In 1997, Nintendo released the Rare-developed first-person shooter GoldenEye 007 (based on the James Bond movie of the same name). It was an instant classic. Now, developed by the same development team as GoldenEye 007, Rare releases the "semi-sequel" Perfect Dark.
Perfect Dark outdoes GoldenEye 007 in almost every respect. Graphics are better (with help from the Expansion Pak), the music (although containing no James Bond theme songs) is about as good, and the multi-player mode is much much better.
This is definitely the best 1st-person shooter for the N64. There are dozens of weapons, dozens of challenges (you can unlock options by completing them), dozens of soundtrack tunes (selectable in the multi-player mode), dozens of 1-player mode levels, lots of multi-player arenas (including some from GoldenEye 007, like the Facility), and lots and lots of characters to choose from (in the multi-player mode).
A unique part of this game is the simulants in the multi-player mode. You can play the multi-player mode by yourself and have as many as eight computer-controlled characters (simulants), with several different difficulty levels to choose from, playing with you. You can also use the simulants when playing with other human-controlled characters, too.
This game was supposed to be released in the fall of 1999, but was released six months later for more time for development. One of the added options to the game, during the six-month period, was the counter-operative mode for the 1-player game. In this mode, the second player takes control of one of the enemies and sets out to kill Joanna Dark. If Joanna kills the second player-controlled character, then the second player simply takes control of another enemy.
The game also has a co-operative mode. Joanna Dark is accompanied by Velvet Dark (controlled by the second player).
This is a must-have game for action fans. And now since the game has been re-released, it should be even easier to get. The only downside is the fact that the game is M-rated (suitable for players aged 17 and up), because of bad language (there's an option in the game to eliminate this) and because there's a lot of blood in the game. But, besides that, this game is a blast.
GOOD: Excellent Graphics, Great Music, Lots of Weapons, Lots of Options
BAD: Considerable Slow-Down on 4-Player Mode
Perfect Dark
