GoldenEye 007 re-release glitches and graphical issues are ‘side effects of it being emulation,’ studio says

Fans of one of the most highly regarded console shooters ever and a game which arguably paved the way for first-person-shooter games from being an enthusiast option on PCs to one of the most dominant genres in gaming — one which set the stage for Call of Duty, Medal of Honor and Halo — won’t have to grind their N64 joysticks to dust for much longer. That’s because the Goldeneye 007 re-release has finally hit the Nintendo Switch and Xbox, the first re-release of the game in 25 years.

Notwithstanding, even though the Goldeneye 007 re-release will have enhanced 4K visuals on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and will have online play for the Nintendo Switch, once the rose-tinted glasses come off, players might realize that because it’s a GoldenEye 007 re-release and not a remake, the game does have its share of graphical errors, glitches and framerate issues and unfortunately they’re all “authentic” to the N64 original.

Code Mystics Inc.

Replying to a fan on Twitter, Canadian studio Code Mystics Inc., who helped port the N64 game to the new consoles, explained that particular issues the fan was experiencing were issues that were already found in the game’s original code.

“Playing this right now on Xbox One X (nostalgia overload) but it’s got some graphical hitches/ glitching going on,” the fan said on Twitter. “Irregardless what a blast from the past!”

To which Code Mystics replied, “Side effect of it being emulation is it picks up a few graphics quirks of the original. GoldenEye was breaking new territory on the N64.”

Code Mystics also explained that “the frame rate is limited by the original ROM code” and that some of the Goldeneye 007 re-release glitches and graphical issues are more noticeable on the current day consoles because they’re more noticeable on today’s high definition resolutions as opposed to standard definition.

“The frame rate is limited by the original ROM code,” Code Mystics said in another tweet. “Also there are unfortunately a few glitches in the original that aren’t easily seen on SD but are more obvious at HD.”

Digital Foundry Senior Staff Writer and Video Producer John Linneman, while admitting it was fun to compare the original N64 version with the new ones, also found that there was a “lot of weirdness” going on with the GoldenEye 007 re-release, citing “a lot of issues with wobbling vertices and texture seams.”

Code Mystics responded in a similar manner to the previous example, stating that the particular GoldenEye 007 re-release glitches and graphical issues that Linneman brought up were a result of it being a faithful rerelease of the original game and that said issues were “easier to see in HD.”

“For better or worse,” Code Mystics said, “the occasional seams and Z fighting are authentic, not an emulation glitch. It’s just easier to see in HD. But glitches were checked against a real N64 during development. What remains were there too, just blurrier.”

Goldeneye 007 re-release glitches and graphical issues notwithstanding, we’re still looking forward to replaying GoldenEye 007‘s campaign mode, which was one of the first console shooters to ever add objectives to missions in order to complete them. We’re also looking forward to going back and seeing how the enemy AI, some of the first AI in a FPS to feature guarding and patrolling behavior, as well as the first to respond to visual and audio sensors as a result of player behavior. Also, the slapping soundtrack.

Although anyone that picks Oddjob in multiplayer is still getting (rightfully) ostracized, just like the old days.

Are you looking forward to playing the GoldenEye 007 re-release, despite issues stemming from the original game’s code? Have you found any issues with the GoldenEye 007 re-release that weren’t addressed in this article? Let us know in the comments.

If the GoldenEye 007 re-release scratched your nostalgic itch, don’t forget to check out the GoldenEye 007