When one thinks of the greatest Nintendo 64 games ever made, titles like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, and GoldenEye 007 come to mind. With Nintendo bringing Nintendo 64 games to its Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, it's making sure that the service debuts with a strong lineup of N64 titles, and so Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 will be available right out of the gate. GoldenEye 007, unfortunately, won't be coming to the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.
GoldenEye 007 is an iconic Nintendo 64 game, but unfortunately, the rights to the game are extremely messy. While various gaming companies have had the rights to the James Bond video game license over the years, GoldenEye 007 was made by Rare, and so other companies couldn't just re-release it. Beyond that, GoldenEye 007 itself was published by Nintendo, yet Rare is owned by Microsoft, making the rights issues that much worse.
In order for a GoldenEye 007 re-release or remaster to happen, it would need a lot of different parties coming together and reaching an agreement. It seems like a virtual impossibility, and that's a shame. GoldenEye 007 would be the ultimate Nintendo Switch Online game, as it would add a huge feature that wasn't present in the original and could very well give it a significant new lease on life.
GoldenEye 007 Online Multiplayer
Not only is the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack bringing classic Nintendo 64 games to the Switch, but it's doing so with new features. It's been confirmed that the Nintendo 64 games coming to the Switch Online Expansion Pack will have online multiplayer support. Specifics on how this will work have not been revealed at the time of this writing, but regardless, it should be a hugely popular feature with fans.
GoldenEye 007 was best known for its split-screen multiplayer experience, and a Nintendo Swtich Online release would allow players to experience it online through an official channel for the first time. While there are certainly aspects of GoldenEye 007 that haven't aged that well, the game has iconic maps, weapons, and gameplay that still hold up to this day. Being able to relive all of this content in an online multiplayer setting would be great, and could be a massive selling point for the Switch Online Expansion Pack.
Unfortunately, the messy licensing and rights issues surrounding GoldenEye 007 means that it's highly unlikely that the game will ever come to the Switch Online Expansion Pack, or even get any kind of re-release or remaster. For now, James Bond fans can look forward to the IO Interactive 007 game and the other Nintendo 64 games that are coming to the Switch Online Expansion Pack.