Rare Revealed: The Making of Perfect Dark 

This game was honestly better than Goldeneye in my opinion.

Whoa, hold on. You went through the development cycle without micromanagement, useless meetings, or inane schedules, and instead allowed the team to unleash their creativity and unlimited potential, and you happened to churn out this masterpiece? Madness, I tell you!

Specifically to the team who made Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64: I have to thank you for all your work, cause the game gave me so many hours of fun, either playing alone or with my siblings or with my friends. Perfect Dark is, to me, not only the best FPS on the N64, to me it's the best FPS in the entire history of games. The story, the charachters, the gameplay, the content, the modes, everything is so damn good. Oh and the multiplayer, oh, that is supreme. The fun you get playing this game never ends. And Im so glad you made it on the N64. Thank you guys, this game was and is part of my life, more than i can say.

Perfect Dark is a masterpiece.

"If you have the Farsight, here's how you beat it." They clearly never finished that part.

I remember being faced with the decision of getting either Perfect Dark or Goldeneye. I chose Perfect Dark because I was 10 and an M rating looked more intense. Probably one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.

This was such a good watch!

Perfect dark was a game way ahead of its time packed with content. You don't really get content like this in a game anymore unless you pay additional for it!

Best shooter of all time! We need another Perfect Dark game!

Perfect Dark is still to this day the best first person shooter ever made. It's an incredibly ambitious title with more features than even games of the genre today have. It's easily in contention as the best game on the N64.

My childhood wouldn't have been half as good without the many wonderful games Rare made. Many of my memories are in some way tied into these games. Thanks Rare

I love the enthusiasm from Ken Lobb (KLOBB!!) after all these years.

Thank you to everyone in this interview, and who was a developer in this game. This was a ground breaking title, and a game I would have to rate right at the top as far as the time period it was released. Fantastic job, and I have so many great memories playing this game

If you we're gaming in the late 90's early 2000's then you missed out on the peak of Rare. What a time to be alive. I was born in '87 so I had a pretty dope childhood. It's so bleak now, I feel bad for kids today.

i still think the original n64 version stands as the absolute best console FPS to this day.

Perfect Dark is still one of my favorite games of all time. I wish that spy FPSs still existed. I miss having objectives more meaningful than "go to the nav point and press the do-everything button." Perfect Dark did everything right as a game and was way ahead of its time, from details like the firing range and rotating 3D models with weapon descriptions to having a female protagonist and a black president. Actions that carry over into the next mission, hidden weapons, objectives that increase with each difficulty level, objectives that require thought and have in-game descriptions, a mode where you can walk around the place you work and train, bots to play against and customize in multiplayer, unlockable cheats, gadgets/devices, a disarm ability, being able to customize everything down to the music in multiplayer, the challenges mode, counter-op, multiple options for unique co-op characters... the game did so many things well that have hardly or never been done since. Another thing worth mentioning is how the game progresses as a whole. I remember features being added to the CI mode and multiplayer as I completed missions and found weapons. Being able to navigate the CI as it grew made it feel like a real place, and it was a treat to discover things like the plot and other details on one of the in-game computers. I wish that Perfect Dark 2 was possible, especially with standards held as high as they were for the first game. I've written a concept of what such a game might look like (here: rogertheatheist.blogspot.com/2013/05/perfect-dark-2-concept.html). Regardless, I'm thankful for the first PD having been made and remade for the 360 with a few adjustments like GoldenEye weapons being available in multiplayer and a fixed framerate.

Would love to see another Perfect Dark title on the Xbox One!

Serious flaw of this video: The background music is so badass that it distracts viewers from concentrating on the interviews.

This and the banjo video was the best thing about this Christmas holidays

You guys were the best of your class back in the day. DK Country Trilogy and 64 and Racing, Banjo 1+2, Conker, Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, and finally Star Fox Adventures, is a lineup not even Nintendo proper could best. Match, sure, but not best.

I can still remember being a kid and seeing this in walmart for $99.99.

3:36 Holy crap! This is the only time I've seen Eveline Novakovic in a video. I love her work from the DKC series, and considering how much I've seen of David Wise, its awesome to for once see Eveline in an interview (regardless of the fact that this is not related to the DKC series).

perfect dark sequel in 2020 I'm calling it now.

So they get dramatically outbid for Tomorrow Never Dies, then proceed to come up with their own ideas and make a game that is 20x better than Tomorrow Never Dies could ever hope to be.

