Perfect Dark is an action video game developed by Rare and released for the Game Boy Color
handheld console in 2000.
As a prequel to its Nintendo 64 counterpart, the game follows agent Joanna Dark as she
completes her training at the Carrington Institute and uncovers information against rival corporation
dataDyne.
The gameplay revolves around shooting opponents and completing objectives such as rescuing
hostages or recovering items.
The game also includes a multiplayer mode where two players may compete against each
other in several deathmatch modes.
Perfect Dark was developed simultaneously with the Game Boy Color version of Donkey
Kong Country.
It supports the Game Boy Printer, Game Link Cable, and Transfer Pak accessories, and includes
a built-in rumble functionality into the game cartridge.
The Transfer Pak allows players to alternatively unlock cheat modes in the Nintendo 64 game.
The game received generally mixed reviewes from critics, who criticised its difficult
and superficial gameplay, but highlighted its technical aspects such as graphics and
compatibility features.
== Gameplay ==
Perfect Dark is an action game that is presented from a top-down perspective and where the
player can move and shoot in eight directions.
The player controls Joanna Dark and must initially complete a training mode where she will have
to complete a series of challenges.
These include the use of stealth, in which the player is 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.The game's single-player 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 loot new weapons, health and ammunition from enemy corpses.
The game features several mini-games, including a driving level and a sniper mission, as well
as numerous boss battles that must be defeated to progress to the next level.
By beating any of these mini-games, the player can access them in the game's extras menu.
The game also includes a multiplayer mode where two players may compete in four different
types of deathmatch modes.
These range from the standard kill-the-other-person on a pre-set time to the Counter Force mode,
where the first player must rescue hostages while the second player has to guard them.
Various multiplayer maps are unlocked as the player progresses through the single-player
campaign.
== Plot == Set in early 2022, Perfect Dark follows agent
Joanna Dark during the final stages of her training at the Carrington Institute—a research
and development center founded by Daniel Carrington.
After completing her training, Joanna is sent on a mission to destroy a cyborg manufacturing
facility in the South American jungle.
The facility is run by Mink Hunter and produces high-tech weaponry for terrorist operations.
Joanna completes her mission successfully, killing Hunter and destroying the entire facility.
She then reports that, during her landing in the jungle, she witnessed an aircraft being
shot down and made a note of the coordinates.
Carrington learns that there is a UFO in the area and that dataDyne, the Carrington Institute's
rival corportation, is getting away with the alien wreckage.Joanna is sent to investigate
the crash site, but is ultimately captured and taken to the Pelagic I research vessel,
along with the alien wreckage.
An alien eventually rescues Joanna, telling her that she must gather as much information
on the alien wreckage as possible, and then sink the Pelagic I. After succeeding, Joanna
tells Carrington 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 evidence against them.
Joanna defends the Carrington Institute and her work earns her enough recognition to take
part in her next mission.
The game ends with the Carrington Institute carrying out further investigations on dataDyne.
== Development and release ==
Perfect Dark was developed by Rare for the Game Boy Color handheld console as a prequel
and supplement to the Nintendo 64 game of the same name.
Although production on the game began after Conker's Pocket Tales was completed, it was
delayed while Mickey's Racing Adventure was still in development.
The game was developed simultaneously with the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong
Country.
The team responsible for both games was composed of 20 people and primarily included artists,
designers, and programmers.
An in-house software specially written by Rare was used to produce the music in 8-bit
format.
It is Rare's first Game Boy Color game to feature sampled sound and uses full motion
video for cutscenes.
The game's cartridge size is 32 megabits.The game supports many Game Boy accessories.
These include the Game Link Cable, which is required for the multiplayer mode, the Game
Boy Printer, which can be used to print out character profiles, and the Transfer Pak,
which allows players to alternatively unlock cheat modes in the Nintendo 64 game.
It is also possible to transfer game data from one Game Boy Color machine to another
using their infrared port.
Originally, the game was intended to allow players to place a photograph of their choice
onto the face of their in-game Nintendo 64 character's face.
The image would be taken by the Game Boy Camera and then transferred to the Nintendo 64 game
via the Transfer Pak.
The feature was ultimately removed due to "sensitive issues" surrounding the ability
to attack images of real people.
Rare's decision came after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.Perfect Dark was officially
announced in January 2000 with a schedule release date of 12 June 2000.
The first screenshots of the game were revealed shortly afterwards and a gameplay demo was
showcased at the 2000 Electronic Entertainment Expo.
The game was ultimately released in Europe and North America in August 2000.
Despite its Game Boy Color-quality graphics, the game received a T (Teen) rating from the
ESRB due to its animated violence.
The game cartridge features a built-in rumble functionality, which provides force feedback
during gameplay.
== Reception == Perfect Dark received generally mixed reviews
from video game publications.
Critics praised the game's technical aspects, including graphics, sampled speech, and compatibility
features, but criticised its superficial gameplay, especially when compared to Metal Gear: Ghost
Babel.
According to IGN, "it's obvious that an 'A' development team was put on Perfect Dark for
the Game Boy Color.
But I can't ignore the little gameplay and control nuances that detract from the overall
fun of playing [the game], despite having a lot of variety to the entire game design."
N64 Magazine and Planet Game Boy editors were more positive towards the game, praising its
size and included extras.
The latter went so far as to call Perfect Dark "one of the biggest handheld games ever
made".Graphically, the game was praised for its detailed backgrounds and fluid animations.
However, the size of the player character was criticised because it does not allow players
to properly see their immediate surroundings, resulting in players accidentally alerting
nearby enemies or making it difficult for them to get a sense of where they are in the
game's "maze-like" levels.
IGN explained that the issue is aggravated by the health bar, which wastes valuable screen
space.
The Electric Playground highlighted the game's full voice conversations and numerous sound
effects like footsteps and gunshots.
GameSpot also note the game's numerous sound effects, but criticised the fact that there
is no music during gameplay.The lack of checkpoints and scarcity of health and ammunition frustrated
some critics, who found the game unnecessarily difficult and unforgiving.
The poor artificial intelligence of enemies and stealth mechanics were also noted.
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."
Although the different mini-games were praised for giving the game variety, some reviewers
felt that they were clearly imitative of games such as Spy Hunter and Operation Wolf.The
multiplayer mode was highlighted for its extensive options, but IGN 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".
In a retrospective review, Jon Wahlgren of Nintendo Life concluded that Rare "did a great
job on squeezing so many features and technical magic into the little cart, by focusing so
heavily on the tech they seem to have sacrificed a lot of what would make it more fun to play".
In 2012, GamesRadar editors ranked Perfect Dark 47th on their list of the Best Game Boy
games of all time, praising Rare for its adaptation of the Nintendo 64 game