10 Iconic Video Games You Had NO IDEA Were Originally Sequels

Originally: Goldeneye 2

GoldenEye on the N64 didn’t just bring FPS shooting to consoles in spectacular fashion (a genre previously dominated by PCs), it also introduced young gamers to multiplayer deathmatches and delivered one of the best licensed games ever made. No small feat. Gamers wanted more, and so did publisher Nintendo, who tasked developer Rare with delivering a direct follow-up.

Conceptually, though, not much work began due to two major factors. First, back then, the Bond license was handled on a film-by-film basis, and when it came time to bid for the next movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, EA dramatically outbid Nintendo at the auction. Rare could still make the case for an original story - essentially a direct sequel to their game, GoldenEye 2 - but then came the second issue: the team, when pressed, was simply over the Bond franchise. Luckily, they weren’t over the idea of making another cutting-edge FPS for the N64, and continued working on the concept, but untethered to the IP.

And from there, Perfect Dark was born. It took everything that made GoldenEye work - slick first-person action, surprisingly advanced AI and animations, and a tense, cinematic campaign that made players feel like they were living an espionage blockbuster - but added an evolved sci-fi twist.

Perfect Dark was always seen as the spiritual successor to GoldenEye, but as it turns out, at one point, it really was intended to be its genuine sequel.