There aren't many examples of a video game that is just as popular– if not more so– than the movie it is based on, but that definitely applies to the classic, Rare-developed N64 game Goldeneye 007. A landmark for movie-based games, first-person shooters, and multiplayer games in general, Goldeneye captivated an entire generation of gamers who weren't necessarily even interested in the game's source material or genre.
Other than being a pretty faithful retelling of the movie, what made Goldeneye such a treat was just how fun it was to play and how much the game felt like a playground to mess around in. There is so much to do in the game, a lot of which was intended by the developers but plenty that wasn't. This list encompasses both planned and unplanned tricks, glitches, and other fun little novelties that players can do in Goldeneye that might help them put another few hundred hours into this iconic title. Just be aware that some of these things require a cheat device of some kind to accomplish.
10 Play With Dual Analog Control
Console controllers having a second analog stick didn't really become the standard until it was a feature on the default PlayStation 2 controller, but that territory was still waded into even before the Sony first introduced the PS1's Dual Analog pad. A little-known control option exists in the menu for Goldeneye that allows for players to hold a controller in each hand and use the right hand controller's analog stick for analog aiming. It's a bit cumbersome and doesn't really hold up to extended play sessions, but it's still neat to play Goldeneye with a dual-analog setup.
9 Explore A Deleted Multiplayer Map
Not long after Goldeneye was released, data miners started poking around in the game's code and found some pretty interesting content that was left out of the final product. One such bit of deleted data that was discovered was an entire multiplayer map called "Citadel" that is un-textured but is otherwise fully navigable and can be accessed with a cheat device. Its many hills and big open areas feel more like a map from UnrealTournament than Goldeneye, suggesting that the developers hadn't yet found the game's more unique "feel" at that point and were following suit with the other FPSs of the era.
8 Make James Bond Grow A Third Arm
There is a famous glitch that allows Bond to dual-wield weapons that aren't normally set up for dual-wielding, but if you're reading this list, you probably already know that. What you might not know is that that glitch can also be parlayed into another fun– though not really useful in any way– glitch that makes it appear as though Bond as three arms. By having a weapon in his left hand and then bringing up his watch, an animation that brings up both of his hands, you can make it look as though 007 is a three-armed secret agent.
7 Trap Your Friends In A Bathroom Stall
In addition to just being a solidly-built multiplayer FPS on its own, one of the main reasons that people played rounds of multiplayer Goldeneye for years and years– and many still do to this day– is all of the goofy fun that can be had just messing around in the maps. One fun trick you might not have thought of is to follow one of your friends into a bathroom, and when they go into a stall to pick up some health or ammo, simply close the stall door and stand in front of it which prevents them from opening it. Funny stuff, trust us.
6 Kill Enemies (And Friends) During Cutscenes
Being based on a movie, Goldeneye's story mode is forced to follow certain plot points and can't let you, say, kill enemies that you aren't supposed to kill (at least not until you get to that point in the story). But if you can fire off some timed mines just before a cutscene starts, you can watch normally unkillable enemies– and even friendly NPCs– biff it in explosive fashion during cutscenes. The developers at least had the foresight to code the game so Bond is invincible during cutscenes, so he's one character you can't finish off with your timed mine shenanigans.
5 See More Of The Train
A lot of the cheats that you can activate during regular Goldeneye play completely break various aspects of the game, especially in story mode, something that Rare seemed to encourage by how many examples there are of it– far more than they could've possibly just accidentally missed in QA. For example, enabling "Turbo Mode" and playing through the Train level lets you reach the other half of the train before it's detached. And, further suggesting that Rare foresaw and was fine with some of the potential mischief players would get into in the game, the normally unreachable train car is fully modeled for you to walk around in.
4 Turn James Bond Into The Human Torch
Here's some more fun to be had with perfectly "legal" cheats that Rare themselves built into the game. By activating the "Invincibility" cheat, you can enter the Silo level, set the explosives, and then wait for them to do their job. Under normal circumstances, the flames will hit Bond and spell game over– but since he's invincible, the flames will instead follow him through the stage like he's the Human Torch and set ablaze everything and everyone he encounters. If only the trick could be used in multiplayer somehow.
3 Access A Fully-Functional Retro Emulator
Goldeneye developer Rare had been making video games since the mid-1980s, cutting their teeth on mostly-European-only computers. UK gamers first fell in love with Rare– then known as Ultimate Play The Game– through the games the developer released for the ZX Spectrum. In a tribute to that, Rare built a fully-functional ZX Spectrum emulator inside Goldeneye for seemingly no other reason than just as a fun internal exercise. It was closed off in the final version though not actually removed, and it can still be accessed with cheat devices.
2 Make James Bond Miss His Helicopter Leap
Not only does activating various cheats do all kinds of fun things within levels themselves, but they also result in a lot of hilarity for Bond in Goldeneye's cutscenes. In the cutscene where he leaps into the air and heroically grabs onto an airborne helicopter, activating various cheats will make Bond miss the jump in a all kinds of funny ways. "Slow Animation," "Fast Animation," and "Turbo Mode" all turn that cutscene into a wild glitch fest as the game struggles to reconcile Bond's scripted path and the effects of the cheats.
1 Go To The Island In The Dam Level
In the early days of 3D games, developers were trying to give the impression of a huge space but were forced to limit how much of that space players could actually inhabit. The result was a lot of buildings and structures in the distance of levels that could be seen but not reached, leading to all kinds of speculation as to how you could get there and what you'd find. One of the most famous examples of this was the island in the Dam level of Goldeneye, which players loved to gossip about and try to reach. Well, you actually can with cheat devices– although it is pretty anticlimactic as there's nothing special or secret to uncover.