Joanna Dark Scores On Nintendo 64 in Perfect Dark - Today in History - May 22nd, 2000

The Nintendo 64 was not exactly a powerhouse of a console, though what it could do was impressive in comparison to the competition. In the right hands the N64 kicked butt such as Banjo Kazooie, Super Mario 64, etc. The problem is, the right hands were extremely limited and there simply were not enough to go around- Nintendo and Rare seemingly locked them all up. Perfect Dark exemplifies this notion.

Much like its predecessor, Golden Eye 007, Perfect Dark was more fun in multiplayer but both featured strong storylines that prodded single play too. Perfect Dark was set in the future which allowed Rare to have fun with weapons, locations and enemies. This also freed them up from the "realistic" work done on Golden Eye 007. An interesting tidbit about Perfect Dark is that the development team were bouncing ideas around for their next game, after they completed Golden Eye 007.

Early on the idea of working on "Tomorrow Never Dies", another James Bond movie to game, was mentioned. That was quickly shot down due to concerns and general feeling that James Bond was played out and consumed too much research and work as it was. Thankfully, Perfect Dark still rocked and went on to set sales records for N64 games, even though the better stuff in the game required the expansion pack that Donkey Kong 64 released with. Perfect Dark has gone on to appear on the Xbox line of consoles thanks to Microsoft purchasing Rare. This purchase has kept the original N64 game from appearing on any virtual console services from Nintendo. Sadly, when these copyright issues happen it is the gamers that lose out the most. For a copy of the N64 game it is time to hit Ebay.

This article was originally published on Retro Gaming Magazine, a gaming website I own.