed you down. You then accept an invitation from Goldfinger to join him, because we know an organisation like MI6 would just let a violent, dangerous person that knows all sorts of secrets just leave with no issues.
Joining the organisation (the game wants to use SPECTRE but the licensing was still strange, so avoided the name itself), Scaramanga, who is surprisingly voiced by Christopher Lee, has created a special replacement eye that is equipped with features, such as seeing enemies though walls. Obviously, Scaramanga loves the colour gold, so your fancy new eye is gold in colour….a golden eye. Yup, the name “GoldenEye” is the nickname of the character you play as, that’s the weak justification they went with.
Goldfinger reveals his new creation: the OMEN, a weapon that can dissolve anything biological. Dr No launches an attack so you need to fight your way though waves of men, blow up the base and escape. You’ll notice an arrow on screen at all times showing where you need to go, because the level design is so bad that it needs it, with lots of copy and pasted corridors and no sense of direction.
Next you get sent to Hong Kong to assassinate Dr No. As Goldfinger doesn’t own a single sniper rifle, he relies on someone placing one next to the firing spot. This turns out to be a trap and you need to run across rooftops to escape – well, walk across rooftops. This feels like a game that where your should be speedy, brutally moving between enemies, but movement is really stiff. You get blocked by low walls and just walk slowly.
Other attempts at making you feel “evil” are using environmental hazards to kill enemies and taking hostages, neither of which feel particularly different from other shooting games . When you’ve finished with a hostage, you just throw them forward slightly and they die – no neck snapping like other games where you take hostages. You also only ever fight other baddies – MI6 never get involved.
Goldfinger has moved the OMEN to his casino and it gets attaceked by Xenia. No idea why she’s working with Dr No, but at least she’s from GoldenEye. Each level has a nice setting, but you never really do anything different in them, and the levels repeat so often that you’re tired of them by the end. You’ll also encounter some generic goons that have names when you hover over them, these take more hits than standard enemies. You reach the vault and set off the OMEN as you leave, although it must be a small blast as Xenia is unharmed.
By this point, you’ll have likely finished experimenting with combinations of guns as there aren’t many at all. A pistol, SMG and shotgun along a few guns with specific uses, like one that shoots little remote control bomb and a poison one that stuns enemies (on you, it slows you down and is very annoying). While the dual wielding is the game’s defining feature, I found myself sticking to double handed guns as much as possible.
Oh look, it’s a dam. Specifically Hoover Dam, Dr No has a secret base inside (why? because they needed a reason to have a level involving a dam). He has a bomb inside so that the US government doesn’t attack him. You’ll blow up a lot of vehicles in this level, but it’s mostly the same as everything before it. Your objective is to get inside and blow up the bomb yourself – probably the most evil thing you do, and it’s in a cutscene.
After you send the bomb down a put to blow it up, Goldfinger’s right hand man (Oddjob) comes running at you and you throw him down the pit (all in a cutscene). I looked online to find out what just happened, and it turns out nobody else really knows. As you escape, Xenia knocks you out and it jumps back you you being in control and she’s in a aircraft shooting at you. I have no idea why.
In order to find the location of Crab Key, Dr No’s hideout, you need to attack “The Octopus”, a secret underwater base where members of not-legally-SPECTRE buy their weapons and make deals. The level starts with a hologram accepting you, while enemies suddenly start shooting you. The AI is quite decent, and they’ll use environmental hazards against you, but form this level onwards I noticed they quite often took each other hostage, and I have no idea what that’s supposed to achieve.
This level looks the nicest, with the evil lair them in overdrive and an octopus motif, but unfortunately has the same copy and pasted bland corridors as all the other levels. You do get to spend Goldfinger’s money, which is somewhat amusing.
Time to take on Crab Key. You’ll have to use your eye’s hacking ability in this level to activate bridges. You set up some bombs than disable Dr. No’s satellite, before defeating Dr. No himself in boss fight where you have to hack a bunch of buttons and then shoot him. As you head off to escape, Goldfinger says he doesn’t trust you and say he’s going to kill you. Luckily, you’re right next to Dr. No’s hanger bay.
After this, Goldfinger takes control of the organisation’s volcano lair by vaporising everyone with the OMEN. Scaramanga has a plan: first, you must free the prisoners in the detention centre (even though a second ago, it was stated that everyone was wiped out), then fight your way to Goldfinger.
It’s very hard to distinguish between allies and enemies, but there’s no consequences for killing them and they aren’t helpful anyway. You also encounter a new weapon based on the OMEN: a weapon that an vapourise enemies in one hit (other than the stronger enemies, who require multiple hits). While this sounds good, enemies have these and can also fire them repeatedly (much faster than you can) and you also die in one hit, so most deaths will be a shot from somewhere you haven’t seen.
Once you reach Goldfinger, he dies in a cutscene and the game is over. No final confrontation or anything.
For a game about you being a brutal, violent bad guy, it’s just a very generic shooting game with no blood or anything more violent than any other. You only ever fight other villains, and there are no innocent civilians in the game. The “dark and gritty” attempt at gameplay just doesn’t do either properly, and it at odds with the cheesy and silly story. This is a very poor game where the only enjoyment is how bad some parts are.
The game also ahs a basic multiplayer mode, which has a level based on the end of GoldenEye (the actual GoldenEye). It’s uses the same tedious gameplay, but catching each other out on the death traps provides some entertainment.
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Scene It? 007
- Original Release: 2002
- Developer: Mattel
- Publisher: Mattel
- Platform: Board Game
Scene It? is a series of DVD games that use a mixture of trivia cards and a DVD for asking questions. You move around the board and roll a dice to select category, which can be an answer from a card, or a DVD question that is either for all players or exclusive to you.
The DVD is nicely produced, with some good effects and well designed menus that make it look a lot more than it actually is. You select different options form the menu, but the questions themselves are from the same video files, regardless of what options you pick. These involve imagery appearing, sound clips or questions based on movie scenes, although these questions can range from being unrelated to the scene to asking for a tiny detail from it.
The big problem with Scene it? games – like most themed trivia games – is that you really need a group of fans who know a lot about the franchise. While some questions are about the other roles of the actors, it’s not enough to allow others to have fun. I think it says a lot that it’s easier to find a copy of Scene it? still in shrink-wrap than it is opened.
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GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (DS)
- Original Release: 2004
- Developer: n-Space
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: Nintendo DS
While this game isn’t being helped for being based on a console game that wasn’t very good, Rogue Agent on the DS is a great early example at what the DS can do. This is a full first person shooter that recreates the full game surprisingly well.
That said, it also shows the downsides of the DS, too, particularly in the controls. There are a few options: you can use the thumb stylus on the DS for something similar to dual analogue, but it feels awkward, especially pushing the buttons to activate powers and change weapons. Using a stylus is even worse and stops you form being able to fire weapons independently. Finally, you can use the ABXY buttons to look around, although there’s no analogue movement at all.
However, the level design is very impressive. A lot of the main elements from the levels of the main game are here. While levels have been shortened and some parts removed, a lot of this was boring copy and pasted corridors, so these versions of levels flow nicer. On top of that, there’s no loading screens between areas, it’s just one smooth run from beginning to end.
All the gameplay mechanics are here, with dual wielding being a focus, and taking hostages. Abilities make use of the select button, while your eye powers are activated from the touch screen. It captures the feeling of the full game extremely well, which is impressive for the DS…but unfortunately the original game wasn’t a good one.
There is one new gameplay feature in this version – buttons that you have to decode. This is a colour-based “Simon says” activity, which I found extremely difficult due to being colourblind. With the use of save states, I was able to get through these, but with if I was playing on the original cart, I would have been unable to get past these points.
In the hotel level, we start getting some deviancy from the main game. I realised that I hadn’t unlocked any extra eye powers yet, which was odd. This level features multiple simon says locks in a row, and when you escaped and set of the omen, Xenia is killed in the cutscene.
And that’s because the game skips the next few levels – the dam and the Octopus (so missing the best looking level of the game). I still hasn’t unlocked any other eye powers, but still encountered a bridge that requires the remote hacking, so I was stuck and had to look up what I needed to do.
It turns out that the “virtual missions” I had been unlocking and I was saving for the end are how you unlock the eye powers. The one for the hacking owner is a fun recreation of the final fight form The Man with the Golden Gun. After this, I was able to go back in the game and defeat Dr No, time for the final mission.
This skips out the pointless rescue of prisoners, so you can focus on Goldfinger. His death isn’t entirely a cutscene, as you get to use a “Simon says” minigame to take him out. You then have to escape by running back through the level, encountering Oddjob at the end (as we skipped the Dam mission, he didn’t have his random death), so it’s nice to have an actual final boss.
While this version of Rogue Agent doesn’t help it become a good game, it’s a good example of what the DS itself can do.
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Hopefully Rockstar can go back to being about fun. It's been over a decade since I last enjoyed one of their games.
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Sorry to disappoint you all, but no James Pond.
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
- Original Release: 2004
- Developer: EA Redwood Shores
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: GameCube, PS2, Xbox
- Version Played: GameCube
EA went all out with the story and presentation of Everything or Nothing, using writers that worked on the Brosnan Bond films as well as getting Pierce Brosnan to actually provide the voice of James Bond, and Willem Dafoe playing the main villain. It also moves to a third person view, which thankfully works well for this game. Even though I played the GBA version first, the story was so weak that this was practically brand new.
It starts off with a cold opening of Bond stopping the sale of a briefcase nuclear missile, which provides a way to get used to the aiming mechanics. You can’t just shoot where you want, you need to lock-on to enemies. While locked-on you can make fine adjustments to go for headshots. The system takes a bit to get used to. After the epic cold opening, we get a great Bond opening credit, with a great song to go with it.
After a brief tutorial showing you the other main aspects of the game, Bond gets sent to investigate a building, but you skip to Bond setting off a bomb and escaping, using the rappel mechanic, which lets you navigate up and down walls with ease. It’s an epic set piece and it’s moments like this where this game feels like an early Uncharted game. When the game flows, it flows really well.
Once you reach the ground, you get a vehicle section.
One little thing I appreciated about this is that you start out on foot and get into a car. While you can only get out of cars at certain points, it does help with the feeling of controlling Bond and not just a car -it merges the two gameplay styles well. The car handling doesn’t feel quite a smooth as Nightfire, but is still enjoyable, especially the more open stages later on.
Catching up to a train, you then board it and take out Jaws. While this game has a lot of levels, many are short, which really messes up the pacing of the game – going through the stats and saving takes ages. It doesn’t help that some levels just seem to end abruptly, sometimes in the middle of a room with no cutscene. The game would be a lot better if you could paly from start to finish without having to return to the save/mission select menu.
With your target fleeing on foot, you give chase in a helicopter. It’s a Star Fox-style on rails segment, but is a lot of fun and has some very impressive moments as you shoot through Egypt, causing a mass amount of damage to culture in the process. It ends in a nifty boss battle. You save the nanobots and give them to your partner, who hands them over to Dafoe of the film, a student of Max Zorin.
The next mission is “MI6 Interlude”, which is just a cutscene briefing you on the next part of the mission followed by Q explaining your gadgets – although oddly, he already explains them in the menu at the end of the previous mission. This kind of “interlude” pops up multiple times and it’s disappointing that you don’t get to walk around or test out your new toys.
Investigating the disappearance of 003, Bond heads to Peru, having to sneak by corrupt police using the stealth mode of his car. This map is fairly open, and there are multiple routes you can take. Bond tracks down a geologist that can help direct him to the Platinum mine he needs to find.
These mine missions are probably the weakest part of the game, with some tedious level design. The gunplay mechanics still make it enjoyable. Though a few levels, you’ll find 003 but fail to save him. In your escape you’ll encounter one of the few sections where you need your thermal imaging, which is handy for highlighting enemies. This section is also when my frustration with the targeting system surfaces, as shooting things like explosive barrels is a massive pain. You have to use “bond sense”, but it doesn’t like to target what you point at half the time.
As you escape, the villains throw the Bond girl, Serena, off a cliff. This is a very cinematic segment, but is by far the most difficult part of the game, requiring perfect moment and timing. You really need to start moving forward before the cutscene ends to have a chance of succeeding. Aftet this you take control of a tank – but unfortunately just the guns. After this an impressive motorbike chase as you board an MI6 plane as it takes off.
Off to New Orleans and there’s a new little open world driving section. You have to steal a truck to sneak into their warehouse to investigate. You then discover that your ally in the area, Mya (played by the singer Mya, who performed the song for the game) is in danger, and you have to race to save her. I was impressed that the game let me fail in the way it did: I didn’t think of stashing Bond’s car in the truck, so I couldn’t defeat the cars I needed. I had to quit the mission and start again to do it correctly, but I like that it doesn’t spell it out to you.
The next few levels are a bit of a detour as you chase Mya and eventually rescue her in a boss fight, having to flee in a limo with a bomb attached to it. You go get to use a remote control car to blow up a huge warehouse and then investigate the secret base where you discover what is actually happening: these nanomachines are programmed to dissolve metals. The villains plan to weaponize it and attack cities (a bit more ambitious than “shields” from the GBA version).
After destroying the manufacturing plant, you need to catch up to Jaws, who has escaped with a truck full of these nanobots, leading to a great chase scene as you rush down a highway in a motorbike, using the bike’s sliding gadget to dodge under tankers and then its flamethrower to melt the truck’s tires. With the full plan discovered, it’s time to head back to Peru.
Bond wants to meet the villain, Diavolo, face to face. Luckily for Bond, he has a policy of meeting winners of a rally face-to-face and there is one happening soon, so Bond stealthily murders an entire hotel to take the driver’s racing suit and proceeds to win the race, which is a lot of fun, then heads to the meeting. Diavolo knows that something is up right away (possible due to all the deaths, or the fact that he knows what Bond looks like) and both fail to kill the other. Bond does learn that Diavolo wants to take Russia first.
After Bond escapes in another car chase, he heads to the secret facility in Peru, but ends up getting knocked out by a dartgun. We wakes up strapped to a wall, with a giant drill in front of him. You get to perform the escape yourself, which is nice, before you sabotage the facility and escape. Time to head over to Russia, where Bond steals a “platinum tank”, equipped with shells and metal-eating nanomachines.
And this time, you get full control of it. This is a very enjoyable mission as you disable a bomb, destroy some supports holding up a road and then proceed to melt a helicopter. The helicopter is holding a giant statue of Diavolo, which smashes through the wall, creating a sinkhole that takes out all of the tanks. M contacts Bond to let him know that Diavolo has fled to a disabled nuclear missile facility.
Another cool repelling sequence as you dodge lasers and then fight Jaws for the final time. You make your way through the facility to the control room, where Bond discovered that the disarmed nukes have now been equipped with more nanomachines. You shut down the launch and blow up Diavolo in a rather anticlimactic way.
But he’s not dead yet! As you take the lift back up, Diavolo comes up in a fighter jet in a very difficult battle (especially due to the limited amount of rockets and the difficulty of aiming them). You blow up a payload of nanomachines and the jet crashes and explodes.
But Diavolo isn’t quite done yet. He escapes and sets off a final missile, directed at London. You fire a few rockets at him in his tower (so his final death is once again anticlimactic) and take out the missile, saving the world.
Everything or Nothing is a very fun game, but does feel disjointed to how the missions are cut up into small chunks. I personally prefer Nightfire, but they’re both great games. Everything or Nothing is a great early example of a game trying to be more cinematic feel, and it pulled that off really well, making this game feel like an adaptation of a film that never existed.
Everything or Nothing doesn’t have a normal multiplayer mode, but it does have co-op, where you play through four missions. These are mostly fighting through enemies until you reach a section where you both press a button, but they are enjoyable.
One small feature I haven’t touched upon is that this game works with the GBA version: link it up to the GameCube and you can get some hints and view your stats mid-mission. A very minor use.
Other versions
PS2 and Xbox
The PS2 and Xbox versions are the same game with slightly different graphic settings. These versions do have a benefit in that the thermal view can be toggled with a single button. The PS2 version also had online coop instead of just split screen.
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James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing: Agent Attack
- Original Release: 2004
- Developer: Electronic Arts
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: Browser
A flash game made to market Everything or Nothing. This is a very short lightgun-style shooting game. James Bond stands out in the open and enemies pop up, click on them to kill them. You can switch between a pistol and SMG.
After you run out of time or health, you could submit the score. The game takes place during the game’s “Nanotech Facility” mission, which has the description “Descriptive text about mission, very brief but similar to Everything or Nothing game to be placed here”.
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007 Ice Race (Flash)
- Original Release: 2004
- Developer: EON
- Publisher: EON
- Platform: Browser
A simple flash game to celebrate the launch of the James Bond DVD Collection “Buy Bond Get Bond Free” offer and the release of Die Another Day on DVD.
You can choose between the Aston Martin Vanquish, Lotus Esprit or Aston Martin DBS, but this has no impact on the gameplay. You move up the screen avoiding ice domes and other cars (which consist of copies of Bond’s cars and Zao’s Jaguar XKR) and see how long you can last before losing three lives.
Despite its simplicity, the game is buggy – the AI cars will often bounce off obstacles and quickly warp side to side, taking away most of hour health while being unavoidable.
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https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2023/231108.html
Produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, directed by Wes Ball. It will be financed and distributed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures.
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007 Ice Racer (ExEn)
- Original Release: 2002
- Developer: In-Fusio
- Publisher: Vodafone
- Platform: ExEn Mobile
007 Ice Racer is a mobile game published by Vodafone that had two different versions. This one was developed by In-Fusio for the Execution Engine, a special Java-based engine specifically developed for mobile phones, although it was only available on certain handsets. Luckily, an emulator for this engine exists – while it’s extremely laggy on menus, the game itself runs really well.
Ice Racer is a Rad Racer-style driving game. The objective is to reach the end of the level before the time runs out, avoiding obstacles and collecting bonuses (points, speed or time) along the way. It’s loosely based on Die Another Day, with you driving the Vanquish.
Before each of the four levels, you can buy power-ups from the Q Store, which requires sending an SMS. Luckily, the game is so incredibly easy that none of this is needed.
Each level starts with a blurb of text which has nothing to do with the level. For example the third level mentions following Jinx, but this level is different to the others: in this, you have to battle Zao by collecting rockets and firing one at him. Instead of a timer, you have limited fuel and can collect more by picking up cannisters.
The final level seems to have the superweapon from the end of the film blasting down (or it could be a waterfall), yet is the least icy level of the game. You get to the end and you win – it takes about 6 minutes to complete the game. It plays quite smoothly, but there isn’t much to it.
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007 Ice Racer (Java)
- Original Release: 2002
- Developer: Handy Games
- Publisher: Vodafone
- Platform: Java Mobile
As the Execution Engine was only available on select mobile phones, Vodafone commissioned a second, more basic, Ice Racer game for the phones that couldn’t run the main game.
This version does actually resemble the film more – it depicts a battle on the ice between Bond and Zao, using the weapons on their cars to combat each other. You can play as either Bond or Zao. Within the time limit, you have to blast apart the opponent without taking too much damage yourself.
