Nintendo Switch and Xbox are finally getting GoldenEye 007. Nintendo announced today that Rare is releasing GoldenEye 007 HD on Nintendo Switch and Xbox as a remaster of the legendary Nintendo 64 title that first launched in 1997.
The remastered game includes 4K resolution, smoother frame rates, and even split-screen local multiplayer.
Rare says it will even arrive on Xbox Game Pass and Nintendo Switch Online, but online multiplayer modes will be exclusive to the Switch version, according to a post on the official 007 sites. Unfortunately, there is no declared date for the GoldenEye 007 release.
The classic campaign and cheat modes will return alongside support for dual analog sticks and a native 16:9 aspect ratio at up to 4K resolution. If you already possess a digital copy of Rare Replay, then GoldenEye 007 is included and free of charge.
It’s been a long time since an HD remaster was supposed to launch on Xbox 360 in 2008, but licensing and rights issues have complicated a deal to release it. That HD remaster leaked last year, complete with the original single-player campaign and even local split-screen multiplayer. Now we have an official GoldenEye 007 remaster for the Xbox and Nintendo Switch for the first time.
There have been multiple shots to remake the original GoldenEye 007 N64 game, including an effort by Activision that was nothing like the N64 original. Fans have also successfully re-constructed GoldenEye 007 in various engines, only for one project to be hit by lawyers from rights holders MGM in 2020. Rare, the game’s original developers even created a spiritual successor, Perfect Dark, in 2000. It was a similar style and upgraded engine but a new and original IP that eventually saw a remaster in 2010.
The announcement of a GoldenEye 007 remaster comes just as James Bond fans celebrate 60 years of the iconic movies. Various events are being held, culminating in James Bond Day on October 5th.
Alongside the GoldenEye 007 announcement, Nintendo is also adding Pokémon Stadium, Mario Party, Pilotwings 64, 1080° Snowboarding, and Excitebike 64 to Nintendo Switch Online.
GoldenEye is a 1995 spy movie, the 17th in the James Bond series created by Eon Productions and the foremost to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was the first in the series, directed by Martin Campbell, not to utilize any story components from the creations of novelist Ian Fleming.
It was also the original James Bond film not produced by Albert R. Broccoli, following his driving down from Eon Productions and replacement by his daughter, Barbara Broccoli. However, Albert was still interested as a consultant producer. It was his last film project before his death in 1996.
The story was developed and written by Michael France, who later collaborated with other writers. In the film, Bond fights to control a rogue ex-MI6 agent from using a satellite weapon against London to provoke an international economic meltdown.