The Many Looks of James Bond (Videogames)

With several dozen movies to his name, James Bond is a true icon of the cinema screen. Bond also has nearly as many videogames to his name, though many fail to do the same level of justice. No matter how good Goldeneye was, there's no ignoring the fact that it was followed by Tomorrow Never Dies.

For better or for worse, Agent 007 has seen a lot in his console adventures, and his appearance is always changing. In this Many Looks of James Bond feature, we examine how MI:6's finest has evolved over the years. From Atari to Nintendo 64 to Xbox 360, it's been an interesting journey, to say the least.

And as all the Bond fans around these parts gear up for the latest movie, Quantum of Solace, we want to hear what they think. Are you firing up that duty old Goldeneye cartridge for a few more multiplayer rounds? Let us know your favorite Bond looks in the comments section below.

James Bond 007
Year: 1983

The look: James Bond has been playing the secret agent game for over 50 years now. It should come as no surprise that he was right there at the beginnings of the gaming industry, trying to get his foot in the door. It should also come as no surprise that his first gaming adventure didn't exactly replicate the excitement and sex appeal of the movies.

Appearing on the Atari 2600, and numerous other systems, James Bond 007 was a standard vehicle combat game.

Each of the four levels was based on a different classic Bond film, though you might have trouble telling from the pixellated graphics. Bond had successfully planted his foot in the door, but it would be a while yet before his handsome features could be truly appreciated.

007: Licence to Kill
Year: 1989

The look: Numerous Bond games appeared during the '80s, all produced by Domark and Mindscape for a variety of home computer systems. We have neither the time nor the inclination to go through each one of these projects, so instead we'll just focus on the most notable of the era – 007: Licence to Kill.

It was notable because of its use of the digitized likeness of then-current Bond actor, Timothy Dalton. The in-game graphics were still a ways off, but the loading screens were pretty spot on.

If you're one of those seven Bond fans who prefer Dalton as their Bond of choice, then this might just be the game for you.

With several dozen movies to his name, James Bond is a true icon of the cinema screen. Bond has nearly as many videogames to his name, though many fail to so the same level of justice. No matter how good Goldeneye was, there's no ignoring the fact that it was followed up by Tomorrow Never Dies.

For better or for worse, Agent 007 has seen a lot in his console adventures, and his appearance is always changing. In this Many Looks of James Bond feature, we examine how MI:6's finest has evolved over the years. From Atari to Nintendo 64 to Xbox 360, it's been an interesting journey, to say the least.

Operation Stealth/James Bond 007: The Stealth Affair
Year: 1990

The look: By the beginning of the '90s, Bond games were becoming a little more ambitious in scope. This release followed the formula of Lucasarts' graphical adventure games, albeit with a more action-oriented focus. It even featured a digitized Bond voice sample in the Amiga version.

Oddly, though, this game was only released as a Bond project in America. In England, the game was released as Operation Stealth, starring a CIA agent named John Glames. Glames' blonde mug wasn't very Bond-like, either. Glames became James Bond in America, though Bond was still cast as a subordinate of the CIA.

A more impressive effort, but perhaps not very much in keeping with the Bond license.

James Bond Jr.
Year: 1991

The look: "My name is Bond... James Bond... Jr."

Any Bond fan in the early '90s probably tuned into James Bond, Jr., an animated series that followed the escapades of the movie icon's nephew. The show never featured Bond Sr., and Jr. bore only a passing resemblance to his uncle, but the presence of many other Bond conventions and villains was enough for most fans.

Unsurprisingly, a game eventually made its way onto home consoles. It was, of course, a side scrolling action title. Depending which system you played it on, the game did a surprisingly decent job of replicating the look of the show.

If you prefer your Bond young, and a little wet behind the ears, this is definitely the game for you.

007 – The Duel
Year: 1993

The look: In 1993, publishers weren't quite through milking Timothy Dalton's sexy mug for all it was worth.

With Goldeneye a blip on the distant horizon, Dalton was still the official Bond as far as Domark was concerned. Neve mind that he hadn't appeared in a Bond movie since the late '80s.

007 – The Duel was another side-scrolling action game. Dalton's face decorated loading screens and cinematics, but the in-game model was still too low-res to resemble much of anything.