Each “level” has the same background, but you just have different bonus weapons to use. In the second Bond level, you have a strange shunt attack which seems to damage Bond more than Zao, and doesn’t seem possible to defeat, meanwhile playing as Zao is incredibly easy.
This is a very basic game, just move up and down and shoot.
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007 Spy Files
- Original Release: 2002
- Developer: G E Fabbri
- Publisher: G E Fabbri
- Platform: Board Game
Spy Files was a partworks 32 issue magazine that was released as a lead-in to Die Another Day. Each issue came with a pack of random cards for their Spy Files game, with subscribers also being able to get tins to keep the cards in.
The cards game in four types: Allies, Location, Q Branch, Vehicles and Villains. You choose one of these categories to play and shuffle that deck of cards between each player.
The game is a Top Trumps style game – one person picks a category and whoever has the highest number on their current card wins. There are also two joker cards, which players can use to take all cards in a round when they don’t win.
There aren’t that many cards in each deck, so games don’t last long.
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James Bond 007: Nightfire (GBA)
- Original Release: 2003
- Developer: JV Games
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: Game Boy Advance
For the Game Boy Advance, this is a very ambitious game, attempting to recreate Nightfire on the GBA and keeping it as a first person shooter. The controls are similar to the PlayStation Bond games, using the shoulder buttons for strafing, so I was able to remap them into a more comfortable setup similar to dual analogue. Some things, like jumping and changing weapons, use multiple button presses, which takes time to get used to, but makes sense with the GBA’s limited buttons.
Similar to the PC version, this skips the intro and has no vehicle sections. It starts with the castle and you can’t even stay on the truck this time – but it’s more understandable this time. You can use it as cover as you navigate the impressive-for-GBA 3D environment and shoot the sprite enemies.
Sneaking inside and there’s some curious things about the cutscenes. They’re comprised of screenshots of cutscenes that look similar to the other versions and text. The rooms in the screenshots look like the PC cutscenes, however, Bond is the Agent Under Fire design and not Pierce Brosnan (even though he’s on the box). The inside of this is just a corridor and a door you have to shoot with the watch laser.
Escaping, this time the cable car doesn’t move as you fight the helicopter, although there’s no homing rockets. The levels are linear but, again, you expect that more on the GBA. This section of the game ends right here, not using the awful airfield mission from the PC game.
At the end of the mission you’ll get a store based on kills, accuracy and Bond style. You also lose a lot of points if you take your time with the level. If you don’t get a bronze score, you can’t progress to the next level. I thought this was ridiculous and used a mission select cheat for the few times I didn’t get a bronze.
The Japanese house is more straightforward, but still enjoyable. I did get stuck on one part, turned out a few blobs of pixels was a target for the grapple hook. Ammo also seems limited in this version, so you’ll often be using the same weapons as the enemies. The enemies, incidentally, will roll and crouch to dodge your shots, meaning that the enemy AI in this version is much better than the PC version.
Stealth in a GBA FPS is…actually not that bad. You have the dart pen from the PC version, but enemy sight isn’t as superb, which makes it more playable. Climbing up the window also makes an appearance again, but is thankfully just a cutscene. After collecting the data, it’s time to investigate how they disarm missiles.
Surprisingly, we have the console version of this level, and it features some very impressive recreations of the open areas. Considering the previous missions have been closer to the PC version, it’s great as to how well this recreates a console level, although this version has some more platforming instead of using wires to cross the level.
This then flows into the training facility level from the PC version. It skips the boring start and goes straight to being in a space suit underwater. You have full space controls, letting you move freely. It’s a fun level and shows how the two levels expand upon each other: the first has you investigating test jetpacks and lasers, the second has you testing out the spacesuit in underwater training.
Back to being closer to the PC version when Bond gets captured, this starts at the end of the lift segment, which I was grateful for. This mission isn’t as tediously long, so is quite enjoyable. I did notice enemies ducking a lot more here, so it’s nice that they don’t rely on just more health to make enemies more challenging.
Onto a much more condensed version of the beach level. Alura is with you from the start to help you take out enemies – no off-screen kidnapping. Due to its length, I enjoyed this more than the PC version of the level. The same is true of the penultimate level, which is based on the console version, but is less frustrating.
The final mission is, surprisingly, a recreation of the cinematic final mission from the console version, and a really good way to finish the game.
Apart form the annoying mission advancement requirement, this is a surprisingly good handheld port of the game. It’s fascinating that it uses elements from both versions of the game.
While it would never happen, I would love to see an updated version of Nightfire that is mainly based on the console version, but also includes the best parts of the other two.
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James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (GBA)
- Original Release: 2003
- Developer: Griptonite Games
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: Game Boy Advance
While the Game Boy Advance version of Nightfire came out after the home console version, the GBA’s version of Everything or Nothing came out a few months earlier than the main version. This time, it’s an isometric third person shooter.
The game throws you into a level after Bond has set up a bomb, he needs to escape, shooting some enemies and grappling down a wall (which doesn’t play any differently to moving on solid ground). No context is ever provided for this level, and after the around 40 seconds of running and mashing A, it’s over.
Bond has to investigate someone at a Casino event. This level serves as the game’s tutorial, explaining the shooting and stealth mechanics. You have to get very close to behind an enemy to do a stealth takedown. Quite often I thought I was close enough only for Bond to pathetically kick nothing but air. The screen space from the isometric view gives you very little room to actually be stealthy. The stealth is optional, though, usually being a bonus objective for points to buy extra upgrades.
The shooting is mainly just run around and mash A. There are three guns, but they don’t feel any different. You can crouch behind tables to lessen damage, but it’s far less effective than just shooting enemies.
After you infiltrate the casino, the guy you need has to go, so Bond may as well have just waited outside the door. You get a car chase, which is a lot like the classic Spy Hunter. In these, you have to destroy a boss vehicle while being attacked by other cards. Like stealth killing, it’s fun for about 30 seconds, but then it’s just the same thing over and over.
After this it’s time to scan things to get information in an old trainyard. You start to realise at this point that there isn’t much variety to the game. Here you stealth kill/shoot enemies and press B to do your scans. You get access to a hologram to make a decoy, but the limited screen space means it isn’t very useful – there’s very little actual gadget use in this game.
At the end of the level you’ll face off against Jaws, where he throws barrels at you. You’ll need to lure him over to the barrels he throws and blow them up. The story in this version very much takes a back seat. You’ll occasionally get some dialogue on missions, but most of it is a tiny bit of exposition given by M and Q.
Next you’ll team up with 003 (and then immediately split up) to attack a base in a jungle. There’s one section where you need to press three buttons within a time limit and the rappelling sections start up again. Other than that, it’s more aimlessly running around and shooting enemies. The levels are split up into small segments with checkpoints, and your health is restored at these moments. This level ends with a car segment that’s the same as the first.
Discovering their secret base, we roam a graveyard until we find the door, and then have to sneak in when someone enters, which is the only required stealth in the game. You discover that the villain has created nanobots that can eat through any metal (except platinum). These are then used as shields that stop bullets, so you have to punch these enemies. The plan is for his army to take over the world using these shields.
Ascending down into the secret underground levels of the secret base, this level is the nicest looking, as it’s built inside an ancient hidden temple. You just move down, shoot and then get ready for the most annoying mission of the game.
In the secret base, you get told that you can’t kill “civilians”, which are the guys in white suits. Unlike most games with objectives like this, these civilians are far from innocent. They’ll help the enemies out by firing darts at you. These reverse your controls, which is one of the laziest and most annoying things that video games do. You can punch the scientists and it doesn’t count as a kill. Another car chase follows and it’s time for the final mission.
This is just one long corridor. You do get given a cloaking device, but this is very useless as enemies are positioned in a way where you can’t go past them (they see through the cloak if you get close enough). At the end you get two boss fights. The first is Jaws again as you lure him into broken computers, the second is against the main villain who is immune to all of your attacks for seemingly no reason. You have to kill waves of enemies then shoot flashing laser towers that zap him for some reason.
And you’re done. The game is around 2 and a half hours long if you’re taking your time. The game is more suited to the GBA than Nightfire, but is far less interesting as a result.
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007 Hover Chase
- Original Release: 2003
- Developer: IOMO
- Publisher: Vodafone
- Platform: Java Mobile
- Not played: Not compatible with Java emulators
Another Java game for Vodafone mobile games based on Die Another Day – this time from the hovercraft chase at the start of the film. Unfortunately, this uses specific Vodafone Live! Java components, which are currently not part of any J2ME emulator.
In this game, you try to see how far you can last in an unending level, shooting enemies, avoiding obstacles and collecting powerups.
There were some additional unlockable game modes, such as racing round a set track and battling another hovercraft in a small arena.
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James Bond in…Phoenix Rising
- Original Release: Announced in 2002
- Developer: Eurocom
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: PS2, GameCube, Xbox
I found conflicting reports about Phoenix Rising, such as claims that this was a Bond Game in the style of Everything or Nothing, but a sequel to Nightfire, and that it was dropped and replaced with From Russia With Love because Pierce Bronsan was no longer James Bond.
The truth seems much, much simpler. An IGN article from 2002 talks about the announcement of Project Rising as a working title for the next James Bond game.
Project Rising isn’t a lost and cancelled James Bond game – it’s simply a working title for Nightfire. I wanted to include this in this write-up due to it being mentioned in a few places as a cancelled James Bond game, to clarify what it actually is.
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James Bond 007: Nightfire
- Original Release: 2002
- Developer: Eurocom
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2
- Version Played: GameCube
Returning after the N64 version of The World is Not Enough, Eurocom make the next EA Bond game with another unique story. This time, it stars Pierce Brosnan’s face (but still not his voice), although is still a sequel to Agent Under Fire, with some returning characters.
The game starts with a cold opening, going straight into the game (which is a good idea, but you can’t access the game’s settings until you reach the main menu) where you have to rescue a French spy, who is in the middle of a car chase. It starts off with a turret section where you’re shooting from a helicopter, which I usually find annoying but this has a good spectacle and is fine to introduce the game.
Before long, you get to transition into the Vanquish, driving through the streets of Paris. It doesn’t have the cloaking device from Die Another Day, but will have its own surprises later on. The driving missions are more linear than Agent Under Fire, but still a ton of fun. This one is very short, though, which is a shame.
This is followed by the first unique Bond Opening Credits with a new song, which very much sets the tone for the game: This is definitely a Bond adventure.
A space defence station has been stolen by an unknown organisation. MI6 have a suspect: a company that deals with disarming nuclear missiles. They’re having a party in a remote castle and it’s up to Bond to infiltrate it and meet up with other secret agents.
You have a few ways to get into the courtyard, stealth or full on assault. There’s a handy truck that you can use to get past a few of the guards. The shooting in the game is solid and enjoyable, and a good amount of the game has a few options for proceeding.
As Bond gets rid of his snow gear to infiltrate a party in his tux, we get a good look at his face – which his is very well detailed – so much it has an uncanny valley effect as it looks so much better than his body or any other face in the game.
You get to sneak around the party and sit in on a secret meeting until one of the other spies are discovered, you have to shoot though enemies to get to her (there’s more alternative routes) – although she’s already saved herself and stolen important documents. Escaping via a cable car, you get attacked by a helicopter, which you need to defeat.
The next section is an alright turret section, but is again followed by a car section
I love this mission, it captures the spirit of a Bond car chase very well, having to combat enemies as well as slowing down police without harming them. As you swap between weapons, you get to see them come out of secret compartments and there’s even a proper first person view if you prefer. You can also unlock a race version of the level – so not only are the vehicle sections massively better than 007 Racing, but it even has an actual race.
Gadgets are done in a very simple way: in different parts of the level it changes to what you need, such as a smokescreen when the police are nearby. It’s a bit too basic and lacks player choice, but it helps keep the pace of the driving.
Off to Japan to pick up someone defecting with information on operation “Nightfire”. His house gets attacked, so you need to protect him – he’s actually pretty good at staying out of the way. It’s a fun level with plenty of hidden secrets, and the rain makes a nice atmosphere.
At the end, your informant gets killed by a ninja that you have to deal with, but he tells you where you need to go to get the information with his dying breaths.
Time for a stealth level. Unlike stealth levels in previous games, I enjoyed this. You have a dartgun, but ammo is scarce so it’s only for emergencies, but it’s definitely enough. Some areas have detection lasers (which you can see with one of the modes of your glasses), but exploration rewards you with ways to disable these.
One you get the data, you have to fight your way to the roof, fight another helicopter and jump off the building.
Time to find out what this organisation is really up do, infiltrating one of the facilities that they are “disarming”. This level comprises of two warehouses connected by a fairly open area, you discover a jetpack and a laser turret that you use to blow upon a door. It’s a solid level that uses Bond’s grapple more, along with climbing over wires.
Bond gets double crossed and captured by the enemy. You’re back in the phoenix level from earlier, but you get to blast your way through everyone this time. It’s simple, but it’s nice to revisit the stealth level in this way. At the end, Bond is rescued by an Australian agent, but Bond isn’t flirty due to a death at the start of this level, which is a nice moment for Bond.
Time to return to the Vanquish….underwater! This is what I wanted from the underwater base level of 007 Racing. The controls work very well and you have a remote controlled torpedo. It’s a very fun level although is let down at the end: you encounter an enemy sub that can take you out in seconds. Trying to figure out how to defeat is isn’t an issue – the problem is that you start from the very beginning of the level when you die.
Onto the island and you take on of their weaponised cars, blasting through their turrets. This is fun, but also has the same problem as the previous level: there’s a section at the end where you can die very quickly, with no checkpoints. The second part of this level is some decent turret sections.
Infiltrating the hidden base…I really hated this level. The first part is a fake chase – the progress of the enemy is based on when you hit certain locations. You then have to blow up some panels. I kept dying when this happened so had to look it up. Turns out there are red and green parts (I’m colourblind) and if you shoot the red, you die. Someone you blew up in a helicopter returns, announcing he’ll deal with Bond himself to pay him back for his injuries.
The level is mainly shooting through lots of enemies in really boring looking corridors. You do get access to a neat laser and have to escape the blast pit of a space shuttle (with an anti-climatic fight against the guy vowing revenge).
Bond is now in space. You have to break the launch mechanism of nuclear warheads and deal with waves of enemies. You can move around quite freely and a handy HUD display helps you keep track of which missiles are launching and when new enemies appear. It’s very cinematic and is a great spectacle to finish on.
Nightfire is a great Bond game. This story captures the films really well, with really fun combat, nice use of gadgets to find secret and alternative routes and very enjoyable driving missions.
Other Versions
PS2 & Xbox
The game itself is mostly identical to the GameCube version, just with minor changes in graphics settings. The Xbox version has the highest quality textures, but the GameCube version ran the smoothest, running at 60fps.
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James Bond 007: Nightfire (PC)
- Original Release: 2002
- Developer: Gearbox
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: PC
In the 2000s, you would seemingly expect that the PC version of a game like this would be a port of a console version. However, the PC version of Nightfire was developed separately by Gearbox. While they had access to some of the same resources of the console version, the differences are rather interesting.
The biggest difference is how the game feels. The PC version is built using the “GoldSrc” engine that was built for the original Half-Life (and Gearbox-developed Counter Strike). While this may sound like a positive thing, in Nightfire it just feels floaty and dethatched. Its limitations are very clear in this game and you can see why Valve created Source for Half-Life 2.
This version completely skips the opening section – it skips all vehicle sections. It opens up at the castle where M tells you to get into the truck (in the console version, they let you figure this out). The problem is…this is a closed top truck. There’s no way to get in it. You can get on top of it and crouch, but enemies still stop you. You get a “Bond move” jingle but it really doesn’t feel deserved.
Inside the castle walls and the game feels a lot more linear. Gadgets are used to find extra ammo and armour, but not for alternative routes. It’s very straightforward and just feels restrictive.
Upon getting inside the party, I was surprised to find that the cutscenes, while pre-rendered, actually reflect the different level design of this version. You also have an extra objective here: take photos of all the women. The game has a reason for it (which doesn’t affect the story in any way) and it just feels a bit strange and creepy. On that note – the X-ray glasses show skeletons for men, but reveals underwear for women.
Escaping this castle and everything just feels less detailed than the console version, and this section once again is just a single path.
Instead of the car chase escape, we have to sneak into an airfield to disable backup and get a plane to escape. Get spotted before a certain point and it’s game over (on the plus side, this game does let you save mid-mission). You get asked to deal with searchlights, but they make no difference: enemies in this game have amazing eyesight and you’ll find yourself randomly failing the mission often, having no idea who spotted you. Also, while this level looks open, there’s still only one way to progress.
Half way through the mission and it becomes an escort mission as you use a sniper to protect your ally, Zoe. At least in this, the enemy’s extreme eyesight means they often take pot shots at you instead of their target. The enemy AI is pretty non-existent, they never look for cover or dodge. On multiple occasions, they lost track of Bond and just shot at nothing for eternity.
The Japanese house level is more of the same feeling: this is a toned down and linear version. There are some nice secret routes in the console version which are just gone here. That said, even though it feels linear, it’s oddly also easy to get lost. The lack of enemy AI also makes the ninja fight extremely easy.
Back to stealth. One positive change is that your dart gun is now a pen, which suits Bond more. The problem is that the level design is still terrible and the enemies can see you from astounding distances (the game, knowing this, puts enemies on walkways you can’t get to). I also had to look up how to progress – turns out a keycard wasn’t being rendered.
Half way though this level you get to climb up the wall. This is very cool…to start with. This section goes on for what feels forever as you wait under windows for enemies to turn around. There’s more tedious stealth but on the roof, you get to enter a penthouse, which is a nice change to jumping straight to the helicopter fight.
Next up is the game’s best level – and one that wasn’t in the console version. You have to infiltrate an astronaut training facility. You also get a cutscene that happened in the second to last level of the console version, as one of the villains vows revenge on Bond.
The first part of this isn’t anything special, but then you get into a space suit and enter the training – cleverly done by being underwater. You don’t get full underwater or space controls, though, it’s more of a low gravity with Bond jumping higher and slower. It does end with a good battle with the villain, so he has a better moment in this.
Bond gets captured in the same way, but this level is different. Bond is trapped in a lift and enemies take out huge chunks of their building to take pot shots. It’s incredibly tedious and ends with a really hard to see grapple point (the first time you have to use it) and if you don’t use it quickly enough, you die. The rest of the level is an extremely long slog. It felt like it would never end.
Time for another vehicle-replacement mission. As you start, your objectives pop up saying “Agent McCall has been taken hostage by Phoenix Commandos. Find and rescue Alura”. This capture doesn’t happen in a cutscene (even though this cutscene is exclusive to this version) and isn’t mentioned in dialogue, that objective is all you get, after she was just introduced saving Bond a few seconds earlier.
This mission is fine, there’s some surprisingly open sections – although inly in terms of empty spaces, the level progression is still extremely linear. This mission is decent.
While I hated the penultimate mission in the console version, this one is just very, very tedious and boring. Difficulty in this game is all over the place, and done entirely by just throwing a ton of enemies at you. Enemies on the island also take a lot more hits than previous missions, because bullet sponges and more enemies are all the game can do for difficulty.
