Listen closely 007. It was on this date in 1962 that the suave super-spy with a license to kill from Her Majesty’s Secret Service burst on to the big screen in the form of Dr. No starring, who may be considered the best Bond, Sean Connery. Since then 007 has appeared in 22 additional films, the longest running franchise in cinema history (and you thought Harry Potter went of forever). Not only have there been a crazy amount of Bond movies, but there has also been a whopping 25 video games centered around the gadgety martini-lover on every console from CoecoVision to PC/Mac and current gen.
In 1984, Parker Brothers introduced Bond’s first foray onto video games with the title James Bond 007 (not to be confused with the 1997 Gamboy release by the same title). One would think that there should have been a colon between “Bond” and “007,” but maybe the programming was already too full on the Atari, ColecoVision and Commodore 64 games that the developers just said, “To heck with it! They’ll never know.” And most gamers probably didn’t know for one simple reason (colon) The game’s utter crap called gameplay was just too distracting.
James Bond 007 was a side-scroller that allowed players to control the spy’s multi-purpose vehicle that could travel on both land and water. Divided into four missions, the game attempted to bring players on an adventure based on the films Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, and The Spy Who Loved Me. though the only way that players could tell what the mission was supposed to be based on was through the title screen at the beginning of each mission. VideoGameCritic.net probably does the best job of summing up the experience in the first Bond virtual adventure:
Unimaginative, poorly programmed, and devoid of fun, James Bond 007 takes a perfectly good movie license and flushes it directly down the toilet.
It would take 10 additional Bond games until the franchise really gained a foothold in the gaming industry
The Godfather of Bond Games
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpYocIwoiYM&w=480&h=360]
It’s possibly one of the most loved games ever released for the Nintendo 64. GoldenEye (1997) took Pierce Brosnan’s bond and trust him into engaging first-person-shooter action. The game did an excellent job of recreating the film GoldenEye for gamers to play through. Not only was it the strongest outing for a Bond title to date, but it also lead the way in FPS games for the future. Not because of the story more (which was pretty excellent), but more for the replay value thanks to the 4-way multiplayer deathmatches and unlockable rewards that could tweak your game play experience (DK Mode anyone?). To this day I enjoy busting out the ol’ N64 and taking my friends to school as Oddjob.
Twelve other 007 gaming titles have been released since then, incorporating cinema stories and original ones as well. The James Bond franchise has permeated gaming through titles that vary from side-scrollers, to point-and-click adventures; first-person-shooters, to even a racing title. Her Majesty’s number one spy’s games have paved many paths as was mentioned above as well as the way in which many games since GoldenEye have featured the voices of the actors and actress who portrayed the characters in film (I for one would love to see Dame Judy Dench in a video game recording studio).
From 1984 through the present, every-single 007 game has been reminiscent of the movies: some hits, some misses (cough cough George Lazenby cough cough), but also like the films, I certainly hope they don’t stop any time soon. So as you get ready to celebrate Global James Bond Day in your own way (I for one will be having my wife watch Goldfinger for the first time followed up by some Nightfire), I’ll leave you with a fitting end. The freshly released opening cinematic for 007 Legends slated for an October 16th release.
Happy Global James Bond Day everyone!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6UgmuSaC7A&w=560&h=315]
Latest posts by Joel Polkinghorne (see all)
- When Is It Time For A Break? - March 18, 2013
- How Windows 8 Will Change PC Gaming Forever. - March 5, 2013
- Valentines For Your Gamer - February 14, 2013
I love what you guys tend to be up too. This sort of clever work and coverage!
Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my own blogroll.