The Nintendo 64 is a haven for phenomenal games and Rare were responsible for a lot of them. Impressively, they even managed to make a movie tie-in game great. We've humiliated our friends in plenty of great games before but none are as legendary as Goldeneye 007. Nowadays, we expect multiplayer modes to arrive with every single game made. It's a way for developers to extend the lifespan of a game while also offering us the chance to empty our wallets once more by buying map packs and character skins. Back in 1997 though, adding multiplayer onto a solid single player game was considered a controversial move. In fact, Goldeneye's multiplayer was added on at the very last minute; making the fact that it would go onto be one of the greatest multiplayer shooters in history an impressive achievement indeed. Despite a fiddly aiming system, Goldeneye is massively addicting in local multiplayer. There's a range of great maps to hunt your opponents down on and there's an impressive range of modes to play with. Some are inspired by classic Bond films (The Man With The Golden Gun and You Only Live Twice for example), adding to the fun. For further Bond nostalgia, character skins include Oddjob and Jaws; the former being noticeably shorter than other characters and was considered harder to kill as a result. It's hard to not come up with some great highlights from days playing Goldeneye - turning on paintball mode and redecorating the Temple; turning on Big Head mode and rolling about laughing at Pierce Brosnan's oversized noggin; intense shootouts in Facility's huge gas room... of course, Goldeneye was probably the first game which led to the coining of the term 'screen-looking'; the art of looking at your friend's portion of the screen to see where they are. Entire friendships have probably been destroyed from that one form of cheating alone. Busting Goldeneye out at a gaming meet-up is still a surefire way to make you popular; well, until you annihilate everyone anyway. It's an absolute classic and if you've never played it before, you've missed out. It might be very dated now (the one stick controls really are hard to get used to these days) but you'll be hooked in no time. Just remember to keep your eyes glued to your own section of the screen. Did we miss anything? Is there a game you always bring out when you have friends out which is sure to get everyone swearing and fighting? Is there something that's particularly enjoyable when played professionally? Let us know in the comments below!
I have an addiction to achievements, a craving for new bands and a dream to become Captain America. I once finished second in a Mario Kart 7 tournament so I'm kind of a big deal.