The final mission is extremely anti-climatic. You have an annoying jumping section (using a similar jetpack mechanic as Agent Under Fire where you get one burst upwards, although it likes to just not work sometimes) and disarm the nuclear missiles in a small room, before shooting the big bad as he stands around. The first time this level loaded for me, I didn’t have the spacesuit or laser, which was quite confusing as I couldn’t progress.
The PC version of Nightfire is just strange, and comes across in many ways like a PS1 title. It does have one mission which would have been nice to see in the console version, and a few interesting ideas, but ultimately, it’s not fun to play.
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The World Is Not Enough (PS2)
- Original Release: Cancelled in 2001
- Developer: Unknown
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: PlayStation 2, PC
- Not Played: No leaked prototypes
On top of the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation versions of The World is Not Enough, another version was planned for PlayStation 2. It was going to feature 11 large environments, 30 weapons and gadgets, motion capture, dialogue from the film and 20 minutes of film footage.
A short trailer was released, but the game was cancelled half way through development, opting to make a unique adventure instead.
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James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire
- Original Release: 2001
- Developer: EA Redwood Shores
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2
- Version Played: GameCube with Reloaded Mod
A first person shooter with an all-new storyline. This one doesn’t license the likeness of Pierce Bronson, so at least we don’t have the issue of someone else’s voice coming from his face. The default controls are dreadful, but the options provide a modern style shooter setup. I played using the “Reloaded” mod, which adds widescreen, some nicer textures and removes the screen turning white every time you get shot.
The game starts off in a really nifty offshore biodome facility, straight away you have the option of hacking the front door or using a grappling hook to sneak in through the roof. When you perform “Bond moves” you get a flashing golden 007 and a Bond jingle. This level serves as a good introduction to the mechanics. You’re trying to locate a box containing a virus and rescue a CIA spy, Zoe Nightshade. You find her strapped to a submarine, with sharks circling in the water.
After escaping the facility, you get a vehicle section…but unfortunately it’s an on rails turret mission. There are some cool set pieces (and probably hundreds of civilian casualties), such as blowing up a petrol station to take out multiple cars and a helicopter. After recovering the case of viruses for the second time, R pops up to advertise Bond’s new car. Considering they have a new Bond, I have no idea why the went with “R”, especially as that name for John Cleese was a joke from Bond, not his official title. A few earlier games had John Cleese as “R”, but in this, he’s an old man and the voice actor chose a voice much more like Desmond Llewelyn.
After Nightshade gets a rocket to the face from the villain’s super assassin, we get to control the car this time. The driving feels great, and the level has lots of branching paths. Like 007 Racing, the power ups are dotted across the paths, but you can overlook it more as this is very enjoyable to play. You need to get a pulse and knock out an armoured van.
Time for a stealth mission as you infiltrate a British embassy, you have a dart gun with limited ammo, but you can also knock out enemies via punching. There are a few alternate routes through the level using gadgets, which is common across the game. Bond nearly breaks his cover by spending too long ogling a woman. Bond comes across a bit like a clumsy oaf in this game, getting distracted by women instead of seducing them. After discovering the use of clones, it’s time to pose as a journalist and speak to the CEO behind them.
As Bond is told to wait in the CEO’s office, he realises that his cover has been blown immediately – the CEO is the woman he got caught perving on in the previous mission. This mission offers a bit of optional stealth as you go through grates and take photos of evidence, before hacking the computers and escaping through an underground lair.
This level is actually a lot of fun, although I don’t think it needs a timer (apparently it’s a timer until you get sealed in the base, but that happens later on anyway). There’s some hidden routes and a fancy weapon through a secret door – or you can smash through a window and set an alarm off to get it.
You found out that the super assassin from earlier is attacking a different British embassy to find someone who has stolen information from their group. I found this part confusing as you get told to go to “R’s” safehouse on the other side of the embassy, but its down a few other streets. You rescue hostages as you go though, get given a puzzle to find a hidden door (I worked it out and opened the door before M finished the clue, it’s very obvious) and fight the super assassin, who takes a lot of damage. You then have to take our a helicopter, which is easier to deal with.
Time for another driving section in a classic Aston Martin. You have to locate a few objects in the city, and I enjoyed this mission a lot – it shows that something like 007 Racing could be a really good game. If you perform well enough, you can even unlock a Lotus Esprit. Having to jump over a river, Bond ends up crashing his car into a warehouse. Luckily for Bond, there just happens to be a fully armed tank right where he crashed.
Sadly, this tank part is very disappointing, as it’s another turret section and you spend almost all of it using a minigun (you have very limited tank shells). It goes on for far too long. The final part is also very confusing, two tanks turn up near a bridge and if you start shooting them, you’ll fail the mission. You have to carefully aim for fuel tanks on a train passing on top of a bridge.
If the game was good with checkpoints, this would be a mild annoyance, but you go back to the very start of a tank section. Mess up two or three times (depending on difficulty), and you’ll end up at the start of the car mission. The lives system is just annoying, especially as the only checkpoints are when a new section of the level is loaded.
Now we have to investigate an oil rig using a jetpack, which sounds a lot cooler than it is. When fully fuelled up, you get a single burst upwards. The level itself is enjoyable, with some fun hidden routes and a few ways to climb up the tower at the end. Bond gets distracted by a woman and the main henchman pushed him off the tower.
Luckily for Bond, diving off the tower into a pool is actually the entrance to the villain’s secret base. Unfortunately for Bond, this is another tedious and overly long turret section. The henchman climbs into a large machine at the end for a boss fight. If you don’t figure out what to do quick enough it’s back to the last checkpoint…which is the start of the level.
Now it’s time to take care of the cloning lab. While in the previous mission, M said that this facility was too shielded to talk to Bond, she tells Bond that he’ll have to figure out how to take out the place without explosive, then straight away tells him how to do it.
This mission introduces the elite guards, which take more damage and are more aggressive. There are also two possible endings to this, depending on if you find a hidden keycard, which alters the start of the next mission. As Bond tries to escape in a submarine, he meets the CIA agent he saw get killed before, who is freely wondering around the submarine. She claims that the person that was killed was the clone, who was supposed to infiltrate the secret services before the super assassin accidentally killed her instead of Bond. Bond finds none of this suspicious.
Now on a aircraft carrier, either escaping from the ship’s brig or infiltrating from a boat (depending on the ending of the previous mission), M contacts Bond to tell him that he needs to get to the ship’s communications room so she can inform him about the current situation (couldn’t they have Bond do some of these briefings so they made sense?). You get to take out the clones of the world leaders and foil the plans of this group using them to replace the real ones from taking over the world (it probably would have been cheaper to bribe them).
With the clones taken care of, it’s time to rescue the real world leader in the final mission…which is probably the most boring mission of the game. While the outside view is nice, the base is really boring internally, as you go between missile silos killing enemies that are holding the world leaders hostage.
The CEO sets off a self destruct timer and the main henchman returns (you killed his clone earlier) and you shoot him a lot before he flees into the CEO’s office. Your first instinct is to strafe to dodge rockets, however if you do, you’ll die due to the rest of the floor blowing up (and having to do the whole fight again). If you manage to resist this urge you’ll shoot him a bit more then escape on a jet piloted by Nightshade. The game then fades to black.
And…that’s it. There’s no actual ending cutscene. We have no idea if the main villain or world leaders escaped, or if they all blew up. If you complete the game on the highest difficulty you do unlock a bonus video…which is just a clip show of the Bond moves in the game.
Agent Under Fire has really fun gameplay. The main missions are enjoyable and the car missions are great. The turret missions are tedious and something about the game makes it feel like a parody of James Bond instead of an actual Bond game. It feels like a decent starting point to expand on.
Other Versions
PS2 and Xbox
The game itself is mostly identical to the GameCube version, just with minor changes in graphics settings. The PS2 version has the least compressed textures.
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007 Racing
- Original Release: 2000
- Developer: Eutechnyx
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: PlayStation
The must surprising thing about 007 Racing is the complete lack of one thing: Racing. This is a vehicle combat game with missions you need to complete. With the game utilising multiple famous Bond cars, you might then expect to be a “greatest hits” of Bond car movements, but this is a new story (a very dull one, mostly in told via walls of texts in briefings) that doesn’t even attempt to justify why these cars are being used.
Developed by Eutechnyx, who are now best known for the infamous Ride to Hell: Retribution, this takes an interesting concept (a vehicle-based Bond game) and butchers it in every way possible.
Starting off with a mission where you have to cancel the Bond Girl from a courtyard and escape, I was able to adapt the controls – as this lets you use the right analogue stick for acceleration/breaking, I was able to map it to the analogue triggers.
You start the level off with a machine gun, all the other weapons and gadgets (mainly health and shields) are scattered across the map. Your main weapons for stronger targets (like tanks) are hellfire missiles, but these damage your car whenever you fire them, and aiming them is a pain (they alternate what side of your car they fire from, which changes their aiming). Special missiles are required to take down a helicopter – use it wrong and you need to restart.
Next, Bond is in New York and there’s a bomb on his car! You can’t to too slow or else it will blow up, you need to rush around following the Crazy Taxi arrow to collect…things to increase your time, then drive the car into a river. Incidentally, the simplicity of this mission makes it the most enjoyable in the game. The handling isn’t atrocious, but it doesn’t feel very natural or reliable.
This BMW also seems to handle exactly the same as the Austin Martin from the first, and as all weapons are pickups, none of the cars have any identity or special abilities, so the one thing this game might have going for it – the Bond cars – just strips away what makes them Bond cars.
The next level is one where you get ambushed and is in three parts. The first is simple: kill all enemies in a small arena. One thing to note is that foot soldiers never count as important targets, they just whittle down your health. You also can’t run them over, removing another potentially satisfying element from the game.
The second part of this level has forklifts driving at high speed and ramming into you. R (played by John Cleese) tells you to look for a weak point in their armour to exploit – this is a lie. This game has immensely unclear instructions, and you’ll fail many objectives simply because the game never makes it clear what you are supposed to do. The third part has you using an EMP to destroy “computers”. This is a weapon that shoots a little bit our of the right side of your car. I’ll be honest: this mission was so frustrating that I just started using cheats.
The next level has you shooting tires on a truck using lasers that fire out of the sides of the car.
The next three levels are set in the Mexican jungle. The first is fine, trying to keep ahead of a helicopter then hiding the car in a truck. The second has Bond taking on an enemy compound from within, using a device to blow up mines (which the enemy has oddly placed right next to all their artillery – the device to blow them up is just lying around), setting up a laser and escaping (although you have 10 seconds and no direction).
The third is almost a race – Xenia pops up out of nowhere. You need to race her while collecting objects, although the game doesn’t make this clear, so you’ll probably be fighting and then get a cutscene of Xenia escaping with a British parachute attached to her car. If you do beat her, make sure to pick up and use the parachute, or else you’ll just die. When you succeed, Xenia falls to the bottom of the pit and explodes, but obviously is fine by the time of GoldenEye.
The most annoying level is up next: you control a car remotely from warehouse cameras, planting mines. To make it more annoying, the cameras are low quality and fizz every now and then, and there are some tiny thing driving around.
Then you have to collect missiles and destroy a boat driven by Jaws, go close to limos in New York to collect data. The next mission sounds intriguing: take out an underwater base in the Lotus Esprit.
But then the level starts with Bond driving out of water. Using it is the same as all of the rest, and we have another tedious level that doesn’t utilise the car’s unique abilities in any way. R even clumsily explains that many of the underwater features were removed for weapons – but then the weapons are on the map, not on the car, so it still makes no sense.
The final mission is then horrendously designed. It sounds simple: destroy a plane’s engines, destroy the plane and escape off a cliff. The execution, however, is atrocious. You can’t use the car’s gun at this point (no idea why), so you have to ram the engines.
The engines are only vulnerable when they flash (there’s no shielding or reasoning for this), and there’s no consistency when you ram them. If it doesn’t work first time, the plane flies off and you have to start again. You have to do this with all four engines. After this, the plane turns around (very quickly) and rams you. This is where you use the car’s gun, except that instead of the usual method, you have a first person view to manually aim.
Where you start aiming seems completely random, it’s not ahead of you so you have a 50/50 chance of turning to the right direction. You have a few seconds to aim and shoot a little box hovering under the plane, and then very quickly dodge the plane and drive off a cliff (thankfully, you get an arrow for this). It’s by far the worst designed level in the game, and it’s the climax!
There’s also a multiplayer mode for two players. There ate two modes: shoot each other or ram into each other to pass a bomb over. These take place in small areas and aren’t much fun at all. Again, I’m completely baffled by the complete lack of racing.
A vehicle combat James Bond game isn’t a bad idea, even a racing game with classic Bond cars can be done well. This game, however, is just a complete mess that throws away everything unique about Bond’s cars.
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The World Is Not Enough (GBC)
- Original Release: 2001
- Developer: 2n Productions
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: Game Boy Color
After the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation version of The World Is Not Enough comes the Game Boy Color version, which is very obviously different. It takes a top down view with Bond shooting, punching and sneaking his way though levels. Graphically, the game looks quite nice on the GBC, with the simple sprites and detailed backgrounds working well together.
Starting with the bank level, you wander around the large, empty level, there are no staff working for the bank, so you start wandering around empty rooms. Eventually you’ll find a lift and find Lachaise’s office and trigger a cutscene, you then get into your first fight and punch a few guards. The first time playing I missed the briefcase and the game lets you walk to nearly the end of the level before encountering a locked door.
The lift you used no longer works, so you have to move through the nonsensical winding corridors to reach stairs, killing guards along the way. I tried using a pistol, but Bond takes so long to fire that I kept getting punched in the face, so running towards them and punching is much more effective – although even easier is just running past the guards and ignoring them. You’ll eventually reach the exit and find the next level.
MI6 is under attack, taking cues from the N64 level, you have to defend the building and get to Q’s lab. However, you need to undo the lockdown to progress. To do this, you need to find hidden buttons and activate them – although they don’t sometimes don’t seem to work. I found myself pressing both buttons on a floor, going to the doors and finding them shut, and going back and forth multiple times, pressing the buttons, until they actually worked.
I did manage to skip some backtracking in this level: you’re supposed to find a secret code to unlock Q’s lab, but it’s very easy to just work out the combination anyway.
The Themes Chase level is also clearly inspired by the N64 game, as this goes through some docks, a warehouse and the London Underground. The fist part is straightforward, but the other two sections are extremely tedious maze-like sections.
The odd thing is, the mazes are incredibly simple. You walk to a blocked path, then go down a side path to press a button. The problem is that these winding paths are extremely long, and most of the game is just boring padding like this, especially as you usually encounter enemies one at a time where they aren’t a problem (in some select locations, fights are extremely difficult). In the Undergrown, you have to blow up a wall because some turnstiles only move in a certain direction.
Electra’s House is up next, with this level having three distinct parts. You can’t be spotted by enemies here, and punching doesn’t stun them for long enough, so you can’t do that, either. You have to navigate the level collecting keycards, perfectly moving through laser traps (they don’t hurt you, they just alert the guards and you instantly fail the level) and avoiding cameras.
Then you go through the hedge maze in the garden. You can kill enemies here, and you can find a hedge trimmer that is slow, but timed right can kill enemies in one hit. Some paths to ammo/health pickups will cause the ground to collapse, so when you return you have to fall down the hole and get transported to a random shed.
I found a dead end and had the idea of using the hedge trimmer on it, but it didn’t work, after lots of aimless wondering around, I ended up looking up a guide. It turns out I had the right idea: you do need to destroy the bit of hedge to progress, but you need to shoot it three times.
In the third section, you have to chase Davidoff through a forest. If he spots you, you fail. He’ll randomly run and turn around, making this part incredibly annoying. You’ll eventually reach a part where you get to kill him, and the game takes control away from you and does it.
After this, you have to find the Bomb that Renard is after. This borrows more from the PlayStation game: even tough you’re authorised to be there, you have to sneak around. This combines the stealth of Elektra’s house with the back and forth nature of the Thames level, making it both tedious and annoying. You’ll eventually reach the bomb and have to chase Renard.
However, the game is now a 2D side scrolling platformer. The shoot button now makes Bond jump, where he has a very specific jumping arc with zero control once you hit the jump button. If you take any amount of time to get used to the controls, you’ll fail, as this is actually a timed section (the game doesn’t let you know about this). Once you make it to the end, you have to make it all the way back, collecting mines and blowing up doors along the way.
The next level is fairly basic, more back and forth finding keys and unlocking doors, with plenty of backtracking. At the end of the level, you have to face the buzz saw helicopter. This is another platforming section as you use ladders and jumping to navigate, like a badly made copy of the original Donkey Kong. You’ll need to find the rocket launcher (but if you take too long it gets destroyed) or grenade launcher to fight it. It’s quite neat that the higher platforms get destroyed as the fight progresses.
Skipping straight to Bond getting captured, you get to play the torture scene in this game, using the A and B buttons to regain health – a bit like Metal Gear Solid. Do it well and you get full health, do poorly and the torture will end just before Bond dies. Elektra than locks herself away, and actually survives this version of the game. It’s another back and forth maze level as you trudge through to find a watch laser to use on a cell door to save M, then rush out to the submarine.
On the submarine, instead of trudging back and forth to navigate a linear path, you have to trudge back and forth to find bombs to blow up each part of the control room. What makes this even more “fun” is that enemies respawn in this level. You need to press a button to open every single door, for absolutely no good reason. Once you blow up the control room, you head to the reactor.
Back to 2D platforming as you have to make your way up a very long room. As said before, Bond’s jumping arc is terrible, and with the moving platforms (some that become electrified), this section is utterly horrible. Some of the platforms look like background objects, and some of the background objects look like obstacles. Bond doesn’t take any fall damage at least, which is handy, especially when you land on an edge of a platform where Bond stays for a second and then falls down.
Once you reach the top, you’ll find Christmas Jones tied up and Renard – yet again, this is oddly reminiscent of Donkey Kong. As Renard and Bond are face you face, you expect a boss fight, but not. The game takes control away as Bond strangles Renard for half a second and Christmas Jones goes form being tied up to just jumping around. You get the final screen of a hole in the submarine and then the game cuts straight to the title screen.
The Game Boy Colour version of The World Is Not Enough is terrible. The game is difficult in the wrong ways, and most of the game is just padding in the form of walking back and forth through very basic mazes.
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The World Is Not Enough (N64)
- Original Release: 2000
- Developer: Eurocom
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: Nintendo 64
While Tomorrow Never Dies skipped out on the Nintendo 64, The World Is Not Enough made a return, developed completely separately from the PlayStation version of the game. The N64 version of TWINE is heavily inspired by GoldenEye, following the same style of missions and level structure, but also tries to make the game more cinematic.
Eurocom managed to fit a lot onto the N64 controller. Jumping is now an option, and crouch is just one button. Through button combinations, you can switch between items and gadgets separately, as well as activate alternative fire modes for the guns. Looking up and down is a bit awkward as you either have to hold down the aim button, or use the D-pad (which is a little bit out of the way on an N64 controller) – but this means that it’s quite easy to reconfigure the game to fit a dual analogue controller.
