Perfect Dark (Game Boy Color)

Perfect Dark
European box art
Developer(s) Rare
Publisher(s) Rare
Series Perfect Dark
Platform(s) Game Boy Color
Release
  • PAL: August 2000
  • NA: August 28, 2000
Genre(s) Action, stealth
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Perfect Dark is an action video game developed and published by Rare. It was exclusively released for the Game Boy Color handheld game console in August 2000, shortly after the release of its Nintendo 64 counterpart. The game takes place in the year 2022, one year prior to the events of the Nintendo 64 game, and follows the exploits of Joanna Dark as she attempts to prove herself as an agent for the Carrington Institute agency. The gameplay revolves around shooting opponents and completing objectives such as rescuing hostages or recovering items. It also features a multiplayer mode where two players may compete in several deathmatch modes.

Perfect Dark includes a built-in rumble functionality into the game cartridge and supports the Game Boy Printer, Game Link Cable, and Transfer Pak accessories. The Transfer Pak allows certain features within the Nintendo 64 game to alternatively be unlocked. Perfect Dark received generally a mixed reaction from video game critics, who criticized its superficial stealth mechanics and unoriginal mini-games, but praised its graphics and audio.

Gameplay

The player, controlling Joanna Dark, can sneak behind enemies without being detected. The HUD at the right side of the screen displays Joanna's health and ammunition.

Perfect Dark is an action game that is presented from an overhead perspective where the player can move and shoot in eight directions, similar to Metal Gear: Ghost Babel.[1] The player assumes the role of Joanna Dark, who must initially complete a training mode where she will be provided a fixed sequence of challenges so that the player learns the game mechanics. These mechanics include the use of stealth, in which players are challenged to kill enemies by sneaking up behind them without making noise (e.g. running or reloading weapons), complete a memory type game that involves pressing various buttons in a specific order to open up doors, and shoot targets from a first-person perspective.[2]

The campaign is divided into several missions that the player has to complete while fighting enemies and completing objectives. Objectives range from rescuing hostages to exploring areas and recovering items such as keycards, explosives or laptop computers, which are useful to hack into electronic devices. The player can pick up new weapons, health and ammunition dropped by enemies if necessary.[3] The game also features several mini-games, including a driving level and a sniper mission, as well as numerous boss battles that the player has to defeat in order to progress through the next level. By beating any of these mini-games, the player can access them in the game's extras menu.[2]

In addition to the single-player campaign, Perfect Dark features a multiplayer mode. With the help of a Game Link Cable, two players can link together and compete in four different types of deathmatch modes, ranging from the standard kill-the-other-person on a pre-set time to the Counter Force mode, where the first player must rescue two hostages while the second player has to guard them. Various multiplayer maps are unlocked as the player progresses through the single player mode.[2] Additionally, with the use of the optional Transfer Pak, players can use the game's cartridge to alternatively unlock some cheats in its Nintendo 64 counterpart.[4] Players may also use the Game Boy Printer to print out character profiles.[5]

Plot

Perfect Dark is set in early 2022, predating the storyline of the Nintendo 64 game by one year.[6] Joanna Dark is a student at the Carrington Institute and she is eager to complete the final stages of her training. After completing her training successfully, Carrington Institute leader Daniel Carrington sends her on a mission to destroy an illegal cyborg manufacturing facility in the South American jungle.[7] The facility is headed by Mink Hunter, a highly dangerous terrorist whose purpose is to produce high-tech weaponry for terrorist operations. Joanna manages to complete her mission by eliminating Hunter and destroying the entire facility. When Carrington contacts Joanna, she reports that, during her landing in the jungle, she witnessed an aircraft being shot down and made a note of the co-ordinates. Carrington soon learns that there is a UFO in the area at the time and that dataDyne, the world's leading developer of new technology, is getting away with the alien wreckage.[8]

Joanna is then ordered to snoop around and investigate the crash site. In the process, she is captured and taken to the Pelagic I ship, along with the alien wreckage. Nevertheless, a mysterious alien rescues her and convinces her to sink the Pelagic I with the wreckage and escape.[9] She succeeds and when she contacts Carrington, she tells him that she discovered that the wreckage belonged to an alien race called the Skedar. The situation changes abruptly when the Carrington Institute is stormed by a dataDyne strike team who hopes to destroy any clues of the conspiracy. Joanna manages to defend the Institute and her work earned her enough recognition to take part in her next mission. The game ends with the Carrington Institute carrying out further investigations of dataDyne, setting the stage for the Nintendo 64 game.[10]

Development and release

Perfect Dark was developed and published by Rare for the Game Boy Color. The game was officially announced on January 13, 2000 when its Nintendo 64 counterpart was still under development.[11] At the time, Rare had its Game Boy Color development team split into two: one for the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country and the other for Perfect Dark.[12] Since Perfect Dark is one of Rare's latest games developed for the Game Boy Color, the developers wanted the game to support every Game Boy Color accessory and technology, including the Game Boy Printer, Transfer Pak, Game Link Cable, and infrared transmission of data between machines.[7][13]

Originally, Rare planned to include a face-mapping Game Boy Camera feature in the game, which would allow players to place a photograph of their choice onto the face of a multiplayer character in the Nintendo 64 game with the help of a Transfer Pak. However, the company ultimately removed it after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.[14] The game also features a built-in rumble functionality into the game cartridge, which provides force feedback while playing the game.[7] Perfect Dark was presented at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2000 and was initially scheduled for release on June 12, 2000.[15][16] According to Rare, "What could be a better accompaniment to Joanna Dark's [Nintendo 64] debut than an exclusive Game Boy Color title that delves into her previous exploits?"[7] However, the game was ultimately released in August 2000.[4]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings66% (9 reviews)[17]
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameSpot5.3/10[18]
IGN7.0/10[19]
N64 Magazine[3]
Nintendo Life[6]
Nintendo Power7.6/10[13]
The Electric Playground6.5/10[20]
Planet Game Boy91%[21]

