RETRO – Snobbery, sophistication, beautiful women, elegant cars, supervillains, and unfiltered violence surround the world’s most famous and oldest super-spy, James Bond 007, whose computer adventures have been available to us for 25 years.

Yes, the very first James Bond game appeared back in 1983, exactly 30 years after the release of the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. Since then, we’ve fought Soviet villains and SPECTRE agents in side-scrolling, platforming, FPS, and TPS perspectives as the ever-dapper 007, always watching out for the perfect look of his bow tie and tuxedo.

James, It’s Been So Long…

The very first Bond game in 1983 actually predates the golden era of the Commodore 64, and so it also appeared on some platforms that sound almost comical today, like ColecoVision, and was popular on Atari machines, beloved by our fathers and grandfathers.

The game’s title was simply James Bond 007, and you could replay famous scenes from previous movies: Diamonds are Forever, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, and so on. Each level had swarms of enemies trying to reduce 007’s health to 000, and you always had to complete tasks related to that particular film. As a first adventure, this little arcade gem wasn’t bad at all, and anyone curious about gaming relics should give it a try.

Interactive Novel?

Yes, as incredible as it sounds in today’s action-focused gaming world, the next James Bond “games” were actually interactive novels, where the software described your current location and you had to type in your commands (Go west, young agent, kill Russian, etc.)

One of these was based on the then-new Roger Moore movie, A View to a Kill, and another was a Goldfinger adaptation. For those who enjoyed reading Fleming’s original novels, these are still interesting diversions today.

Timothy Dalton Steps onto the Stage…

1987 was a landmark year in the James Bond movie saga: this was when the fox-faced Timothy Dalton donned the 007 tuxedo, to mixed reactions—some hated him, others say he was one of the best James Bond actors ever. Dalton starred in just two films, but both were made into games for the Commodore 64: The Living Daylights and the Domark-developed License to Kill.

The former was a side-scrolling shooter (I remember wrecking my friend’s C64 joystick to get through it), while the latter was a top-down shooter where 007 had to climb helicopters, trucks, and other vehicles after the on-foot action scenes. If you’d seen the film, playing these set pieces was an especially great experience—but even without the movie, these were among the best James Bond games ever made.

Roger Rabbit in Trouble

After License to Kill’s big success, Domark returned to adapting classic James Bond films. The 1988 Live and Let Die (for Amiga and newer Atari machines) and 1999’s The Spy Who Loved Me continued and perfected the top-down driving formula.

The latter was a particular highlight—and also a bit controversial. In the game’s Lotus Esprit supercar, you could run over not only bad guys but also innocent bystanders, which obviously clashed with the secret agent’s heroic image, causing a minor scandal at the time. In a sense, it foreshadowed games like Carmageddon and GTA…

James Bond Never Dies, He Just Evolves

The next James Bond game, 1990’s James Bond: The Stealth Affair, is interesting because it didn’t start as one. Developed by French studio Delphine Software, it was an excellent side-scrolling adventure for the Amiga 500, released as Operation Stealth.

While the intention was always a James Bond game, licensing issues meant they couldn’t use the official character, so the protagonist became John Glames, a CIA super-agent, in a completely independent story, still very much in the style of the James Bond films.

Later, Interplay bought the game, acquired the 007 license, and re-released it under a new title with Bond as the lead character. If you enjoy point-and-click adventures and don’t mind vintage graphics, this is a must-play, even outside of the Bond context.

Pierce Brosnan in the Gun Barrel

After Dalton’s two outings, he was unexpectedly dismissed by MI5, and a new actor—the charming, handsome Pierce Brosnan—donned the tux in 1995. However, it wasn’t until two years after his first film, GoldenEye, that the video game adaptation was released.

It was worth the wait: the 1997 Nintendo 64 GoldenEye is one of those rare console games still fondly remembered by many today. Some even wish they could recapture the magic they experienced in this classic. GoldenEye left such a mark on gaming that Electronic Arts recently tried to cash in with a multiplayer-focused FPS under the same title—needless to say, the result was abysmal.

So why is GoldenEye still considered the best James Bond game ever made? The single-player was outstanding, blending FPS gameplay with stealth, sniping, and features you wouldn’t see again until 2001’s No One Lives Forever. But the multiplayer is what made it a favorite: with so many modes and options, many even rate it above the Halo games as a 007 adventure.

My Name is Arts, Electronic Arts

In 1999, the James Bond license passed to the wealthy but increasingly factory-like Electronic Arts. EA enthusiastically cranked out a series of average titles based on the newer Brosnan Bond films, but they also released a few spin-offs: racing games and two original stories—Nightfire and Everything or Nothing.

The latter was especially memorable, featuring big stars like Christopher Walken, Shannon Elizabeth, and Heidi Klum. Many still rank it as the second-best 007 game after GoldenEye, thanks to its explosive action sequences, solid story (even by Bond movie standards), and then-impressive graphics.

Unfortunately, EA rushed their last game on this engine, From Russia with Love, based on the classic film—even bringing back the legendary Sean Connery as Bond’s voice. With this release, EA bid farewell to the Bond license, which was picked up by Activision—whose first title was Quantum of Solace, reviewed in this very issue…

-BadSector-