Starting off with a nice simple tutorial level in a bank, this serves as a good introduction of the game’s mechanics, using gadgets and (on harder difficulties) erasing camera footage – this had a few extra objectives for harder difficulties, just like GoldenEye.
The cutscenes in this have voice overs (but not the actors from the films) and are recreated in the game engine, with the story being rewritten so that the game itself makes sense without having to have seen the film. I much prefer this way of doing things, as it helps keep the game’s identity throughout the whole thing.
Back at MI6 headquarters, not only does a bomb go off, but it gets invaded by goons, you have to fight them off, as well as putting out fires, protecting staff and enabling the security systems. It’s a really fun level, and is a great example of how the game expands upon scenes of the film.
After the boat chase (which you don’t get to play), you chase the assassin through docks along the Themes, a straightforward level that introduces the grapple function of the watch, which can be used in certain spaces to climb upwards, adding some verticality to some levels.
Taking advantage of the London setting, the assassin then proceeds into the Underground, having her goons take hostages and setting up a Bomb to try to slow Bond down. The trains are a bit crazy as you have to dodge them, but it’s very enjoyable, and you have to reach the assassin’s hot air balloon before she escapes.
The levels in The World Is Not Enough to a good job of feeling alive and like real locations. I would have liked a few that are less linear, but they’re still enjoyable.
Next up is a skiing mission, which is done in quite a simple way, feeling a bit like a light gun shooter. You can move left/right a bit and can speed up and slow down. There are a few targets that you need to hit, which can be a bit difficult and require restating the mission, which can be a bit annoying.
Next up is the main stealth mission – in most other missions, stealth is optional, but works quite well. Your watch has a “stun” function which, really, is utterly useless – it just makes enemies wiggle and it stops right after you stop firing it at them. Luckily, your watch has a dart which does knock enemies out – or you can punch them to sleep.
Here, you sneak around the grounds of Elektra’s house (and a little bit inside), tapping phones and taking photos of evidence. There are are few villains you need to avoid completely. I remember as a kid taking ages on this level, but once you have the guard patterns down, it isn’t too difficult.
The following two levels are probably the weakest, but still not bad. One has you chasing after a henchman to replace him, you can be stealthy or as loud as you want (just be prepared for a lot of enemies). Then you try to stop Renard from stealing a bomb, meeting up with Christmas Jones and escaping from an explosion.
The “cities of walkways” mission is split into two levels. The first is a fairly typical level as you fight some enemies to reach a computer containing evidence, while the second has you dodging helicopters with buzzsaws and is a great level, as you jump around on platforms that are being sliced then grab a fancy rocket launcher and guide missiles into an attacking chopper.
A few more decent levels follow as you chase a traitor though Istanbul, then you get captured and have to rescue M and kill Elektra, then it’s on to infiltrating Renard’s submarine. You start off on the docks and have to kill the guards efficiently enough to avoid them setting off the alarm. Then you climb into the submarine – with no loading screen, which I thought was impressive when the game came out in order to rescue Dr. Jones and disable the submarine controls.
The final level has a lot of swimming as you navigate the damaged submarine. The controls take some time to get used to, but it’s not so bad once you do – although as you had limited time in this mission, I think the game could have done with some swimming in an earlier mission.
You need to navigate through the submarine, kill Renard (which is similar to the film, they don’t force a boss encounter) and then escape, finishing the game.
The N64 version also has a multiplayer mode which is a lot of fun, complete with bots (although, strangely, you can’t play against bots on your own without cheats). Beating the main game on higher difficulties will unlock more characters to play as.
While it doesn’t reach the heights of GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough is an extremely solid game and is a ton of fun.
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The World Is Not Enough (PS)
- Original Release: 2000
- Developer: Black Ops
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: PlayStation
While Eurocom made the N64 version of The World Is Not Enough, Black Ops – the developers of Tomorrow Never Dies – still made the PlayStation version. From playing the games, it doesn’t seem like there was any cross development or sharing resources, both games were developed completely independnatly.
While TWINE on PlayStation is a first person shooter, it still feels a lot like Tomorrow Never Dies. The HUD (which I still can’t see properly) and controls from the previous game are still here, with the developers still not taking advantage of the PlayStation’s analogue sticks. I could create an dual stick FPS-like setup, but without the ability to look up and down (without manual aiming).
The game stars off in the bank but the layout is very different. You go up a lift and then down an oddly long corridor with a lot of cameras – these are a massive pain to shoot due to the game’s shoddy controls and I just gave up and accepted the extra guards. One thing also evident is that the levels in this games are small “rooms” with short loading screens when going through doors, which make the levels feel disjoined.
After this, you get some long clips from the film, as it skips through the attack on MI6 headquarters and we go and chase the assassin down some short, narrow London streets. At the end of this level, the game automatically selects the grapple watch to fire at the hot air balloon. This watch isn’t used to help level design, but instead just triggers cutscenes.
Next up is the game’s skiing level which is just really odd. You have full control of Bond’s movement, but his acceleration has been altered. You awkwardly shoot some enemies and start going own a slope – for around 4 seconds. Due to the game being made of lots of tiny areas, you need to go through a pipe and load the next area, so you get the awkward controls and none of the fun of actually going downhill for a decent amount of time.
Next up is a level that the N64 game skipped, as Bond infiltrate’s Zukovsky’s laughably small casino. This is both the best and worst level. There’s only a few room and your mission is to win money at blackjack, which is more enjoyable than the actual game. I did nearly have to restart this mission due to an NPC blocking a path.
You also have to use Bond’s credit card lockpick to open a door, which is neat the first time but is used far too much and the animations for it are far too long.
Next up is this game’s stealth level. This takes place entirely inside Elektra’s house, as you “stealth” by running and punching guards. There are a few items you can turn on to distract them. The level design for this mission is just bizarre, as the house doesn’t feel like a house due to its nonsensical layout and completely lacking a front door.
You skip from here right to infiltrating Renard’s men, who are trying to steal a nuke. This level feels really strange as you have to sneak past guards (having to punch some out) as you sneak into an area where you were invited into.
Another mission that wasn’t in the N64 game (apart from a multiplayer level) is Elektra’s pipeline, as you try to reach a bomb. You have to shut off the oil and rescue hostages to reach another part of the facility, then protect Christmas Jones as she fixes an oil pipeline maintenance vehicle.
The “City of Walkways” is a single level in this game, and feels far less dynamic, with the helicopter fight being extremely dull and then it’s onto another chase level, which coincidentally involves a bomb being placed in a train station (this time in Istanbul instead of London).
After Bond gets captured, you get to see a lovey, large room with big windows transform into a tiny room in a dungeon. The film footage and game design don’t match in any way whatsoever and I don’t know why they included the torture chair – they could have omitted it and it would have seem like Bond had moved to the next room instead.
You need to go back and forth then fight a few bosses. The first requires you to unload a few rounds from your assault rifle, the second is immune to all of your weapons due to “special armour” (he’s wearing a suit) and you’re told that you need to throw his explosives back at him. Headshots don’t do anything and the game gives you a grenade launcher, which also does nothing. You can only kill him by throwing his own pipe bombs. It’s just odd.
The final mission is on the submarine as you chase Renard. You have to navigate a really strange room filled with toxic barrels. When you reach Renard, you have a boss fight – but not against him, but against a reactor instead. There’s no flooding, and then you run back through the level.
The ending to the level isn’t locked away this time, however there is a secret video if you complete the game on the highest difficulty – which is just the sex scene from the end of the film. There are a few cheats to unlock, but there’s no multiplayer.
It’s amazing just how different these two games are, with the N64 version of the game being a much better game all around. The PlayStation version is stiff and disjointed.
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Tomorrow Never Dies: The Mission Continues
- Original Release: Cancelled in 1996
- Developer: Black Ops
- Publisher: MGM Interactive
- Platform: PlayStation
- Not Played: No leaked prototypes
After the success of GoldenEye and Rare turning down working on a game for the next Bond film, MGM decided to buy the rights for James Bond games back from Nintendo so they can create their own game for Tomorrow Never Dies. A short trailer was released on the VHS for the film, where it was explained that the game would carry on from where the film ended.
The brief clips we see are a car section, scuba section, a skiing section and a shooting segment in first person. When Electronic Arts purchased the licence, the game was moved under them, where it was reconfigured into a game following the film, instead of set after it.
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Tomorrow Never Dies
- Original Release: 1999
- Developer: Black Ops
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platform: PlayStation
After GoldenEye and the Game Boy games, the Bond license moved from Nintendo to Electronic Arts, with their first game based on the film Tomorrow Never Dies and developed by Black Ops Entertainment.
While with GoldenEye, I recreated something close to the original experience, I want to give the other games the best chance possible, so I played games in emulators with improved resolution, widescreen and adjusting the controls to be more comfortable.
Tomorrow Never Dies is a third person shooter with a focus on auto aim (although the auto aim is deliberately inaccurate). You can manually aim, but it’s very slow. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t take advantage of the DualShock controller, instead oping to focus entirely on the original controller. While it’s understandable they didn’t want to prevent anyone from playing, it’s a shame that they didn’t support additional options. The original control scheme uses X to shoot and the shoulder buttons to strafe, but I managed to make a more comfortable control scheme more like a standard third person shooter, just without the ability to look up and down.
The first level has you fight through a snow base and target a communications tower by targeting it with a special camera (the best gadget use in the game), then escape by skiing down the mountain. The skiing is awkward but not terrible, although both Bond’s and the enemies attacks of flailing their arms looks absolutely pitiful.
The health bar was an issue for me, I’m colourblind and could not make out any visual differences as I took damage. The life system is also a bit strange: you have limited lives and when you die, you just flash and carry on from exactly where you were. Each mission has one extra life hidden in it.
After this first mission, you have a mission where you take pictures of some machinery and steal a jet (which I got in an it span around oddly until the mission ended). The missions in this game are fairly short and there are only 10 in the game. After the end of this mission, it cuts to a clip of the film, followed by the full opening credits, featuring the song from the film. I always found that the movie clips makes the game feel more disjointed, especially as everyone’s voices sounds different due to different voice actors.
The next two missions are also fairly simple: obtaining information form Carver’s Media building and newspaper press. Gadgets are pretty much keycards, and you just shoot your way through the levels, even though the mission briefing implies stealth, other than manually aiming and shooting before the enemy is fully rendered, there is none.
The next level is about rescuing and protecting Carver’s wife, here you are introduced to the game’s boss fights (they all work like this). You have to dodge their main attacks while either using an immense amount of ammo, or risk manually aiming for a headshot to take off a decent amount. It’s not an enjoyable way to do boss fights at all, and they’re all the same except for different projectiles.
Next up is the game’s best mission: a car chase where you have to blow up an enemy convoy. It’s very basic, and like many other missions, is incredibly short, but it manages to not be frustrating and the handling is passable enough to have a bit of fun.
This is followed immediately by another skiing mission that ends in a boss fight, before you infiltrate Carver’s headquarters, get captured and escape with Wai Lin – who has not been seen or mentioned at all in this game until she randomly appears when Bond gets captured. Without knowing the plot of the film quite well, you would be lost playing the game.
While she randomly turned up at the end of the previous mission without being seen or mentioned previously, you now get to play as Wei Lin for a mission. M explains that she can’t send Bond as the guards have been ordered to shoot him on sight, so while playing as Wei, you turn around a corner and immediately get shot at by guards, so having Bond sent would have made no difference.
She gets to fight a boss to get a rocket launcher and then use that to fight a helicopter, before having to decode information (done via a simple Mastermind-style minigame). This is the most action-spy level of the game, and Bond isn’t even part of it.
Now you’re onto the final level, which has a confusing layout and lots of corridors that look exactly the same. You have to stop Carver from launching a nuke, and he is as strong as all the other bosses in the game. After you defeat him, you have to quickly cancel the nuclear launch then escape the boat.
If you’re not playing on the hardest difficulty you’ll then get a message: finish on 00 Agent mode to get unlock the final cutscene. This is the only unlockable of the game, and if you trudge through the hardest difficulty, you’ll unlock this final cutscene: a two second long clip from the film of the boat exploding, followed by random clips of previous missions. It’s such a hilariously bad reward.
There’s no fun unlockables, no difference other than enemy health and damage between difficulties and no multiplayer. It’s a very short, bare bones games and isn’t even a fun one.
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James Bond 007: Special Mission
- Original Release: 1999
- Developer: Cabajou
- Publisher: Cabajou
- Platform: Board Game
This one of the most difficult ones to track down, I found lots of low quality imagery, and most of that was from the French version – I eventually managed to convince someone on Board Game Geek to send me images of the English rulebook and text-heavy sections.
From the vast amount of text and large looking rulebook, I initially thought that this was going to be a very complex game, but now I’ve seen the English version, it’s quite simple. It’s a time management and risk taking game where you have to travel the world using either slow public transport, or quick Q transport that requires spending tokens.
Each player starts off a mission based on the newest 10 films at the time – from The Spy Who Loved Me to The World Is Not Enough. They will have to collect Q tokens (representing weapons, equipment and transport), move around and take part in combat. The easiest way to move between each location is handily listed on your mission sheet, although if you want to take a detour to London to get more equipment, you’ll have to use a bunch of charts and wheels to figure out the best way to move around.
Events are very simple: you roll the 00 dice while the player to the left rolls the enemy dice, both are numbered 1-3, highest wins. The agent can spend tokens to beat the enemy – either weapons for combat events or equipment for intelligence events. Players have reliable “counter-intelligence” cards that list what their actions are – this is entirely flavour text as all you really need to do is roll a dice when told – really, each player could do it on their own. Still, it’s a nice touch to provide some kind of interactivity as this is essentially people playing their own games.
To get equipment, you need to go to the MI6 headquarters in London. You choose a type and roll the relevant dice, drawing tokens to the value of your dice roll. You can stay in London and roll again on the next turn – it’s up to you to decide how much you want in reserve. However, if you don’t have enough and get beaten in combat by an enemy, you fail that mission and have to start a new one, gaining no points.
Once you finish a mission, you score the points listed on the mission sheet, along with bonuses for having equipment left over. Then you pick the next mission. The goal is to be the first to collect 4000 points, which will take at least 2 missions to do. The winner gets the coveted 007 title.
Special Mission is an interesting board game. It has a lot of writing but is ultimately a very simple game. Globetrotting to complete the missions is a good idea, although even with that, a lot of the planning is worked out for you.
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I also remember you. This place feels like home on the internet.
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I personally think that dual analogue suits the game a lot - it was the first game to have them (you just needed to use two controllers).
James Bond 007 (Game Boy)
- Original Release: 1998
- Developer: Saffire
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Game Boy
The other James Bond game published by Nintendo. Released in 1998 (the same year the Game Boy Color came out), this quietly drifted by and is mostly forgotten now. I must admit that I didn’t expect that much from this game – with the generic title and releasing quite late in the original Game Boy’s life, I had my own biased expectations: this was probably just a basic side scrolling shooter.
Unfortunately, while some Game Boy games were suited to palettes and would automatically load them to have colour on a Super Game Boy or Game Boy Color, James Bond on Game Boy remains entirely black and white – possibly none of the combinations of colours worked for the game, so you have to make do with an entirely monochrome experience.
However, my disappointment wavered when I realised that this wasn’t just a lazy side scrolling shooter/platformer: It’s a Bond adventure that takes some cues from Zelda (particularly Link’s Awakening). You collect items and weapons, using them to progress he game and fight. From the select screen, you can assign these items (as well as Bond’s punch and block abilities) to the A and B buttons.
The game starts out in a Chinese village, the way is blocked by a broken bridge and you have to find a the repairman’s hammer to fix it – this serves as a simple but effective introduction to finding and using items. From here, you investigate the temples village looking for clues of an international smuggling ring, where you have to fight Zhong Mae, the dojo sensei and the Bond Girl of this adventure, then fight your way though villages before escaping on a boat.
Returning to MI6 headquarters, you get your next mission from M and gadgets from Q, where you can mess around with a few thing (much to Q’s dismay). The dialogue in this game is simple but charming, and captures the spirit of the characters surprisingly well, and the structure of the plot fits the style of Bond films, with lots of neat little touches that just adds to the charm of the game.
You get sent to Kurdistan to investigate the disappearance of 008, who was investigating the warlord currently in control of the region. One absolutely tiny detail fascinated me: a flies. They’re only three pixels flapping about, but such a tiny detail just helps make the game more alive. You’ll be using a lot of trading and solving a few puzzles here before finding and defeating the warlord and getting information that Oddjob is operating out of a market in Marrakech.
This was my favourite level. It’s quite vast with three parts to it: luring a middleman to a casino, finding a diamond and searching catacombs for a “ratman”. This level is where the “maze-like” structure starts to crop up, but the levels aren’t so expansive, so you can learn how to navigate them. In the casino, you need to make money playing Blackjack, Baccarat and Red Dog in order to reach the high earners table and attack the attention of the man who never wins.
In the market, you take part in a large trading cats, where you end up with all sorts of things in your inventory, such as a cat. When you first explore the area, you’ll get hints so when do you find items, you’ll have an idea of where you’ll need them. The catacombs are more combat-based, where you’ll need to find a secret entrance to what is very clearly a brothel (but portrayed in a kid-friendly way), the “ratman” and also a back door to the casino.
Once you’ve done all this, you’ll gain access to Oddjob’s room, where Bond is unequipped to deal with him. Before you die, Oddjob decides that it’s more fun to have Bond be trapped in the desert, near an oasis but too far to get anywhere without being able to carry water. Luckily for Bond, a man on a camel happens to pass buy with a spare canteen, and then MI6 contacts him to let him know that there’s a nearby airfield. If you found the satellite map on the previous level, it’s easy to follow the coordinates. If not, you’ll have to wander around until you find it.
The next place is investigating another temple in Tibet, where you have to find objects to help you scale a mountain to the temple at the top. Here the game gets a bit more combat heavy, with less attention on the puzzle side, which is a bit disappointing, but still fun. Once you make it to the temple, you have to fights far too many rooms of sumo wrestlers, only for it to be a trap as Bond gets taken to Oddjob’s secret base.
This is where Zhong Mae makes a reappearance, breaking Bond out because she’s realised that letting these smuggle to help her village is actually something much, much bigger than she expected. She goes off to disable the base’s security as you need to reequip, find a way to counter Oddjob’s attack and finally defeat him, getting him to tell you who is behind everything. Oddjob doesn’t know, but lets you know of a middleman that does, back in Kurdistan.
In the power vacuum caused by getting rid of the previous warlord, war has broken out. Scattered around are dead bodies being picked apart by birds, a pretty grim sight for a Nintendo-published Game Boy game. After fighting both warring leaders (one fighting to the death and the other being an abject coward), Bond finds who it is and where their secret base is located.