Perfect Dark received generally mixed reviews from critics.[17] In their "Planet Game Boy" section, N64 Magazine compared the game favourably to Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, noting that Perfect Dark has less emphasis on stealth and more on killing.[3] Nintendo Power praised the game's detailed graphics, fluid animations and creative environments,[13] while Chris Hudak of The Electric Playground highlighted the game's fully voiced conversations and numerous sound effects like footfalls and gunshots.[20] Frank Provo of GameSpot also praised the game's audio, but criticized the fact that there is no music during gameplay.[18]

Criticism was leveled at the game's difficult gameplay due to the scarcity of health and ammunition.[18] The weak artificial intelligence of enemies and superficial stealth mechanics were also noted.[19][18] According to GameSpot, "in theory you should be sneaking up on enemies, defusing bombs, and saving hostages. In practice, however, enemies turn around and attack even when you're sneaking up on them and defusing bombs requires no effort, so the suggestion of strategy is moot."[18] The size of the player character was also a subject of criticism because it does not allow players to properly see their immediate surroundings, prompting them to accidentally alert nearby enemies.[20] Although the different mini-games were highlighted, reviewers felt that they were clearly imitative of games like Spy Hunter and Operation Wolf.[18][19]

In a very positive review, Planet Game Boy magazine praised the multiplayer mode for its selection of competitive games, concluding: "Perfect Dark is one of the biggest handheld games ever made, and for fans of the [Nintendo 64] version it's a vital purchase."[21] IGN also praised the multiplayer mode and extras, but remarked that "there's no real strategy involved in these deathmatch games other than to find the other person and open fire until one dies and respawns elsewhere on the map".[19] In a retrospective review, Jon Wahlgren of Nintendo Life felt that Rare "did a great job on squeezing so many features and technical magic into the little cart, but by focusing so heavily on the tech they seem to have sacrificed a lot of what would make it more fun to play".[6] In 2012, GamesRadar ranked it the 47th best game available on the Game Boy and/or Game Boy Color. The staff praised Rare for its adaptation of the Nintendo 64 game.[22]

References

  1. ↑ IGN Staff (2000-06-23). "The Nintendo Gathering". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
  2. 1 2 3 IGN Staff (2000-06-30). "Perfect Dark". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  3. 1 2 3 "Perfect Dark". N64 Magazine. No. 45. Future Publishing. September 2000. pp. 36–37.
  4. 1 2 IGN Staff (2000-08-31). "The Perfect Combination". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  5. ↑ Jon Thompson. "Synopsis". Allgame. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  6. 1 2 3 Jon Wahlgren (2010-03-17). "Jo's pocket detour is all brawn but little brain". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2013-07-30. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Dave Toole (2000-02-07). "Perfect Dark GB Preview". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  8. ↑ Rare. Perfect Dark. Level/area: dataDyne Base / Crash Site. Daniel Carrington: We found nothing, Joanna. In all of the satellite data that grid square is empty. But we got hold of an Air Force pilot's report of a UFO in the area at that time. / Joanna Dark: A UFO? More likely it's an experimental aircraft. / Daniel Carrington: I agree... but it's still worth investigating. Go and snoop around the crash site, see what you can find. But look out for dataDyne activity in the area. We're getting a lot of strange reports.
  9. ↑ Rare. Perfect Dark. Level/area: Pelagic I. Alien: Joanna, you must gather as much information on the alien ship as possible and get it back to the Carrington Institute. / Joanna Dark: Who... who are you? / Alien: A friend. Listen, you must stop dataDyne getting away with the alien wreckage. / Joanna Dark: What do you mean? / Alien: You must sink this ship and escape. / Joanna Dark: How? / Alien: I'm sorry I can't help you any further.
  10. ↑ Rare. Perfect Dark. Level/area: Carrington Institute. Daniel Carrington: From now on we must be cautious. We will have to carry out further investigations of dataDyne to find out what is at the bottom of this.
  11. ↑ Sam Kennedy (2000-01-14). "Perfect Dark on Game Boy Color". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  12. ↑ IGN staff (2010-07-25). "Interrogating Rare's Game Boy Team". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
  13. 1 2 3 "Perfect Dark". Nintendo Power. No. 136. Nintendo of America. September 2000. p. 112.
  14. ↑ "Perfect Dark loses face". Computer and Video Games. Archived from the original on 17 April 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  15. ↑ "Perfect Dark". Total Game Boy. No. 10. Future Publishing. 2000. p. 14.
  16. ↑ Sam Kennedy (2000-01-18). "First Look: GBC Perfect Dark". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  17. 1 2 "Perfect Dark". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frank Provo (2000-09-05). "Perfect Dark Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Craig Harris (2000-09-05). "Perfect Dark Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2009-03-29. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  20. 1 2 3 Chris Hudak (2000-10-06). "Perfect Dark Review". The Electric Playground. Archived from the original on 2003-04-28. Retrieved 2003-04-28.
  21. 1 2 Martin (Summer 2000). "Perfect Dark". Planet Game Boy. No. 3. Future Publishing. pp. 24–25.
  22. ↑ "Best Game Boy games of all time". GamesRadar. 2012-04-16. Archived from the original on 2013-04-25. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
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