GoldenEye 007 for the N64 stands side by side with giants like Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time as one of the best games on the unique console. Its beefy single-player campaign and addictive multiplayer kept fans hooked for years, as they spent countless nights playing the Rare developed first-person shooter until the early morning hours.
Some players even broke the boundaries developers set up by using the infamous GameShark, a cheat device connected directly to the console. With it, players could enable all manner of cheat codes. The following list will present just some of the crazy things people got up to using the GameShark with GoldenEye.
10 New Multiplayer Maps
One cheat enabled the single-player levels to be used in multiplayer. For all but two of the maps, spawn points and weapon locations are nonexistent because they were never intended for competitive play. The Cradle and Statue are the two fully functional areas.
Playing them reveals the likely reason why they were taken out of the mode; they run even worse than the regular maps do. It is unfortunate they bring the frame rate to a halt, as The Cradle is an especially fun map.
9 Unlocking The Rest Of A Multiplayer Map
Many of the maps in multiplayer are already taken from the single-player campaign, only with some sections cordoned off. With the device, it is possible to access these areas and expand the playground.
No weapon pickups exist in these areas, so be sure to stock up before heading there to duke it out in the previously inaccessible parts of the map. Admittedly, they don't add a whole lot to the gameplay experience, but it is worth it for the novelty of going somewhere the developers never intended players to go.
8 All Bonds (Sort Of)
When making the multiplayer mode, the developers planned to have the four prior bond actors as playable characters. Legal issues ultimately got in the way of making this a reality, but traces of the feature exist within the game's code and can be brought to light with the GameShark.
A cheat can have their icons show up on the character select screen. Playing as them still keeps Pierce Brosnan's face but changes the outfit. The game's instruction manual also features a photo of the four bonds, showing just how close to release the feature got the ax.
7 Rapid Fire Any Gun
The game has an impressive array of firearms even by today's standards, and they all feel different. Sometimes, though, people just want to shoot fast regardless of the gun they have, and GameShark has a cheat just for that.
After enabling Rapid Fire, players can shoot the default PP7 like it was an RC-P90. This cheat comes in handy for the more challenging levels on the harder difficulties where baddies easily swarm the player. Find a corner in a room with one entrance and let the bullets fly as guards pour in.
6 Reaching The Secret Island
On the Dam of the first level, players can look out across the water to spot an island faintly visible through the mist. When first discovered, the enigmatic location became the stuff of legend. What was it for and why was it left in after its initial purpose was abandoned?
Some say one objective would have had Bond take a boat to the island. Using a cheat, one can take the camera all the way out across the water and get a close up look at the unused piece of land. It doesn't reveal anything special, but it is still neat to see the island from a clearer perspective.
5 Sideways Guns
Being a secret agent expertly trained in the use of firearms, Bond would likely never hold a gun sideways. However, a GameShark code allows the player to do just this, taking control away from the British spy and forcing him to hold his weapon in this rather unconventional manner.
It feels natural for a pistol, but things get weird when dual-wielding two heavy-duty assault rifles. Maybe it is impractical and impossible, but it sure looks cool.
4 Funky Things With The Graphics
The N64 game had impressive graphics back in the day and was commemorated for its attempt at realism. Real can be so boring sometimes, though. With the GameShark, people added intense filters to the gameplay, changing the look entirely.
Some of them made the game look like abstract art or made one question whether someone might have put something funky in their food.
3 Putting Bond's Head On Different People
This game came out many years before character creation and customization was a standard feature; however, a little cheating kind of enables something similar. In a little game of dress-up, one can put the iconic character's head on all manner of bodies, from the fitting to the hilarious.
As a spy, Bond must grow accustomed to wearing uncomfortable outfits he normally wouldn't don. In the movies, he generally gets to be a suave ladies man, but a true spy would disguise themselves as a toilet if it meant getting the job done.
2 Giant Mode
One particularly frightening cheat involves making every character gigantic. The player's viewpoint is normal but all enemies on the map tower literally hundreds of feet in the air.
It's quite impressive to see several massive guards rushing Bond, and their death animations are even more spectacular. The mode can even be enabled for multiplayer matches, which adds to the comedy. In the more confined maps, all players see of their adversary is maybe their foot.
1 Citadel
Citadel was the stuff of video game myth. It was a level consisting of a random assortment of halls and platforms. The bizarre creation was so hard to access, most dismissed it as an online hoax.
Yet, people really did find it in GoldenEye's text files. Playing multiplayer on the map requires a larger toolset than just a GameShark, but these days people are able to duke it out on the map cleanly. It's amazing how long it took to unearth this secret.