The final section of the game is much more combat orientated, with the only puzzles being playing with switches until you get the right combination (made clear by a Bond theme jingle). I’m not sure if this is the intended way, or if I missed a clue somewhere. After defeating the villain, you have to make it past his defences to stop his missiles from launching, as wall as saving Zhong Mae (who got fed up of waiting for Bond and found out the base’s location on her own).
The game ends in regular Bond fashion, and there’s also a secret ending: if you mess about in Q’s lab, you can find a hidden item, this item unlocks the final scene. The credits also give you some codes that allow you to play the card games by entering the codes as names when creating a save file.
James Bond on Game Boy is fairly short, but is far more than it ever needed to be. It’s very enjoyable and captures the spirit of a Bond adventure as a whole more than any other Bond game. I’d love to see a modern interpretation of this style of game for James Bond – there’s more to the character than just shooting everyone.
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GoldenEye 007 Grip Game
- Original Release: 1998
- Developer: Tiger
- Publisher: Tiger
- Platform: Electronic Handheld
- Not played: Very rare
The Grip Game was a different format to the standard Tiger Electronic Handheld. This mimics a vertical scrolling shooter where Bond uses a pistol, machine gun and shotgun to gun through waves of enemies.
The final boss of the game is the GoldeneEye satellite, which shoots back at you.
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GoldenEye 007
- Original Release: 1997
- Developer: Rare
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo 64
The classic, popular game. I will be looking at a few different versions of GoldenEye, including playing it in an emulator specifically made for GoldenEye, so to be able to compare I opted for a close-to authentic experience, playing in the original resolution with the original controls, not taking advantage of some of the special options that I didn’t experience originally with the game.
GoldenEye took the world by storm, being one of the most famous Nintendo 64 games, particularly for its multiplayer, which was added at the last minute. Four people can kill each other in custom built arenas (some unique, others adapted from main levels) with different weapon selections and character choices. A lot of my time was spent with the singleplayer campaign.
I had very vivid memories of the Dam level. I got the N64 and the game for Christmas when I was 10 years old. I read all of the briefings and instructions and set about playing the game. I instantly loved it, even though I died a lot. I did encounter a frustration which most other players didn’t, which meant I spent all day on the one level.
The briefing said to use bungee rope to jump off the dam. This wasn’t in the inventory like other gadgets (like the covert modem), so I figured you had to find it. I scoured the level many times. Eventually, I gave up and just ran off the dam to kill Bond, which triggered a successful mission.
Next up is Facility, which felt colossal to me. There was so much to explore, including lots of side rooms, not to mention the joy of trying to headshot the guard in the toilet only to shoot his hat off, with him not reacting. Getting from the first area to the second area felt like a puzzle, even though it was just using a console to open a door.
Because I was playing on easy, I kept bumping into Dr Doak on some attempts, but not others – he seemed to be in different places. I had no idea what his purpose was until much later. GoldenEye is all about solving objectives and then reaching the end of the level. I love the idea of extra difficulty being done via extra objectives, but I personally dislike that this is also tied to stronger and deadlier enemies.
After a few more great levels, giving us some unique locations, we get to the level I replayed the most as a kid: Frigate. The idea of a having access to a full ship was great, and it felt like there were lots of ways to approach this one. The Phantom gun was also ultra cool. Here you have to reuse hostages, but luckily you have time to react, even with the N64 controls.
Playing GoldenEye when it came out felt great. Playing it using one of the default control schemes now feels extremely awkward. Dual analogue controls feel great for FPS games, but this used a stick and C-buttons. Even then, a setup close to now isn’t possible. turning left and right is linked to the the same section as moving forwards and backwards. GoldenEye did have something very close to modern day shooters – however, you needed to play using two controllers.
Each level manages to create a unique feel, either through level design or objectives – even when returning to Surface and Bunker. Another highlight was Archives, which looked great. Loads of people complain about protecting Natalya, but the main trouble was finding her when she ran away or accidentally shooting her yourself. Incidentally, Natalya is absolutely deadly in the Jungle episode, taking out enemies relentlessly with her super powerful magnum.
The train level is another favourite level. Even though it’s a straight line, there’s just a charm about it. Not even my complete inability to aim properly with the laser watch at the end dampens my fun of the level.
On that note, the weapons are very satisfying to use (apart from the KLOBB). They have great sounds and all have a unique feel to it. I loved the RCP-120, especially when you could duel wield them. You could only duel wield if you killed an enemy that was doing so, but it felt so satisfying using two guns at once.
After a great climax in the sky, I was very happy with GoldenEye. However, there were two bonus levels. Over the next few years, I finally completed Secret Agent and got access to the Moonraker level (my favourite non-GoldenEye Bond film when I was younger, mainly because of space). I never managed 00 Agent as a child, though, so the final level (plus the customisable difficulty mode), was stuff I only read about in N64 Magazine. Of course, there was still the multiplayer to play, and some cheats to try and unlock.
Finish levels on certain difficulties in certain times and you’ll unlock cheats. The game was clever in that most players would likely unlock some simple ones – such as DK mode – by playing normally, while things like invincibility and all guns were very difficult. Eventually, cheats to unlock the cheats were found and I was able to mess around with them.
I think the level and objective based structure of GoldenEye still holds up, and I wish more modern games would utilise it. Aspects of Goldeneye have definitely aged badly, such as the controls, but the game oozes charm that helps to counter it. With a few small tweaks, even those aspects can be fixed for a very enjoyable game.
One last thing I do need to mention: Graeme Norgate and Grant Kirkhope’s soundtrack for this game is phenomenal, with a ton of great tracks. While the graphics may have aged, GoldenEye still sounds amazing.
Where to buy GoldenEye 007
GoldenEye is currently the only James Bond video game currently available officially. An emulated version original N64 version is available for rent on Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo Switch Online Plus subscription, while an Xbox Series port is about as part of an Xbox Game Pass subscription, or you can buy a digital version of Rare Replay, which includes a copy of the Xbox Series version of GoldenEye as an additional download.
Other versions
These will all have their own articles
- GoldenEye 007 (XBLA)
- GoldenEye 007 (GEPD 1964 Emulator)
- GoldenEye 007 (Xbox Series)
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007: The Game of James Bond
- Original Release: 1997
- Developer: Editrice Giochi
- Publisher: Editrice Giochi
- Platform: Board Game
- Original Name: 007: Il Gioco di James Bond
This is an Italian James Bond game from Editrice Giochi. The cards have no words of the game and I was able to find a detailed description of the game to write the rules form.
In this game, you have a limited “time” to defeat villains. Each turn, you roll each dice which have the numbers “1, 2, 3, 0, 0, 7” on them. For every 0 rolled, the time ticks down. If you manage to roll 007, you get a bonus (although out of the three options, one is far better than the other two).
Then, based on the white numbers “1, 2, 3” on the dice you roll, you can move that number of spaces. You can collect tokens (training, charm and intuition) or go on a quest to tackle a mission card.
A mission card has a list of icons on it. You will need to discard matching icons to collect the card, but if you don’t, you pay what you can and the next player can finish it for themselves. Each mission card has a strength that then can be used against the main villain in the middle. Once your mission cards total the number on the villain, you can claim it for yourself.
The first player to collect three villain cards wins. However, if the time track reaches zero, the villain escapes – if three manage to escape, everyone loses the game.
There’s some interesting mechanics here, and you have a lot of choices to make regarding when to go for mission cards – you don’t want to be too quick and end up helping another player, but you don’t want to be too slow and let the villain escape.
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James Bond 007 (CCG)
- Original Release: 1995
- Developer: Bryan Winter
- Publisher: Heartbreaker
- Platform: Board Game
In 1995, Hartbreaker launched a collectible card game based on James Bond, with a focus on GoldenEye. It received a starter pack and some boosters, but other than the initial cards, no further cards were added to the game – although one dedicated fan has made some of his own expansions.
There are two kinds of cards in this CCG: Action cards are cards that enable you to build you agency and complete missions, while Plot cards are placed into your plot area for the other players to complete. Unlike a lot of collectible card games, this game supports more than two players.
The are quite a few rules for decks: you must be a multiple of 10, have at least 60. 2 out of every 10 cards must be Bond cards, 3 must be plot cards and there must be a certain value of points your plot cards are worth. You then shuffle your deck and are ready to play.
Plot cards are played facing the other player. These represent missions, villains, henchmen, locations and obstacles. These can be placed separately, although obstacles can be attached to other ones to make them more difficulty. You can also make even more difficult missions by linking plot cards based on the same film together.
The action cards help you build your agency. The Bond cards are your main ones, as these are required to go on missions. Personalities are friendly people that can aid Bond, and Q gadgets can boost his stats. Intrigue cards can either help you or hinder your opponents.
It’s an interesting CCG, you want to try and get a cohesion in your plot cards, but a variety in your action cards to tackle different scenarios. Henchmen can also attack opposing agencies and potentially force them to discard cards, so there is direct conflict, but most of it is trying to complete missions placed by the other players.
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The Reel to Reel Picture Show James Bond 007 Movie Trivia Game
- Original Release: 1995
- Developer: Daisy Reel Productions
- Publisher: Daisy Reel Productions
- Platform: Board Game
This is a very basic trivia game. Take turns picking a category, answer a question and mark off a point if you get it correct. First one to finish their sheet wins.
Some cards have a follow-up question. You can gamble the point from the first question to score a second in the same turn.
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The Ultimate James Bond: An Interactive Dossier
- Original Release: 1996
- Developer: Micro Interactive
- Publisher: EIDOS
- Platform: PC
A reference CD with information on all the James Bond films from Dr. No to GoldenEye. It was produced with EIDOS, who previously published a bunch of James Bond games for home computers under their original name “Domark”.
The main focus on this in on the “missions”, which has a lot of information about “all 17” films: clips, cast information, behind the scenes photos, release information, reviews and more. One of my favourite parts was the “locations”, which plays out the locations of each film on a stylish map.
The other segments were an encyclopaedia featuring varying amounts of information, it was split into categories: Women, Allies, Villains, Q-branch and Vehicles.
The other major part was a trivia quiz. You had a set amount of “lives” and need to earn points to reach the next “level” featuring difficult questions. There’s a lot of question variety and it gives you a bit of extra information when it reveals the answer – a nice trivia game.
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Before I Kill You, Mr Bond…
- Original Release: 1996
- Developer: James Ernest
- Publisher: Cheapass Games
- Platform: Board Game
This is an unlicensed James Bond-inspired card game from Cheapass Games. In this, each player is taking on the role of a supervillain, trying to capture spies in their evil lairs.
Each turn you draw a card and can improve your lair, and then play a spy card to attack an opponent’s (or your own lair). You can play a spy from your hand, or one from an opponent’s hand (the backs of the spy are different) and risk not knowing the value of the spy.
If the spy is a higher value than the lair, the lair is discarded. You don’t score any points for this, you just mess up your opponent. If the spy is lower value than the lair, then the owner of the lair has two options: kill or taunt.
If you kill a spy, you score points equal to the value of the spy. You can taunt by playing a “Doubler” card, saying “Before I Kill You, [Name]” and reading out the card. The card has a letter in the corner and if another player plays the second card with this letter, the Spy escapes and you lose your lair (and all the points), but if you’re successful, you double the points of the spy. You can play additional Doubler card, however, you run the risk of losing all the points with each additional one.
It’s a fun, silly game, but also quite flawed. The only incentive to attack opponents is to potentially stop them from getting points, which makes it too risky to play unknown cards from other players.
Danjaq got wind of this game and ordered Cheapass Games to remove any reference to “Bond” and was relaunched as James Ernest’s Totally Renamed Spy Game before being revised as “Before I Kill You, Mister Spy…”. The newest version fixes some of the issues, such as being able to play lair cards face down or stealing lair cards from your opponents, giving you an incentive to attack.
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GoldenEye 007 (Virtual Boy)
- Original Release: Cancelled in 1996
- Developer: Nintendo
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Virtual Boy
- Not Played: No leaked prototypes
The Virtual Boy is a strange system released by Nintendo – it was a portable system with goggles that you have to look into (awkwardly using a table or lying on the floor, there’s no strap), allowing for spectroscopic 3D effects. However, the system could only display red and black graphics.
The Virtual Boy GoldenEye game was going to be a vehicle game, a brochure (which is the source of the only screenshot) describes it as “If you thought rush-hour traffic was a nightmare, wait ’til you get behind the wheel of 007’s car. Avoid obstacles and blow the other cars away. Buckle up for safety because, in this game, you never know what’s gonna happen.”
When the Virtual Boy was a complete failure, Nintendo cancelled all games in development for the console, and focused on Rare for making GoldenEye.
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James Bond Jr (Systema LCD)
- Original Release: 1992
- Developer: Systema
- Publisher: Systema
- Platform: Electronic Handheld
- Not played: Extremely Rare
An LCD game based on James Bond Jr. This game is vehicle-based where you shoot enemies and avoid obstacles.
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James Bond Jr (Systema Wrist LCD)
- Original Release: 1992
- Developer: Systema
- Publisher: Systema
- Platform: Electronic Wrist Game
- Not played: Extremely Rare
Other than a very basic listing on Worthpoint with a few pictures, I can’t find any information on this at all. This is a wrist-based LCD game, from the photo, it looks different from the handheld Systema LCD game, as you can just make out a figure, so it’s more likely about running and shooting.
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James Bond Jr: The Game
- Original Release: 1993
- Developer: Crown & Andrews
- Publisher: Crown & Andrews
- Platform: Board Game
A board game tie-in for the James Bond Jr cartoon. This is a very basic roll and move game with some poorly written rules. While the game claims that it supports up to six players, it’s really just a two player games, where the additional players just form teams to decide what to do.
There are two teams: “James Bond Jr and friends” and “S.C.U.M”. Bond’s team needs to get to the centre area where the nuclear missile is, while SCUM need to prevent this by knocking all the other team out at once.
You take turns picking which character on your team, rolling the dice and moving that many spaces. If you land on a disc, you can pick it up. These enhance your stats in three categories: strength, intelligence and skill. The good guys start with zero stats and will need these discs to be able to fight, while the bad guys have set stats but can only old one disc at a time. If you land on an opponent (which requires an exact roll), a fight occurs.
All three stats are compared, and the one that wins in the most stats wins and send the loser back to their base. If they manage to beat them in all three, the loser will have to roll as 6 before they can leave the base.
One huge problem with this is that it’s almost impossible for SCUM to win. Their only chance is to win in all three categories to “lock” an opponent in the base, other way James’ team will just move them out on their next turn, but as the game progresses and the good guys get better stats, SCUM can’t win in all categories, so they can no longer win. The rules are also full of spelling errors and grammar mistakes.
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James Bond Jr (Tiger LCD)
- Original Release: 1993
- Developer: Tiger
- Publisher: Tiger
- Platform: Electronic Handheld
- Not played: Extremely Rare
This basic electronic handheld LCD game is a basic side scrolling action game. You run to the right, punching enemies. The objective of the game is to collect Q briefcases.
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GoldenEye 007 (SNES)
- Original Release: Pitched in 1994
- Developer: Rare
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: SNES
(Badly photoshopped mock image)
When Nintendo got the license to make a video game based on GoldenEye, their first thought was a 2D platformer. Due to Nintendo being impressed with Donkey Kong Country, they asked Rare to start development on a 2D platformer GoldenEye, using the same pre-rendered methods Rare specialised in Donkey Kong Country – and Rare would have access to the sets for photographs.
A developer at Rare, Martin Hollis, pushed Nintendo into letting them make a 3D lightgun game instead for the “Ultra 64”, which evolved into the first person shooter we know and love for the Nintendo 64.
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GoldenEye 007 (Tiger LCD)
- Original Release: 1995
- Developer: Tiger
- Publisher: Tiger
- Platform: Electronic Handheld
A basic LCD game based on GoldenEye. You shoot and kick your way through enemies, the most annoying of which is a woman (Xenia possibly) jumping on Bond’s back, requiring you to kick and wiggle back and forth to hopefully knock her away. You also have the grenade pen to use once, killing all enemies on screen.
You’ll probably just find yourself mashing buttons to progress, it’s never clear what you’re doing in these games. There’s also a tank stage.
These games work better when they’re very simple, this game is just a mess.
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Star Trek: Mirror Mayhem
- Original Release: 2023
- Developer: Paramount
- Publisher: Paramount
- Platform: Fortnite
This is an “event” within the video game Fortnite, a game I know so little about that I couldn’t even figure out how to change from the default skin. It’s essentially a custom mission and not fully affiliated with Fortnite, but is an official collaboration between Star Trek and Kid Cudi.
The game starts off with Captain Styles giving you a mission briefing, but it cuts off before it finishes. There’s a Mirror Universe Captain styles using a giant laser to harm a planet and you need to assist Captain Styles in fixing it. There are Starfleet insignias floating around, but collecting these does nothing. The mushrooms pulse to the music that is playing – which is songs from Kid Cudi’s album.
After moving forward a bit, you get to shoot some robot spiders with a ray gun. The weapons are just standard Fortnite weapons from what I can tell. You don’t have to kill them, though, as if you take too long the game will just warp you to the next section. I guess it’s to keep things in time with the music, but other than the pulsing mushrooms, it doesn’t do anything special with the music.
You’ll reach a Sonic-style grinding section. Here you push forward. I was expecting something to shoot or needing to hop between rails, but you just hold forward.
Then you get to play with a Back to the Future style hoverboard. I was in the middle of figuring out how to jump properly and move tricks when the game decided I was starting to have fun, said “no” and whisked me forward to the next section.
More spiders and a generator to destroy. If you’re on your own, you gent possibly get it to half health before you’re forced to move on. So there’s nothing to achieve at all.
Then you’re flying for absolutely no reason, flying through rings like Superman 64, although there’s no negatives for missing the rings.
Then to the “main” event. You watch Captain Styles perform Kid Cudi’s loosely Star Trek-inspired song. It’s quite long and boring. You do get a flare gun to fire a single firework. This is essentially all this is: a barely interactive music video, and it has to throw in random Starfleet insignias to collect to try and remind you that it has something to do with Star Trek.
After the mission is over, you go end up on a Star Trek themed multiplayer map, with some nice quite rooms. Here you can play a really dull multiplayer game called “prop hunt” where you pick an object to transform into and then hide, with others shooting random objects trying to kill those that are hiding. The level looks nice, but is pretty poor in layout and the bridge section is completely useless for this multiplayer game.
This is one of the worst Star Trek “games” I’ve experienced, especially as it doesn’t even let you play, it just jarringly warps you to the next section.
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Star Trek Infinite is also out, but I'm waiting for some patches/mods/sales.
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On 13/10/2023 at 9:54 PM, Glen-i said:Wait, why is James Bond's nephew also called James Bond? What weirdo sibling decided to name their kid after his uncle?
It's not just me, is it? That's weird, right?
It's definitely weird.
On 14/10/2023 at 6:56 AM, Dcubed said:Is it sad that I can tell exactly how both James Bond Jr games play purely from the screenshots?
God bless the Euro Platformer.
Don't worry, there's more.