The story represented an early attempt by a publisher to depict an original Bond adventure rather than a movie tie-in. The presence of Jaws and Oddjob made the experience a bit more palatable for gamers.

Goldeneye
Year: 1997

The look: And we come to the big kahuna. Goldeneye is hailed by many as the greatest Bond game ever produced. Some still hail it as the finest multiplayer shooter.

At the very least, it was certainly a crowning achievement for the struggling Nintendo 64.

Naturally, the game was based on the then two-year-old movie that introduced the world to Pierce Brosnan's Bond. The in-game model actually resembled Bond a fair bit, thanks mostly to Rare's heavily use of digitally-scanned faces. Sure, the character models were blocky, and the world was enshrouded in eternal fog, but it was unmistakably Bond.

Interestingly, Rare planned a multiplayer feature called "All Bonds Mode," which would have allowed gamers to choose from character models designed after four of the five Bond actors. The feature was cut, though traces of the mode can still be glimpsed through the use of cheat devices.

We're still waiting for a game that lets us shoot Roger Moore while playing as Sean Connery.

James Bond 007
Year: 1998

The look: No, this game isn't a remake of the original Atari title. In 1998, gamers were still desperate for a Goldeneye follow-up, and the next big movie game was a year away. To tide them over, Saffire released a new Bond adventure on the original Game Boy.

Without even color to flesh out his handsome features, this digital Bond was arguably the least faithful of any. The game itself was ambitious enough, attempting to entice the Zelda crowd with a similar overhead action-RPG formula.

Its actual success was debatable, but many gamers were just happy to have more Bond at the time.

Tomorrow Never Dies
Year: 1999

The look: Electronic Arts began its long relationship with Bond starting with 1999's Tomorrow Never Dies. Because of its movie tie-in status, many gamers were expecting a true sequel to Goldeneye.

EA appeared disinterested in either appealing to the Goldeneye crowd or to fans of good games at all.

The resulting game was a awkward mish-mash of several play styles. Most embarrassingly, EA threw out the multiplayer mode entirely.

Bond himself showed a few visual improvements since 1997. His character model was a little less blocky, and his face no longer blatantly stood out from his head. This was undoubtedly Pierce Brosnan that gamers were controlling. Too bad EA made the mistake of following the movie too closely, resulting in a project that was about as fun to play as the original was to watch.

007 Racing
Year: 2000

The look: James Bond loves cars. So a racing game is a perfect fit, right? You'd think, but 007 Racing begs to differ.

Bond's second Playstation adventure was no more entertaining than his first.

The game was more akin to Spy Hunter than a true racing game, thanks to its focus on gadgets and combat. Again, this sounds like a smart game decision, but theory and practice are too different things.

For most of the game, Bond too a backseat to his cars, no pun intended. However, a few CG cinema sequences showcased a very Brosnan-esque Bond that didn't look half bad by Playstation standards.

He didn't really look any happier to be there than we did, unfortunately.

The World Is Not Enough
Year: 2000

The look: After Tomorrow Never Dies proved to be the gaming equivalent of shooting gamers in the crotch with the Golden Gun, EA went back to the franchise's modern roots and crafted a first-person-shooter adventure to coincide with Brosnan's third movie.

This game fell more in line with Goldeneye, albeit with many of the technical improvements one would expect after three years. Character models still relied on digitized faces plastered on blocky bodies, but the leap from Goldeneye was plenty noticeable.

The N64 version went over much better with gamers for one reason – it featured multiplayer. Though hardly rivaling Goldeneye's levels and feature-set, TWINE was a breath of fresh air for gamers bored with playing secret agent alone. Too bad Playstation owners were left out in the cold again.

Agent Under Fire
Year: 2001

The look: Regardless of quality, the Bond franchise continued to be a hot seller for EA.

It wasn't long before 007 appeared on the next generation of consoles. Though shallow in many ways, Agent Under Fire was a marked improvement from EA's past efforts.

As was increasingly the tradition with Bond games, Agent Under Fire was a first-person-shooter. Unlike other FPS projects, this game followed an original storyline not seen in the movies.

