'GoldenEye 007' Game Designer Reveals How 'Super Mario 64' Influenced Its Development

By Alex Cruz | Oct 27, 2015 06:00 AM EDT

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"GoldenEye 007," an N64 game based on the film which stars Pierce Brosnan, was released in 1997, and it transformed the notion of first-person shooter game. Martin Hollis, designer of the game, revealed that Super Mario 64 had a great influence on the game.

"Super Mario 64" was released in 1996, and during this time, the "GoldenEye 007" is being developed. Hollis revealed that the team borrowed Mario's multiple objective ideas on each level.

He said that he tried to learn Nintendo, studiously. He also played "Zelda: Link to the Past" from beginning to end.

Since Bond was a violent franchise, the team faced a tough challenge making the "GoldenEye 007" fit into Nintendo, which known as a family-friendly console, The Guardian reported.

"When I saw it the first time, I thought it was awesome, it was a fountain of blood, like that moment in the Shining when the lift doors open. Then I thought, hmm, this might be a bit too much red," he said, during the GameCity festival in Nottingham, England.

Towards the end of the development of "GoldenEye 007," Hollis received a fax message from Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, with a few suggestions, Engadget learned. The Mario maker pointed out that there was too much killing, which is both horrible and tragic.

Miyamoto suggested a more subtle ending, where you'd get to reconcile with you enemy, which he thought would be nice.

Though he may not have exactly followed what the "Donkey Kong" creator suggested, he managed to make a workaround where he added a credit sequence to introduce the characters, according to the report of Entertainment Weekly. He said that the sequence told the gamers that the killing was not real.

Yes, there were there any discussions about a potential "GoldenEye 007" sequel. Nintendo asked Rare if they would consider making another game based on the next James Bond film, but the studio turned down the offer.

Hollis, instead, went on creating "Perfect Dark." The game is known as the spiritual sequel of "GoldenEye 007."

It was released in 2000. However, the game reportedly made less impression to the public compared to its predecessor, which sold over eight million copies

There were a lot of James Bond film-based games released for different platforms, following "GoldenEye 007." It included "Agent Under Fire," which was released in 2001, "Nightfire" in 2002, "Everything or Nothing" in 2004 for Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube.

"Quantum of Solace" was released in 2008 for PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, PC, Wii and DS. Nintendo unveiled the Wii-exclusive remake of "GoldenEye 007" in 2010.

Watch James Bond himself "GoldenEye 007" on N64.

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