James Bond 007: The Duel (Mega Drive)
- Original Release: 1992
- Developer: The Kremlin
- Publisher: Domark
- Platform: Mega Drive
Developed by an internal Domark development team The Kremlin, The Duel is Domark’s not just final James Bond game, but also their first one not based on a specific Bond film. Instead, this is a new adventure starring Timothy Dalton’s Bond (although I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s never heard of this game, the box just uses a photo from a Licence to Kill poster).
That said, the “story” is just a bit of blurb in the manual: Professor Gravemar is planning on launching a satellite from his secret island base, which will let him take over the world. Expecting James Bond to try and stop him, he fills the island with his goons and creates a cloning device to bring some of his villains back to life. He also spreads hostages across the island to distract Bond. The hostages are all the same women, so perhaps the hostages are also clones – such a concept is far too much of the simplicity of this game’s plot, which is completely absent from the game itself.
Starting off on a boat, The Duel looks very nice, making good use of the Mega Drive’s capabilities, with detailed sprites that are zoomed out enough to not hamper gameplay. The music is also great (including a great rendition of the Bond theme), having a distinct Mega Drive feel but also fitting James Bond. You go you through levels, running, jumping and shooting. I did think the jumping felt a bit stiff and overall the game has a bit of a janky feel to it.
It’s not as simple as getting to the end, though, you need to hunt for the hostages. These are hidden extremely well and most of your time will be tediously backtracking back and forth searching for them. The game loves to make use of covering entrances with foreground objects, and also hides enemies in the same way. Once you find the hostages, you can set off a bomb (which is hidden somewhere near the end of the level) then rush to the exit.
After the initial boat level, you have to explore a jungle and do the same thing. Due to platforms on different levels, you’ll find yourself missing enemies more. Your ammo is limited. While enemies drop more, that’s the only way to get more ammo. If you run out, there’s nothing you can do, as Bond has no melee attacks in this game, which is strange, especially for a game with limited ammo. You can shoot diagonally, but you need to shoot and hold down fire to change the angle of the shot.
Next up is the secret volcano base. There are lots of needlessly large pits and lifts and you’ll spend quite a bit of time waiting for platforms, sometimes having to wait for them a second time as you have to time them with the movement of fireballs. More hostages to find and a bomb to set off.
Next up is navigating the hanger bay for the professor’s oddly shaped shuttle, which features lots of empty areas with nothing going on. The end of this level has a short boss you need to get rid off before activating the bomb and escaping.
After this, you reach level five: which is a boss fight against Jaws in a strange machine. Once you beat him, you’re done.
This is an incredibly short game padded out by hiding some of the paths to the hostages, making you walk and down each level – which aren’t particularly colossal either. The gameplay is fine, but feels a bit clunky. The graphics and music are the only particularly good parts of the game.
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James Bond 007: The Duel (Master System)
- Original Release: 1992
- Developer: The Kremlin
- Publisher: Domark
- Platform: Master System, Game Gear
The 8-bit version of The Duel has the same level themes as the Mega Drive version, however, the level layout and structure of the game is completely different. Also gone is the requirement of saving hostages as well as setting off bombs in the levels.
As you’re not travelling backwards and forwards throughout the levels, each level now has three stages to work though. The there are hidden paths that lead to Q crates and hostages that improve your score, and it’s fun to explore the little areas.
There are a few oddities with enemies in the boat and jungle stages. The first level has deadly fish that leap out of the water and are a pain to hit, but you can just hang back and fire until you get them (you have unlimited ammo). The jungle level features snakes, which seems logical, but they fire projectiles at you. Most other enemies are goons which have no idea what to do if you crouch, making it east to dispose of them, with robotic turrets and the like in later missions.
The levels are quite fun, and Bond’s jumping feels smoother in this version. From a gameplay and level perspective, I enjoyed this much more than the Mega Drive version of the game. The graphics are obviously not as good, but are really great for the Master System. The sound really lets the game down – you have the option of choosing sound effects OR music. I made the mistake of going with the music. It’s fine for the first minute, but then the same beepy repetitive tune if all you hear for the entire game, I ended up muting it.
After you defeat the third hanger level, you have one more level: as there are no bosses you get a timed final level. The time you get depends on the amount of hostages you save and Q cases you find. I had to (though a bit of trial an error) fund the perfect route to beat the game.
Despite the sound issues, this is a fun little game and and it’s surprising that it’s a better game than the main version.
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On 11/10/2023 at 1:55 PM, Dcubed said:Also wow, there are a lot more micro computer Bond games than I thought there would be! Would've figured the license to be too expensive for developers/publishers of the 80s, but I guess I was wrong!
With how controlling the company is over things like games now, it's also surprising that they were fine with slapping the Bond name onto anything, even games not designed to be Bond games. But we're done with the microcomputers and onto Nintendo consoles.
James Bond Jr. (NES)
- Original Release: 1991
- Developer: Eurocom
- Publisher: THQ
- Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Based on the cartoon show about James Bond’s Nephew, this is the second ever game developed by Eurocom, who have made a bunch of Bond games over the years. The NES version of James Bond Jr. is completely different to the SNES version.
With licensed platformers on the NES, you can create a list of annoying things that will frustrate anyone: bullet sponges enemies, maze-like levels with no maps, having to backtrack, enemy attacks knocking you back, annoying springs, having to platform between screen loads, enemies that trap you in endless damage loops and getting softlocked due to limited ammo. James Bond Jr on the NES manages to tick all of those boxes.
The game consists of four levels, each involving you tracking down objectives and then finding the level exit. The first level has you exploring sewers to disarm missiles. At the start, you drop down a large hole and come across your first enemy: a giant shooting multiple rounds that requires 30-40 hits to kill. Your pistol uses up ammo very quickly, although it will slowly recharge up to 30 rounds (collecting ammo packs will fill it to 99).
When you find a missile, you have to complete a sliding puzzle piece challenge to get colours into the right order. Near the start of the level, there’s something that looks like electric that hurts you if you land on in – this is actually water that you can swim though if you get a scuba mask.
The second level has you searching for safes. In the section in the image, I got trapped in the corner by these annoying dogs that are difficult to hit. Once you find a safe, you have to work out the combination in the worst codebreaking minigame I’ve encountered. This isn’t mastermind-style. You put numbers in four slots and see if any are right. You have nine attempts, so if any of them are the final number you have to try, you have to start again (and the combination resets). On top of this, some of the safes are traps that blow up in your face.
The third level thankfully ditches minigames and you just have to blow up strange “reactor” objects in rooms. You can find a jetpack in this level which runs out of “ammo” very quickly – and there are some sections you can’t navigate without it, meaning you have to restart. There are lots of moving platforms and annoying jumps – I forgot to mention that jumping feels very unresponsive.
After James Bond Jr. defeats the secret base, he escapes by helicopter but is than shot down, conveniently landing right next to SCUM’s secret base. Here you have to rescue scientists by killing the monsters guarding them. You can find a potion which will turn James Bond Jr. into a monster, letting him jump higher – use it up in the wrong place and you’re stuck.
The NES version of James Bond Jr. is very typical of licenced platformers on the NES. Everything seems to be made to frustrate the player, and enemies take so many hits that even defeating them isn’t fun.
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James Bond Jr. (SNES)
- Original Release: 1992
- Developer: Grey Matter
- Publisher: THQ
- Platform: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Another game based on the James Bond Jr. cartoon, this one developed by Grey Matter. While sometimes different games of the same name shares some elements, such as level themes or rough story, this one is completely different to the James Bond Jr. NES game. The SNES version is a mixture of a platformer and a scrolling shooter.
One interesting thing is this didn’t even start out as a James Bond Jr. game, it was originally a SNES remake of Grey Matter’s NES Captain Planet and the Planeteers game, but due to company changes an license issues, they ended up re-tooling the work they had done into a new licensed game.
You start off in a temple level, hunting for the villain Dr. Derange, you barely have time to figure out the controls before you reach the first vehicle segment – and I’m not exaggerating about the time, it really is less than 20 seconds.
You might expect a short but simple minigame, but it’s surprisingly long. If you played it perfectly, it will take 5 minutes, which doesn’t sound long, but you will die. A lot. There’s a ton of projectiles flying around and one hit kills you. You can get a shield that will protect you from a few hits, however that doesn’t protect you from the environment, with some very narrow sections to navigate, slightly bumping any pixel will kill you.
Your helicopter moves extremely fast, and the sprites are so large that you don’t have any time to react to anything. Instead, this section is a long trial and error as you get a bit further each time, having to memorise the entire route to react before things appear on screen. You have two weapons: a shot that fires completely forward.
Back to the main gameplay, you now have three acts of a temple level, punching natives and SCUM soldiers. Exploring the level you can find dart guns and explosive drinks cans to use as grenades. along with other powerup, such as springy shoes to jump higher.
The gameplay itself is pretty solid, and the graphical style is quite nice. There are hidden areas to explore but the route to the end is fairly simple. One problem is, once again, the size of the sprites. James Bond Jr is kept firmly in the middle of the screen throughout the levels, which means the gaps for jumps reach the edge of the screen, often with enemies hanging on the edge, not visible until you’re mid-jump, yet also so close to the edge that if you don’t use your dart gun before jumping, you’ll take damage.
Once you defeat the boss, it’s onto the next stage. All three stages follow the same structure: a vehicle section followed by three short platforming levels. This one is a speedboat section as you head to Venice, and this part is a lot of fun, dodging gondolas, shooting enemies and making jumps, collecting a power up that makes you jump even further. At this point I was thinking that, after the rough start, fun vehicles with some decent platforming would make the rest of this an alright game.
And then you get the inevitable sewer level, notorious for always being terrible levels. This one is no exception, with confusing layouts, really annoying bats and lots of awkward jumps to make. While the developers avoided the same problem with getting stuck in levels as the NES game by having the shoe power-ups be permanent, they end up making the same mistake here. In this level are ice power ups, these are limited in number.
These are used to freeze pools of toxic waste, allowing you to cross over. Use too many against enemies (or use them on the wrong pools) and you’ll have to restart. There’s also some really annoying door traps. They’re just a grey line and if you walk over them, they repeatedly slam James Bond Jr, draining his health.
Get through there and you reach the next area, this vehicle section is a plane which functions exactly the same as the helicopter in the first stage. It’s not quite as frustrating as the first one, so at least it’s over quicker. You’re then on the final level.
Which, naturally, is a slippery ice level, because everyone loves those. Thankfully, part way though you get some rocket boots, letting you fly around the level (this flying was probably originally designed for Captain Planet), along with being able to find a ring that fires lasers that help immensely with the final boss.
James Bond Jr. is an average platformer, but hampered by visibility and a few awful vehicle levels. It looks quite nice, with some good animation throughout, but for the most part is a fairly forgetful game.
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The Spy Who Loved Me
- Original Release: 1990
- Developer: The Kremlin
- Publisher: Domark
- Platform: Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
- Version played: Atari ST
The Spy Who Loved Me is a vehicle-based combat game, with a few extra parts to mix things up. The levels vary as the game progresses. For this one, I ended up playing the Atari ST version over the Amiga version, as the emulator I used for the Amiga didn’t like it.
The first two levels have similar gameplay. You drive upwards, dodging enemies, shooting them and collecting Q coins. There are civilians hanging out on the road, and you’ll lose points for hitting them – but squishing them is so satisfying and the best part of the game that I did it anyway.
The first level transitions from a car to a boat (the gameplay doesn’t change) and finishes once you stop at the end. The second is a looping track – you need to collect enough Q coins to purchase a submarine upgrade to finish the level. The big flaw with these levels are that, even though you can go fast, it’s much more beneficial to go slow – enemies eliminate your easily if you travel by speed, and going slower helps avoid obstacles and collect coins.
The third level turns the game into an extremely tough vertical scrolling shooter. Power ups float down from the top of the screen and you’ll need some upgrades to stand a chance against the level’s boss.
Next is a short lightgun-style level. The screen doesn’t move, just shoot people until you make it through the enemies.
Next up is a codebreaker, like the Mastermind board game. This level is also a form of copy protection – you need to enter coordinates from the game’s manual to proceed.
The final level is a Jetski level, it plays similar to the first two, but more focus on shooting than dodging obstacles.
The final part is another lightgun-style section, shoot some enemies, and then jaws to beat the game.
The vehicles section might have been fun if enemies weren’t bullet sponges and dealt so much damage, while the others sections are just tedious. This is Domark’s last James Bond film tie-in, so they went out on a low note.
Other Versions
Commodore Amiga
This is identical to the Atari ST version.
MS-DOS
This version definitely released, but I can’t find the ROM or even any screenshots online. Not only did this version sell poorly, but was so bad that it had many returns. The copies were recycled into blank floppy discs.
Commodore 64
On top of simpler graphics, this version only has the four vehicle levels. The shooting and codebreaker parts have been removed. These parts have also been removed form all the other 8-bit versions.
Amstrad CPC
This version is more zoomed in and the civilians you’re supposed to dodge have been removed – taking away the best part of the game.
ZX Spectrum
This one is also missing civilians, with very basic graphics.
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James Bond 007: The Stealth Affair
- Original Release: 1990
- Developer: Delphine Software
- Publisher: Interplay
- Platform: Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
- Version played: MS-DOS
- AKA: Operation Stealth
This game first came out in the UK, where is was not a James Bond game. Here it was “Operation Stealth”, a point and click adventure starring a 007 rip-off John Glames. When Interplay released the game in the US, they applied for a James Bond license, renaming the main character and adding a bit of text explaining that Bond is “on loan” to the CIA.
This is a point and click adventure – but what I call the “bad kind”. A good point and click adventure, to me, is one where no matter where you are in the game, you have access to the required locations that have what you need to proceed. A bad one has objects you can miss and be stuck much later (after having saved your game), and the worst will make needed objects simply difficult to see.
The Stealth Affair sets its tone fairly early on. You arrive with an airport with a briefcase and a passport, and a guard asks for your passport. If you show your passport…game over. Visitors from America make for great hostages and you get captured. You need to find out what country is liked and then create a fake passport.
There’s a newspaper stand in the area, you have no coins but luckily if you examine the coin return you’ll find one. Then you can buy a paper and reveal the country (it’s randomised from a small selection). You then have to use your briefcase and “operate” the briefcase to open it, use a calculator to get to a hidden compartment and then create your passport.
The next section is mostly about getting coins to buy a flower as a sign for your rendezvous. You go to a bank, swap coins, get the flower sit down, follow instructions and you’ll eventually get captured. This section is really just a lot of back and forth as the puzzles change from obscure to not really having any puzzles at all.
You end up getting captured by the villain’s henchmen who, in typical Bond fashion, tie you up and trap you into a cave, blowing the entrance, instead of just shooting him. One thing to note is that Bond never has access to a gun in this game, although he does punch two people throughout it. This cave section highlights another one of the game’s problems: the “USE” and “OPERATE” commands. In the cave you find a pickaxe and breeze coming through the wall, but if you use the pickaxe on the wall, it does nothing. You need to stand in the perfect spot and “OPERATE” the pickaxe a few times.
This leads to the first action sequence: here you dive through water with limited air. The controls are atrocious, and Bond sticks to rocks extremely easily. Action scenes in adventure games are a nice idea, but they really need to be enjoyable.
After this you need to investigate a hotel room, although make sure you go out of your way and talk to a crazy person on the beach selling the next big thing. You’ll need that later on. Investigating the hotel, where you’ll end up getting captured again.
This is where the game sneaks in the first time you have to do an action in the middle of a cutscene. All the shortcut buttons for the different actions skip dialogue, so you have to use the right click menu, but during most of the cutscene, right click does nothing. You have to right click at the right point and operate the object you used earlier.
You then get thrown into the sea and have to escape, this is a moment where you have to perform the actions immediately or you’ll die – there’s no room to think or misclick on anything.
Bond then infiltrates the enemy base as part of a magic show, then sneaks off in a disappearing act. Time for another action sequence.
We have a top down maze. Guards move around, but can’t go through the revolving doors, which Bond can move. They are incredibly tedious and the guard’s patterns are random. You need to find a key and then the exit. After completing this, you have to do another. Operation Stealth had four mazes in total, but two were removed for the Bond version, although one is too many.
Then you get to investigate the boss’s office, one of the best parts of the game. Here you have everything you need to investigate, you need to find a hidden safe and use your codebreaker to help you find the code. You feel like a spy in this moment. You then get ambushed and have to play a dreadful jetski minigame until M and Q pop up in a submarine to tell you that the villain, Dr. Why, has threatened to nuke multiple cities if the government don’t give them more plutonium than they have access to.
Bond swims to Why’s secret underwater base and gets captured again, he manages to break free and gets a disguise (before going through some more terrible mazes, this time filled with giant killer rats and you can only see a small area around Bond). Before entering the final room, you’ll need to create a distraction then enter the final room, with the final confrontation with Dr. Why where you have to perform the right actions at the perfect time. The day is saved, buy Dr. Why has escaped, taking the captured Bond girl with him.
In this final confrontation, you only have to do two things. But unless you’re reading a guide, you’ll likely never be able to figure it out.
One of the items is an inflatable raft. In the final secret base, there’s what looks like just a panel for a machine, but when you hover over it, it says its a garbage disposal, the raft is hidden there. While this is annoying and difficult to spot, it’s at least something you might encounter and split off. The other item you need is impossibly obscure. It can be found during the swimming section before the final base.
If you swim the wrong direction, you’ll come across a screen with a few pieces of seaweed. You can play the game without ever seeing this screen, and you have no reason to fully explore before going on. You may examine one bit of seaweed and it will just state that it’s seaweed. If you examine the correct one, it will mention something stuck in it. However, even then the object you need doesn’t have anything when you hover over it, so you need to keep clicking around that spot for the right pixel to activate picking up the most vital object in the game: an elastic band.
Once you finish, Bond has a big reward ceremony where the leader of the country declares a national holiday in celebration of the super secret spy.
The Stealth Affair has some nice moments, but frustrating gameplay. The dialogue is great in some parts, but other parts haven’t been altered from when the game was parodying Bond. The graphics and sound are very nice, along with the animation, so the presentation is pretty good all round.
Other Versions
Atari ST
The Atari ST version is identical to the MS-DOS version
Amiga
The regular Amiga version is the same, however the most common cracked version has an extra feature: if you have the Amiga memory expansion, the game will put the dialogue thought the system’s robotic speech synthesis. The downside to this is that if you skip any dialogue, the game will crash.
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James Bond 007 Action Pack
- Original Release: 1990
- Developer: Amstrad
- Publisher: Amstrad
- Platform: ZX Spectrum +2
This is quite a fascinating pack. 5 years after Amstrad bought Sinclair, they were trying to rebrand the ZX Spectrum as a budget games console. One key part of this was this bundle: a new version of the ZX Spectrum, the +2 combined with the Magnum Light Phaser and three James Bond games.
The pack contains a letter from M detailing your mission (codenamed “Mission Zero”, which is The Living Daylights from Domark), a James Bond passport and two tapes: one with the two training games, and second disc domes with a game called “Mission Zero” one one side. The other side, however, is your first port of call and needs another device: a regular cassette player.