Unfortunately, this original storyline brought with it the absence of Pierce Brosnan's likeness. Brosnan sat out this one, resulting in a more generic Bond that culled little visual bits from past incarnations.

Luckily, Brosnan wouldn't be sitting out for long.

Nightfire
Year: 2002

The look: Brosnan returned a year later to lend his likeness to another new Bond project. However, for the first time, he starred in a shooter not based on any previous movie.

Nightfire was an original Bond adventure, and consoles owners ate it up.

Nightfire was largely a shooter, though it did attempt to feature some driving elements in the console versions. The PC version was actually chided for lacking these sequences, among other things, proving Bond games don't have to rely on shooting elements to succeed.

And, of course, Brosnan's Bond was looking better than ever. Nightfire's character model ran circles around the ones seen in games like Goldeneye and TWINE. The game even featured several additional costumes, including Bond's signature tuxedo and a space suit.

Everything or Nothing
Year: 2004

The look: Two years later, EA attempted to repeat their success with Nightfire by producing an even more ambitious sequel.

Everything or Nothing was another shooter that put Brosnan's Bond in another original storyline. By improving on most aspects of Nightfire, EA wound up with what most consider to be the best Bond game this side of Goldeneye.

Rarely is the divide between console generations more visually apparent than when comparing EON's Bond to older versions. This one resembled Brosnan down to the smallest of details. Even the Nightfire version looked a bit stiff and robotic in comparison.

This game would mark the last time Bond fans would ever glimpse Brosnan in the role. We like to think EON gave Brosnan a far better send-off than his last movie, Die Another Day, could possibly have hoped for.

Goldeneye: Rogue Agent
Year: 2004

The look: Less than a year later, a new Bond shooter hit the shelves. Gamers wondered how EA would outdo the success of Everything or Nothing. As it turned out, they looked to EON's only real competition, the classic Goldeneye, for inspiration.

Goldeneye: Rogue Agent was poised as a sequel to the N64 classic, but it hardly qualified as a sequel in any way that mattered. The gameplay was stiff and half-broken. The multiplayer lacked the addictive charm.

And the game hardly qualified as a Bond game at all, because it didn't put gamers into the well-tended shoes of 007. Instead, they played as MI6 agent Jonathan Hunter. A botched mission early in the game led to Bond's death and the loss of Hunter's eye.

The villainous Goldfinger replaced the eye with a cybernetic implant – a literal golden eye – and tasked Hunter with eliminating his rival Dr. No.

Needless to say, Hunter was a poor substitute for Bond. Even the thrill of playing as the bad guy was missing, because Hunter lacked the personality to be a villain. He looked vaguely like Bond, but he was about as far from 007 as a secret agent can get.

From Russia With Love
Year: 2005

The look: With Pierce Brosnan's Bond career having sailed off into the sunset, EA needed a new actor to draw in Bond fans turned off by Goldeneye: Rogue Agent.

They decided that they might as well turn to the original Bond himself – Sean Connery.

From Russia With Love was a direct translation of the iconic '60s spy movie. It followed the plot of the movie, though it also added some trademark elements of other Connery Bond movies, like Thunderball and Goldfinger.

The game's Bond was mostly spot on, though many feel that Everything or Nothing still held a more movie-accurate version of its respective actor.

From Russia With Love was an interesting experiment, but, like too many of EA's Bond games, felt too shallow in the end. The games, as well as the movies, needed some new blood.

Quantum of Solace
Year: 2008

The look: Daniel Craig helped reinvigorate the Bond movie franchise, with his turn as 007 in Casino Royale. Gamers everywhere crossed their fingers that a tie-in game could do the same for their itchy trigger fingers. While no Bond game appeared in conjunction with Casino Royale, new publisher Activision wasn't letting the license go to waste.

Quantum of Solace blends the events of its like-titled movie with those of Casino Royale into one story. Gamers begin towards the end of Casino and move into Quantum, with other aspects of Casino appearing as flashback missions.

Though not all gamers are being won over by the latest Bond effort, few can argue Quantum doesn't feature the most movie-accurate Bond of any game to date. Quantum's Bond looks exactly like Craig, and we often find ourselves staring into his baby blues and losing track of the game entirely.

Bond has been around the industry a long time, and he obviously hasn't lost an ounce of sex appeal.