I assumed I would just play up through Facility as I have done countless times, but then I ended up running through Goldeneye again. And it turns out, when unshackled from archaic controls, it’s pretty dang fun! Poking around finding all the little things you need to do in a level is rewarding but mercifully brief. And there is something really charming seeing how, with such restrained resources, Rare set a delightful Bond atmosphere.

Sure, it gets up to its retro game BS by the end with some pretty frustrating encounters, but again, the levels are short and eventually you find ways to break those moments.

Goldeneye is, however, impossible for me to score at this point. The guns, maps, music, UI, everything really is dripping with nostalgia for me. What I will say is that if you have played Goldeneye before, this port may not give it a fresh cost of paint, but it does give the opportunity to play it as you remember it and not as it was with better controls, resolution, and performance. And even if you are new to it, I think there is something kind of special to experience here.

Edit: Also, I never realized that the cheats came from speed-running levels and that has really hooked me as an endgame. It turns how I played the levels on their head and nudges you towards how to break the game. It’s a super cool, whole new way to play that is rewarded with neat cheats.

For a game that was rushed to ship in 1997, it is pretty remarkable what Goldeneye managed to achieve.