Here you will find Q’s mission briefings for the three games, performed by Desmond Llewelyn, which provides the backstory for the game, creating a new story for The Living Daylights game.
Lord Bromley’s Estate
This game has Bond playing a round of clay pigeon shooting on Lord Bromley’s estate – although Q calls it “Lord Broccoli’s Estate”, named after the owners of the Bond franchise, they changed their mind on the name at some point. but ended up changing their mind. Q mentions that Bond isn’t just there for games, but that there are strange happenings nearby.
This is a basic lightgun shooter, but feels very accurate and is fun. After a few rounds, a SPECTRE helicopter will appear that you need to shoot 10 times to win. The letter from M that comes with the pack instructs you to get some weapons training.
Q’s Armoury
In this game, Q introduces you to a special gun: a pistol sized weapon that is in fact three guns in one, coded to your DNA. One nice touch is that the audio briefing indicates that the lightgun that came with the game is this special gun. On top of being a regular pistol, it has a rapid fire mode and finally can fire miniature explosive shells to act like a bazooka.
One of my complaints about The Living Daylights game was that changing weapons doesn’t change the look of the gun (the original manual even states that they are different weapons), and it seems like the developers of this also noticed that detail, using this retcon to explain that detail, which I thought was an interesting way of doing things.
This is a shooting range in three stages, using the different modes of the special gun. It’s very short and I oddly found that the closer targets were much more difficult to hit than the ones at the back. Once you’ve finished, you’re ready for Mission Zero.
Mission Zero
The final part of the Q’s audio briefing lets us know that the organisation SPIDER is behind everything. The organisation was called SPECTRE in the text of the first training game, but there were strange legal issues surrounding the use of the name at the time this came out.
This pretty much re-writes The Living Daylights, and turns it into a film of Bond stopping the SPIDER/SPECTRE organisation. The game itself is 1987 The Living Daylights game, adapted to a lightgun. The biggest difference is how Bond moves – now you hold down the spacebar to go forward and don’t have to worry about trips, which is a massive improvement. However, hit detection with the lightgun is quite poor.
This is quite an interesting pack, more so for the things surrounding the games rather than the games themselves.
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James Bond 007: The Agent Game
- Original Release: 1990
- Developer: ASS Altenburger Spielkarten
- Publisher: ASS Altenburger Spielkarten
- Platform: Board Game
- Original Name: James Bond 007: Das Agentenspiel
A German roll and move James Bond game. In this, your goal is to collect a certain number of “microfilms” before heading to the centre island to win the game.
At the start of the game, everyone gets 10 microfilms of their matching colour – you will need to both fight other players and work together to collect the discs you need.
You roll a dice and move that number of spaces. There are three types of “transport” spaces which let you move further, but can be enhanced with Transport cards. If you land on another player, you both decide if you want to fight or not. This is done with “encounter cards”.
Each player has two encounter cards: Friendly and Hostile. Both player secretly pick one. If both pick “Friendly”, then both players can choose a microfilm form the supply on the board. If one picks “Friendly” and one picks “Hostile” then the hostile player will take a microfilm from the friendly player. If they both pick “Hostile”, they will proceed to fight by playing up to two equipment cards (these have a battle value). The one with the highest total value of cards wins, taking microfilms from their opponent.
There are some interesting ideas, but ultimately the game is still almost entirely luck-based. If someone gets a secret goal that requires a lot of their colour, they’re at a massive advantage. Random events will also help or ruin someone’s progress to the goal. Because of this, it’s a fairly poor game, and one that can end up dragging massively if people aren’t getting what they need to progress.
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James Bond 007: The Quartet for Agents
- Original Release: 1990
- Developer: ASS Altenburger Spielkarten
- Publisher: ASS Altenburger Spielkarten
- Platform: Board Game
- Original Name: James Bond 007: Das Quartett für Agenten
This card game is a version of the German game “Quartets”, which is very similar to “Go Fish”, where you’re asking other players for cards to complete sets of four. In Quartets, the deck consists of 32 cards and you ask for specific cards instead of numbers. In typical versions of Quartets, the cards have a number and a letter for easy identification, so you’d ask for 1B or 3D.
In this James Bond version, the number is shown by a the highlighted icon on the top left while the film determines the set, which makes it more of a pain to ask for cards, especially as it only covers 8 Bond films and not all of them.
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The Living Daylights: The Computer Game
- Original Release: 1987
- Developer: Sculptured Software, Walking Circles Software De Re Software, Exasoft
- Publisher: Domark
- Platform: Commodore 64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, MSX, Atari, BBC Micro, Arcade (possibly)
- Version played: Commodore 64
The second Domark game for James Bond, this time based on The Living Daylights. This one has a single consistent gameplay style throughout the whole game. It’s a run-and-gun shooter, but with a control method that is an interesting idea but doesn’t quite work.
Shooting works a lot like a lightgun game – place your cursor over the enemy and fire to kill them. However, the game doesn’t scroll automatically, you have to move Bond yourself. To do this, you move the cursor to the right side of the screen and carry on holding right. You can also jump by pressing up while still moving right – something that took me a few levels to figure out, as Bond just kept falling over obstacles every now and then.
If the cursor was fast and more precise, this might work, but as you’re moving, enemies can pop up on the left side, meaning that it takes a while to move the cursor over to them.
After you finish a level, you can choose a special weapon for the next level. The weapons changes the strength of your shot, but don’t alter any graphics, so Bond’s “Bazooka” kills enemies in one shot, but Bond is still holding a pistol. One option at the end of the first level is an Infrared Sight. If you don’t choose this, all the enemies will be shadows, and this is the only level with civilians – shoot them and you’ll lose points. If the Bazooka is available, definitely choose that for other levels.
While the first few levels are incredibly grey, there’s a bit of colour late on. The graphics make use of the Commodore 64 quite well, with some nice locations. You’ll encounter a few different enemies. Most are at the “back”, but a few will stand in your way and throw bombs at you (the first of these throws explosive milk bottles). The game also has some nice music to go with it.
The Living Daylights is a decent game, hampered by the awkward controls. It doesn’t really do anything special, but it also isn’t horrible in any way.
Other Versions
Amstrad CPC
This version has simpler and flatter looking graphics, although some of the stages are much more colourful in this area, especially the first stage, which is just grey in the C64 version.
Amstrad PCW
This is similar to the Amstrad CPC version, except that it runs in monochrome.
Atari 8-Bit Systems
This version has simpler graphics, but tried to create the depth of the full version, instead of simplifying the layout like the Amstrad version. This makes this version look cluttered and messy.
ZX Spectrum
The graphics for this version are simple, but they have been properly adapted to suit the system.
BBC Micro
The graphics for this version are simple, but they have been properly adapted to suit the system. One issue the game has is that the obstacles don’t always load properly, so Bond will often trip over nothing.
Amiga, Atari ST and Arcade
It’s quite difficult to find information in these versions, and my conclusion is that it seems they were never released. A developer Richard Naylor was working on the arcade version for Arcadia Systems, which was essentially an arcade cabinet using an Amiga.
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Live and Let Die: The Computer Game
- Original Release: 1988
- Developer: Keypunch, Elite
- Publisher: Domark
- Platform: Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
- Version played: Commodore Amiga
- Also Known As: Aquablast
This game was in development before there were any plans to make a Live and Let Die game. Publishers Domark saw Aquablast under development. Aquablast was a speedboat action game and, because there’s a speedboat sequence in Live and Let Die, decided to help publish it as a Bond game – although only in the UK, it was still released as Aquablast in the USA.
Live and Let Die has you operating a speedboat equipped with a gun and missiles. The gun is simple enough to use, but the missiles can only be fired if you go fast enough first then fire when slowing down. These need to be saved for certain targets, but you can collect more (as well as fuel) from crates dropped by helicopters.
As you play, you’ll weave through enemies and dodge obstacles, and there’s a decent amount of both, including narrow areas with walls, planes dropping torpedoes and slides you have to use to dodge rocks. The game consists of four missions.
The first is a training mission with infinite fuel and missiles. Here you have to destroy red targets with your gun and black targets with your missiles. Then there are North Pole and Sahara levels, where you can practice using limited missiles and fuel. The levels have a different look but all feel exactly the game.
The final mission is New Orleans, once you hit a certain number of points, you need to destroy Mr. Big’s base by firing a missile from mid-air (you do this by hitting a log).
The gameplay is fun but, due to the game never changing, wears off very quickly. This is fine for a quick blast but it’s also obvious that this was never designed to be a Bond game. If Domark had waited another year, they could have used a much better speedboart combat game called Cobra Triangle.
Other Version
Atari ST
The Atari ST version is identical to the Amiga version.
Commodore 64
This version is the nicest looking 8-bit version, the 8-bit versions do run a bit slower compared to the main versions.
Amstrad CPC
This one has more cluttered backgrounds that doesn’t look quite as nice as the Commodore 64 version.
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum struggles to run this game, even with the graphics toned down a lot.
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007: Licence to Kill
- Original Release: 1989
- Developer: Quixel
- Publisher: Domark
- Platform: Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX, BBC Micro
- Version played: Commodore Amiga
Coming from developers Quixel, Licence to Kill is a vertical scrolling shooter depicting events from Licence to Kill. The game is comprised of 5 very short, but difficult, missions, with some fun gameplay. While the style of the game remained the same throughout, the gameplay itself varies through each level.
The first mission has you chasing a jeep in a helicopter. If you fly fast, the helicopter will get lower, allowing you to attack the jeep. The objective is to get to the end of the level, but destroying the jeep will help with the start of the second level.
Next up is an on foot section, which is the longest level of the game (around 3-4 minutes). If you hold the fire button, you can adjust your aim to shoot diagonal or sideways. There’s no automatic scrolling in this one, so you can kill enemies at your own pace.
Next you take to the skies as you dangle from a helicopter, there’s no enemies here, you just need to stay on top of the plane long enough for Bond to lock on to it.
In the water, Bond has no weapons, but can punch divers carrying harpoons to attack other enemies. You can also dive underwater to dodge enemy fire. You need to latch on to the water plane to get back in the sky.
In the final mission, you start off in a plane before jumping onto a truck. You then have to destroy all the other trucks to stop Sanchez and defeat the game.
The game is good fun, but once you figure out what to do in each level, it’s incredibly short – around 12 minutes if you don’t rush.
Other versions
MS-DOS
This version has the nicest graphics, but I found it to be buggy, with sprites flickering out of existence and some hits not detected, which is why I ended up playing the Amiga version.
Atari ST
This version is identical to the Amiga version
Commodore 64
Heading to the 8 bit versions, the C64 version attempts to keep the detailed backgrounds, making it hard to see what is happening on screen due to how busy it is.
Amstrad CPC
While the graphics are toned down from the Commodore 64, the simpler style makes it look nicer.
ZX Spectrum
Things get even more basic, this version has a lot of outlines instead of coloured sprites.
MSX
The MSX version is similar to the ZX Spectrum, but the colours are more muted.
BBC Micro
This version is again based on the ZX Spectrum version, but the game only displays two colours at a time, including the menu.
NES (Cancelled)
A version of this game was in development for the NES by Tengen. While the final level hadn’t been made, Domark considered the game finished, but decided to not publish the game as it was too long after the other versions
Sega Master System (Possibly)
A few places online state that a Master System version of this released in South Kora in 1996, but I can’t find any concrete details or imagery.
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James Bond 007 The Game (Descartes)
- Original Release: 1989
- Developer: I. Loffre, F. G. Ricard
- Publisher: Descartes Editeur
- Platform: Board Game
- Original Name: James Bond 007 Le Jeu
A French board game from Descartes Editeur, featuring artwork of Timothy Dalton. I should point out that, due to limited sources, I’m not sure entirely how accurate my Tabletop Simulator version is, but the main mechanics are from a description of the game so that part is at least correct.
The goal of the game is to defeat all the villains of on the board – the player who has defeated the most when the last villain is defeated wins. Players will take turns trying to complete action cards by using their skills of gunfight, brawling and seduction/charm. You roll a dice and add the level of the matching skill, trying to score 8 or higher to collect a card.
These cards can either be gadgets, which let you improve a dice roll, or an information card, which lets you fight a villain. The villain fights work in a similar way, except you don’t know up front what skill will be in use. You can also choose to attack another player. If you win, they lose a skill level and you get to steal 0-3 cards (determined by dice roll).
Unless there are some in depth rules I’m not aware of, this game is just a long, drawn out slog. The mechanics are very simple and it’s just rolling a dice to see if you win.
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James Bond 007: A New Adventure
- Original Release: 1989
- Developer: Falomir Juegos
- Publisher: Falomir Juegos
- Platform: Board Game
- Original Name: James Bond 007: La Nueva Aventura
This is a Spanish board game from Falomir Juegos. In this, you have to make it through six missions, disarming or avoiding traps set by other players.
Each side of the board has three missions. At the start of the game, you’ll take turns placing your trap tiles. Three of these are just explosions while a fourth has 50 points on it (but is still an exploding trap).
You’ll take turns rolling a dice and moving up to that many spaces. You can move in any direction, but you must stick to that direction for your entire move. Players can’t share spaces, but can move past them if you have enough movement left.
If you move onto a trap, you’ll roll a dice. If you get a 1, you have disarmed it and will discard it (if it’s 50 points, the person the trap belongs to gives you 50 points). If you fail, the trap’s owner will roll and if they get a 5 pr 6, the trap explodes. If it’s a 50 points card, you will have to give the owner 50 points. If it’s an explosion, you’ll lose one of your six life cards.
Traps can also go off if players are in line with them – you spin the compass and if it matches the direction, it will explode.
The first player that makes it past mission 3 will get points from all other players based on what mission they’re currently on, then the board is flipped and you to the entire game again.
This is an incredibly tedious and drawn out board game. Getting to mission three is annoying enough, and that’s just the half way point. There’s nothing fun about the game, it’s all just dice rolls.
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007 James Bond: Goldfinger (Victory Games)
- Original Release: 1985
- Developer: G. Christopher King
- Publisher: Victory Games
- Platform: Board Game
Alongside the big RPG and it’s many additions, Victory Games also made a series of simpler board games, each loosely based on an event from one of the films. This one portrays the car chase from Goldfinger. In this game, the Bond player must find Tilly and escape, while the enemy player must delay or destroy Bond’s car.
The enemy player has five cards: Tilly, three traps and a blank card. These are placed on buildings face-down for Bond to search. Turns for Bond and the enemy are similar: You roll the dice for movement (the amount of spaces you move is determined by a chart) and then take actions as you move.
These include tricks to move past other cars, quick turns, ramming, shooting and more. To see if you’re successful you roll the dice – you want a low number. At the start of the game, Bond must add four to all of his action rolls (making it more difficult) until he spends the full actions of one turn to eject the guard in the passenger seat.
While it’s Bond vs 4 enemy cars, Bond has a few more tricks up his sleeve and a lot more health. You’ll also need to sometimes risk performing a trick or turn action instead of taking the long way round, the result of the dice can change the game a lot.
While it’s very luck based, it’s not a bad little game.
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007 James Bond: You Only Live Twice (Victory Games)
- Original Release: 1985
- Developer: G. Christopher King
- Publisher: Victory Games
- Platform: Board Game
The next game in the Victory Games board game line-up, this time based on the gyrocopter fight in You Only Live Twice.
The mechanics for this are very similar to Goldfinger, but with lots of small differences. You now must make your full movement (you can’t stop) and it’s an all out dogfight – Bond’s mission is simply to destroy all enemies.
The main form of attack is with a machine gun, but everyone has limited ammo. The enemies have plenty to kill Bond, but as they aren’t as skilled, they’re more likely to miss. Bond doesn’t have enough ammo to shoot all the enemies down, but he can attempt to bash into the enemies to force them to crash, destroying them in one go (enemies can also attempt this, but need to roll a 2-3 to hit Bond, and then Bond can dodge with a roll of 2-8).
It seems quite well balanced, although if the enemy gets really lucky, they can take Bond out in one turn. Once the movement rules come into play, they’re more spread out and it’s anyone’s game.
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007 James Bond: Live and Let Die (Victory Games)
- Original Release: 1985
- Developer: G. Christopher King
- Publisher: Victory Games
- Platform: Board Game
Based on the boat scene from Live and Let Die, this Victory Games board game follows on the mechanics from their Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice games for a thrilling boat chase.
In this one, Bond’s only objective is to escape – the big difference is that he doesn’t have a weapon, and his only attack is to push enemy boats to make them lose a turn. He can make use of his skills to make jumps and quick turns easier than his opponents.
This game also has action cards. Most of them allow you to take all the standard actions without suffering a penalty, while others let you add roads to cut the river, bring a blockade or distract an enemy (or Bond) using the sheriff and some are specific to a team – the enemy can play a special shot card which slows Bond down, while Bond has one card that can heal his boat – the right player getting one of these cards can make a huge difference.
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007 James Bond: The Man with the Golden Gun (Victory Games)
- Original Release: 1985
- Developer: G. Christopher King
- Publisher: Victory Games
- Platform: Board Game
This Victory Games James Bond board game is a departure from the previous three – this one is a solo game with completely different mechanics. This one challenges the player to make it through the maze from The Man with the Golden Gun, finding the Solex Agitator along the way.
There are four “boards” that make up the map, but you only start with one. The lighter blue spaces are rooms, while the darker spaces are walls. Rooms get filled with green cards. As you move through each room, you flip over a green card which will have something that startles Bond, you roll both dice, if you roll higher than the number, Bond will automatically shoot his gun. If you roll the same or lower, you can choose if you want to shoot.
After you or the dice have decided if you’re shooting or not, you then draw a blue card for the space. Some will just waste your limited bullets if you fire, while others (like mannequins) will shot you if you don’t shoot first, you have a limited number of hits you can take. In the second half of the cards are Nick Knack, Scaramanga and the Solex Agitator.
Nick Knack will likely die if you decide to shoot, but if you risk not shooting, there’s a chance to roll to convince him to stand down (he will give you extra bullets). Scaramanga is a 50/50 chance of getting killed, which really shows just how much of this game is luck-based. There are also some “maze” cards that force Bond to move in a certain direction, but these can block the rest of the map and make it impossible to continue. The game doesn’t list this as a way to lose the game, but also doesn’t explain what to do in this situation.
It’s an interesting game as it does get the feeling of wandering through a confusing maze in a daze across, but it’s an entirely luck dependant solo game – even the choices you can make are just picking at random – which isn’t a lot of fun.
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James Bond 007 Assault! Game
- Original Release: 1986
- Developer: G. Christopher King
- Publisher: Victory Games
- Platform: Board Game
This Victory Games board game works as both as a standalone game and also as an addition to their RPG in order to facilitate large scale battles into the game. It’s a wargame that uses elements of the combat mechanics from the RPG, but simplified so that each fight doesn’t take far too long. The rulebook explains that it’s an attempt to introduce wargaming to RPG players and also introduce RPGs to wargamers.
The version I used (created by someone else in Tabletop Simulator) makes use of a redesigned map which is the same layout, just nicer to look at. Like a lot of wargames, each soldier is represented by a tile with a bunch of numbers on it. The game is based on the final fight in You Only Live Twice.
