Ah Rare's glory years. Watch out for incoming nostalgia.

Goldeneye was, simply put, the best console FPS until Bungie unleashed Halo. Goldeneye didn't just give the N64 a shot in the arm--it set a new standard for first-person-shooters, console and PC.

At the time, the technology was amazing--real faces on polygonal enemies, body-part specific hit detection, multiple death animations, huge levels. But what makes Goldeneye worth keeping in the collection is the gameplay. There's something ultimately satisfying about the game's "combat loop," as Bungie employees are always talking about when they stress Halo's sheer fun factor. Well (arguably even more) Goldeneye absolutely freaking nails it. We're talking TIGHT, bitches.

It's almost indescribable, but things that contribute to this zen-like gameplay are:

enemies, when shot, will jerk back realistically and nurse the wound for a couple seconds; head shots really do kill, being a quiet killer actually helps you make it through the level, did I mention animation?--polygon for polygon NO game ever has more expressive animation, difficulty levels that add new objectives, the list goes on.

And all this incredible (how good it is really is just impossible to convey) gameplay also shows up in the multiplayer mode, which jaw-droppingly enough Rare threw in the game shortly before the release date--thank god they did. This became a dorm room staple for good reason...no self-respecting gamer should go through life without having played Goldeneye multiplayer on "License to Kill" mode with pistols--with one shot kills, the tension is like nothing else in gaming.

The amount of love that went into this game is clearly apparent--Rare aimed high and set a new bar in action gaming with Goldeneye 007...I'm sad that most of the Goldeneye team left Rare to form their own company, which came out with...the Timesplitters series. Hopefully someday again they'll find that magic, but until then there's always still 007...if you haven't played it, you owe it to yourself to pick up that $10 cartridge at your local game shop.