One thing that seems a bit different to this than other wargames. There are six phases in a turn: each side has a movement, command and firing phase, however, the order of this is randomised, which fits to the spontaneous nature of James Bond but can make it much more difficult to strategize. Combat makes use of the D100 system with an importance on range.
I don’t have much experience with wargames, so I can’t really say how it compares, but there’s a bit too much micromanaging for me.
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More Nintendo themed LEGO on the way - Animal Crossing.
Tom Nook is on standby to provide loans for buying the sets.
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A View to a Kill: The Computer Game
- Original Release: 1985
- Developer: Softstone Ltd.
- Publisher: Domark
- Platform: Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, Oric, ZX Spectrum
- Version played: Commodore 64
Domark – a company that later rebranded as EIDOS – got the James Bond license and made quite a few games for classic home computers. The first one was A View to a Kill, based on the film. The game comprised of five sections, although only three were gameplay segments.
The first is the opening, showing a gunbarrel and some great music. The first main level is in Paris, where you have to drive around trying to find the landing spot of MayDay, who is currently parachuting. The level is a maze, with the screen split into two: the top view is a first person perspective and completely useless (enemies don’t appear on it), the lower is a top down view where you’ll be focused on.
There’s no consistency to the map, it feels completely random. Enemies show up and you’ll need to shoot them. If you drive too close to the wall, you can get stuck and be unable to turn. The beepy rendition of the film’s theme is quite funky, though.
Next up is city hall, a point and click adventure that is astonishingly clunky to control. You press fire to enter item selection mode, scroll until you have what you want (or nothing), press fire again to enter item selection mode, scroll to select your action then press fire again to do it. On the action selection, you can select “Return” to go back to standard controls of walking around. It’s extremely fiddly.
This portion of the game is aimlessly wondering around, searching everything, trying to find coloured keys and using them on coloured doors. It’s tedious. The building is also on fire, so you have a limited time before it consumed Bond (or an item you need).
The third section has you exploring a cave and combines the previous point and click elements with platforming. If you are stationary, you enter item selection, if you’re running, you’ll jump. So the horrible controls have gotten worse.
The level is a massive maze and you need to find items to get around. There’s no fall damage, so getting down is easy, but if you don’t find the winch at the right time, you’ll be stuck. The ultimate objective is to enter a code into a bomb to disarm it. To do this, you’ll need to hunt down all the numbers, which are physical items you need to pick up, then use them in the correct order so you diffuse the bomb.
You then get treated the final cutscene where Bond is in the shower with Bond and Stacey in the shower, with Bond breaking the camera with a champagne cork.
Just like Shaken but Not Stirred, different gameplay types for different scenes does make a lot of sense. Once again, though, these sections are just not nice to play. And while the two pieces of music are great, you get tired of them long before the game is finished.
Other Versions
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC version is a toned down version of the game, but with the same gameplay and level design. In the cave level, there’s no scrolling, so the map is cut into squares. Oddly, the missions are played in the opposite order to the Commodore 64 version.
MSX
The MSX version starts in the cave level and once again has screens instead of scrolling. This version lacks the Paris chase segment of the game.
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version is similar to the C64 version, but with simpler graphics. The final door of the City Hall level is broken, you you need to use a poke command to fix it. There is a nice artwork at the end of this level, although the other two levels don’t have one.
Oric
The Oric version completely lacks the cave level. The City Hall level is entirely in a 2D perspective and the Paris chase only has the top down view. This is the most basic version of the game.
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James Bond 007: A View to a Kill
- Original Release: 1985
- Developer: Angelsoft
- Publisher: Mindscape
- Platform: MS-DOS
Developed by Angelsoft, this is a text adventure based on A View to a Kill. One thing I noticed about this text adventure is how good the writing itself is, so it’s no surprise that one of the writers and developers, Raymond Benson, went on to write James Bond novels.
The game is very good at understanding commands, allowing you to do some things that don’t progress the game. A lot of the puzzles involve examining objects and interacting with what you find, although one at the start has no mention of a watch you have to look at, you just need to remember that Bond checked out a watch in the film – it’s odd because nothing else in the game lacks this knowledge.
The game is extremely difficult. Not only do you need to figure out exactly what you need to do, but some events seem to happen at certain times, so if you took to many steps earlier on, you’ll completely fail. This is pretty typical for text adventure games, though, with lots of note-taking, trial and error and repeating. The quality of the writing, including all the failed attempts, make this a good text adventure.
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James Bond 007: Goldfinger
- Original Release: 1985
- Developer: Angelsoft
- Publisher: Mindscape
- Platform: MS-DOS
There’s not really a lot to say about this text adventure that isn’t a repeat of A View to a Kill. This is another difficult but well written text adventure game. This one does follow the film a bit closer than A View to a Kill did.
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007 Car Chase
- Original Release: 1985
- Developer: Nicholas Coplin
- Publisher: Coplin Software
- Platform: Commodore 64
007 Car Chase is an unofficial game for the Commodore 64 made by Nicholas Coplin, who made a few Commodore 64 games written in BASIC, including a bootleg version of Frogger.
This is a very basic driving game. You have a few weapons, and blowing up other cars get you points. You need to dodge other cars, make the occasional turn and get to the correct side of the road whenever the bridge appears. The game is incredibly slow, often running at 1-2 seconds per frame.
If the game ran smoothly, it would be a fairly basic but enjoyable arcade driving game with an Atari feel to it, but for a game this simple running so badly on the Commodore 64, which was capable of a lot more, makes this rather abysmal.
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All Bond Games
in General Gaming Discussion
Posted
From Russia With Love
After Everything or Nothing, EA still wanted to make James Bond games, but Pierce Brosnan was no longer James Bond, and the next Bond hadn’t been chosen. They decided on two things: one was a “Bond” game where you don’t play as James Bond (which ended up being the terrible Rogue Agent), the other: look into the past. They opted for From Russia With Love and even brought back Sean Connery to record new lines (although his Scottish accent is stronger than it used to be).
The game doesn’t officially support widescreen, but I managed to find an Action Replay code that creates a proper widescreen, as well as improved framerate.
Starting off with a brand new introduction, we get an unelated mini adventure as Bond protects the Prime Minister’s daughter from being kidnapped, fighting enemies from a criminal organisation around the Houses of Parliament, starting form the terrace (for me, it’s nice to see a place I’ve been to in a game – reminds me of the worst chips I’ve ever had, sat on the terrace).
The aiming is similar to Everything or Nothing, however now there’s an extra button which activates the precision aiming, something that I think works extremely well. It zooms in and a few important points are highlighted – such as grenades. I found it very easy to pull off headshots due to this mechanic. The aiming still has some issues, though – you still can’t aim freely and targeting objects (like explosive barrels) is still a big pain.
As the villains flee with the Prime Minster’s daughter in a helicopter, Bond stops a jetpack pilot and takes it for himself. The jetpack is loosely based on the Bell Rocket Belt seen in Thunderball (which was a real, functioning jetpack), and this one is equipped with a machine gun and rockets. The controls for it are extremely fluid and it’s a joy to use as you blast enemies around Clock Tower and save the Prime Minster’s daughter.
You then get treated to a fantastic opening titles, with some really cool effects mixed with footage from the film (plus new live action footage of the new characters) and elements of the original opening titles. The names used are of the actors the likenesses are based on, rather than the voice actors (who all do a great job) We then get to where the film opened: you play as Bond sneaking (well, mostly fighting) through a hedge maze to infiltrate a mansion, until Red Grant kills him.
As with the film, it was a fake Bond, with a very smooth transition of Grant throwing the fake Bond mask to the real Bond’s hat landing on the coatrack in Moneypenny’s office. You get to walk around MI6 and talk to Moneypenny, M and Q – this is exactly what I wanted from the “MI6 Interlude” sections in Everything or Nothing.
From Russia With Love does a great job at capturing the style of the film and the period that it is set in, with a wonderful style throughout the entire film. The presentation of the game is outstanding from start to finish, and even though the models and textures don’t look the best for the GameCube, the damage done to the environment more than make up for it to make the levels feal more real.
During the briefing, M explains that Russian defector Tatiana wants to help MI6 obtain a Lektor (a soviet encoding device), but specifically asking for James Bond. It’s deemed that it’s a trap but still worth the risk, so Bond heads to Station T in Istanbul. On the drive there, Red Grant blows up a Russian car, resulting in a horde of cars attacking Bond.
The driving mechanics are good, but unfortunately you can’t use the shoulder buttons to accelerate or break. The map is a similar “small open world” type map. After a bit of driving, you’ll have to get past a tank by sneaking around to a turret on foot – again, it’s nice to transition between driving and on foot sections.
As you get to Station T, it gets attacked. You’ll need to rescue hostages and diffuse bombs. Here you’ll get to test out one of the new gadgets: the miniature Q copter, which you can use to fly though vents and detonate to activate switches. Bond also has a rappel belt and laser watch, making their appearances slightly earlier than the films. At the end of the level, a helicopter enters the building for a brutal boss fight.
After another car sequence where you have to obtain a disguise, you need to reach a secret underground tunnel to spy on the Russians, this involves a dreadful turret section as you get driven around in a boat, having to blast open doors.
Once you spy on the Russians, you discover an attack on a Gypsy camp and that the Lektor has been moved to a secure vault, so your ally, Kerim, heads off to warn your friend while you make your way into the building to steal blueprints to the vault. You’ll encounter some large armoured guys with gatling guns, and you’ll need to shoot off the straps holding their armour to kill them.
As you escape, you’ll discover a jetpack, the opening wasn’t the only appearance of it. You blast your way out of the building, although there are a few spots you can land on to find secrets. These secrets let you update Bond’s weapons and gadgets, giving you an incentive to explore the levels.
After you escape, you help defend the Gypsy camp. Red Grant saves Bond and you then defend Kerim with a sniper rifle. Grant’s desire to kill Bond is expanded in this game as something he’s really looking forward to, and is his main motivation.
After the KGB agent retreats, Krenim really wants to go after him, so it’s time for more sniping, although this level is much more fun to the really nice setup as Krenim makes his way though some buildings.
Now it’s finally time to meet up with Tatiana and grab the Lektor form the Russian consulate. She doesn’t have a standard health bar, but a “threat” meter that goes up when enemies are targeting her, so escorting her isn’t too bad. You’ll have to make your way through gas to activate buttons to progress, as well as a go through some very long vents with the Q copter.
As you flee, it’s a race to the train station to board the Orient Express as you leave. As you take control of the car…you have to randomly drive around and blow up 30 Russian vehicles before proceeding. It’s a really strange an unnecessary mission, simply having to deal with enemies as you rush to the train station would be enough.
Now it’s time for the pivotal train section…which unfortunately is the weakest part of the game. Bond and Grant fight in a cutscene before Grant flees with the Lektor (and his new sidekick), telling his goons to sort Bond out. I’m not sure why they built up Grant’s desire to kill Bond in the right way only to have him run away like a coward.
You fight through a train station (where the escort of Tatiana does become annoying as she sits out in the open for no reason) and then have to fight a retro sci-fi Octopus train – due to rights issues with the SPECTRE name, they got renamed, but Octopus just sounds a bit too silly for this game, surely something like GHOST or PHANTOM would be better?
You finally get to fight Red Grant, and you just shoot him a lot across a train track. After shooting him with around 100 bullets (including targeting specific points on his body), he collapses and gets ran over by a train. However, his assistant has escaped, taking the Lektor with her.
Following the new villain, Adara, to an Octopus factory, you once again don a jetpack as you blast through the first bit, before having to do the rest on food. This is a really nice villain lair, with secret underground portions and a boss fight against some kind of space rover-like machine. It’s a very enjoyable mission.
Once you set some explosives and flee, Bond escapes trough a tunnel in a vehicle in a really fun car section, shooting your way through obstacles. After this, you regroup with Tatiana.
Another fun car mission mixed with on foot sections. You have to find a key to the docks and then make your way back, fighting helicopters that blow up portions of the road.
Once you make it to a boat, you need to flee the country and make it to the border. This is unfortunately a very long and dull turret section that feels like it never ends. After this, you get a cutscene recreating the end of the film as Klebb attacks Bond and Tatiana, before it abruptly jumps to the next scene.
While the film has ended now, the game has an additional tacked on action scene. Story-wise, it comes from nowhere: it just cuts to Bond parachuting and M explaining that Octopus are launching a nuclear missile towards, demanding £100 million to cancel it. It’s completely unrelated to anything else, which is fine for the cold opening, but feel really out of place.
That said, the mission is a fun one as you make your way through the secret Octopus base and sabotage their missile. You get a short jetpack section and you have to take out Adara, who is firing missiles form a jet on the ground, at the end of the mission she flies the jet into the hanger door, attempting to take Bond out with her, but missing.
As you escape the building, Bond gets attacked by a large machine equipped with gatling guns and lasers, controlled by Red Grant. Turns out he didn’t die earlier. You blow it up and Red Grant still survives the explosion, getting shot by Bond in a cutscene.
While the From Russia With Love has flaws, it’s a very enjoyable game. This smooths out the problems Everything or Nothing has and is a lot of fun to play. The missions also flow a lot better, with missions having multiple parts to them before you go back to the menu, including proper endings each time.
While I have the handheld port to look at still, From Russia With Love ended up being the last James Bond game from Electronic Arts, which is a shame as they seemed to be figuring out their style of Bond games.
Other Versions
PS2 & Xbox
The PS2 and Xbox versions are similar to the GameCube version, with slightly different graphics.
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SilverFin: Learn to Drive
Young Bond is a series of Young Adult books about Bond during his teenage years at Eton collage. To promote the books, the series had a few online and Java games, starting with this one, which is about a scene from the book where Bond’s uncle, Max, teaches him how to drive.
The game was simple, do three laps around James’ uncle’s estate within the time limit. You can switch to high gear to faster. It’s also a lot more difficult than it looks. The car will bounce backwards whenever it hits a fence, wall or other objects, with a few very tight sections of road. The faster you go, the more you will bounce back.
For a very short flash game, it’s quite good fun.
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007 (Warp Spawn Games)
This is an unlicensed free print-and-play game developed by Lloyd Krassner, based on James Bond. It’s a set of rules followed by a list of cards – I used this and screencaps from the films to create this Tabletop Simulator version of it.
You take turns moving a pawn across a series of 10 cards. You have two action points per turn, which can be to move and/or activate a card. Allies, Action and Gadget cards are place in your “ready area” and can be used to defeat Enemy Agents and Traps, which are then place in your “Danger Pile”, you can then use these Danger cards to defeat villains and complete plots – these cards go into your Mission Pile – the person with the most cards in their mission pile when the cards run out wins the game.
There are also “Woman” cards. These can be used to defeat dangers, but instead of being discarded, they get placed in the “Seduction Pile”. The player with the most women in their seduction pile wins a “minor victory”.
The game is quite simple as you get going and flows very nicely. You need to be aware of other cards near you to avoid helping your opponents too much, and there’s some nice manipulation of the cards using powers.
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Guns & Gadgets 007
This is a pack of playing cards that contains a stats for playing a version of Top Trumps. It has imagery from all the films up to Die Another Day.
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Heroes & Villains 007
This is a pack of playing cards that contains a stats for playing a version of Top Trumps. It has imagery from all the films up to Die Another Day.
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From Russia With Love (PSP)
The handheld version of From Russia With Love went to the PSP instead of the DS – and was the only Bond game to do so. It’s essentially a highly compromised version of the home console game, so I’ll be going through the things that are different in this version – the graphics are an obvious point, with Sean Connery’s dead, unblinking eyes staring at you whenever he faces the camera.
The game opens and you get the exact same level layout as the home console version, it’s initially very impressive how it captures the lighting and style of the home console version. However, Bond’s movement is incredibly stiff (partly due to only having one analogue stick), and he often gets stuck on objects. Bond’s targeting is much more accurate though, which was useful as I had no idea how to activate the Bond focus mode at this point.
The jetpack is back and also feels very clunky. It does the job somewhat, but is nowhere near the fun as the main version, and turning is not nice at all – it isn’t a problem in this mission, but is later on. Strangely, you can blast away the clock faces around Big Ben.
Another thing about the level is that sections are broken up, with loading scenes in between them. It’s not too bad here, but the game feels a lot more disjointed.
Reaching the start of the film, I was impressed with regards to the flow of the game between missions: choose to save then the next mission starts, a big improvement over the many more button presses due to returning to the menu of the home console games.
As the sections of the hedge maze is small, the camera issues start to become evident. I eventually worked out that Circle and Square rotate the camera, but it still likes to get stuck on things and is very slow to move, especially when enemies are behind you. I found myself just constantly tapping the lock on button to help with moving the camera. Another thing is that vaulting is also removed, although I can’t see any reason why.
After the section at MI6, it’s now onto the Gypsy camp. The four missions in Istanbul have been reduced to a few clips of cutscenes (partly because the vehicle sections have been removed completely). The cutscenes are from the home console version, to remind you about how toned down the graphics are. Incidentally, I got the most enjoyment from the game by crouching because the animation for it is so bad.
In this level you’ll encounter more frustrations: the gas mask is something Bond puts on straight away, with the short timespans it lasts depleting from that point. It’s also very difficult to see the gas itself.
You’ll reach the sniper sections and the aiming is horrendous, just completely stiff and not easy to adjust. The one saving grace in these levels is that the enemies spend most of the time ignoring Krenim and instead just sit down and take wile pot shots at Bond instead.
In terms of weapons, some of them just appear in your inventory at the start of levels. You can also upgrade them – a little bar in the weapon icon shows your progress to the next unlock and when it’s full, you can do one upgrade.
In the Russian consulate, I actually figured out how to use Bond focus – it’s the same button as turning the camera left. This was useful for long distance targets, but headshots don’t seem as deadly and due to how slow it is, you’re better off mindlessly blasting people up close (which is most of the game).
The train level is mostly the same, although in one part it just throw multiple waves of enemies at you for padding. The armour piercing rifle is in your inventory early, which makes dealing with the train a lot easier.
After dealing with Red Grant, we get one of my favourite levels from the main version, but this one is no fun at all. The outside section is removed completely and the level feels so disjointed due to skipping large chunks. The level again tries to compensate for its length by throwing a few waves of enemies at you for no reason.
After you finish this, the rest of the film portions become a cutscene, missing some fun vehicle missions but also avoiding the awful boat level. It does feel a bit strange that the main parts removed are sections based on the actual film.
In terms of matching the home console version, the Octopus base is one of the best conversions. The route through the mission is partially streamlined (which is an improvement), but the whole level is there. One issue is that the camera and aiming is your main enemy in the central room, with enemies appearing from all sides. You sabotage the nuke and defeat both villains in the same way.
While this version is lacking multiple levels (including all the bonus levels), it does have something new: challenge missions. These are simple objectives (kill enemies as quickly as possible, survive for x time, finish a section quickly) that take place in parts of the levels.
From Russia With Love shows how the PSP can somewhat replicate a home console experience, but at the same time, this game is incredibly compromised that its also an example of why it shouldn’t be done.