Probably my favorite game as a kid. I was blown away at the reloading animations and blood when it was first released. I spent far too long playing against bots in the combat simulator. I especially loved a slow motion free for all, throwing knives and crossbow bolts flying everywhere. Those were some good times.

I recently went back and played Perfect Dark. I've always held Perfect Dark in high regard, but I was worried how well it would hold up since it had been so long since I last played it. That game is still SO GOOD! I was getting the same rush playing it now like I did all those years ago. Still, hands down, my favorite shooter of all time.

Love Jo/Eveline's voice!! Great game - good memories :-) Well done the guys n' gals at Rare!

Definitely believe Perfect Dark was the best game on N64. Would love to hear from these people about hidden items such as the cheese and the Key Chest in Area 51. Also to hear about some of the various cut scenes depending on the level difficulty you played through. I also agree with some other people, would be awesome to see another Perfect Dark on Xbox One, especially one that would top off the first game.

GE and PD were my childhood. This video was a real gem for me. Thank you to those at Rare (past and present) who made this video, and for making those masterpieces that defined my gaming childhood.

Perfect Dark was one of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had. Endless hours of multiplayer during sleepovers when I was 11 or 12 years old at my friends place. I was completely obsessed with it. This game and Goldeneye were honestly a pivotal thing in my life, and I sincerely thank the teams that created them

Just want to say I love Duncan's voice work for Andross in Star Fox Adventures!

I would really, really love to see more extended interviews and demonstrations of how things went together regarding graphics, animation, art assets etc (for example, using greyscale textures to save memory and colouring after). So interesting to see what game dev was like back then with such crazy hardware limitations.

One of my all-time favorite games. THANK YOU, RARE, for developing this masterpiece.

I want to thank you all for this game. The Falcon 2 is my favorite pistol ever and i still have to find all the pieces of cheese

Just FYI, no in game images come from the N64 version. Good watch anyway. :)

Thanks for making my childhood perfect with Perfect Dark!

I'd forgotten how incredible this game was...!

Thank you guys so much. This game was a massive part of my childhood. This game and the music were amazing for its time. I still go back and play it to this day

This is what happens, when you let creativity run free. People are far more productive when they want to do stuff, as opposed to being forced to do stuff (deadlines etc) Sure it may look good on paper when you meet quotas, stay on schedules, follow steps, stay in "order" and all that OCD bullshit, but they are restrictions. Why not let the thing you are trying to create grow to its full potential? It may not be what you initially planned, but that's because your vision was too limited, if you let it, it may evolve something much more greater. Creativity is not something that people should try to control or limit, it's not a tool to be used, it's the other way around: people are tools of creativity. People should let it control them.

I kinda wish Joanna Dark was a guest character in Killer Instinct

Goldeneye is the Gold standard for FPS. Perfect Dark is the Platinum standard for FPS.

Such a good video! PD was one of my fav games on N64! And haha I instantly recognized Cassandra's voice the first moment B Jones talked :D

This needs a Tomb Raider-like reboot. Perfect Dark is a treasure

Perfect Dark, Turok series and Quake 2 are my all time favorites fps on the nintendo 64!

Thank you for being a talented developer and having the inspiration to make a masterpiece like Perfect Dark. I'm pretty sure everyone who played this game in the last 18 years feels this way.

I still love coming back to watch this video. Such a fantastic game, and to date, the best FPS out there.

these videos are all amazing. i love hearing how my favorite games came to be, thank you for posting these!

Rare made me buy an N64. Amazing game developers; you guys rock! Good job.

This was great. I love Perfect Dark!

The Klobb weapon in GoldenEye was named after Ken Lobb, the Design Support guy in the opening. The guy at 2:06 is the voice of Mr. Blond.

Wow, this video is just AMAZING! To watch all those people in the making of PD blows my mind. I always wanted to see how looks like Eveline Fischer who was part of the original DKC soundtrack and the main voice of Johanna Dark. Nice video guys, that really was the golden age of Rare and you know it.

Rare is a shadow of its former self.

Developers got to make a game the were inspired to, with time to polish it, and it was great. Then there's E.A.

Truly, among my the most favorite of all the games I've ever played. From Simulants to weapons, secondary functions to visual and audio design, you guys delivered one hell of a game. And what a treat with the interview!

You did to me a change in my life when i was 11 years old. I still love this creation by Rare, and i hope than you will create a new game following these history. Gracias por vuestro trabajo, saludos desde las Islas Canarias (Canary Island).

It's so cool to finally put real faces with these voices!

Now I need an Xbox one. That collection is necessary.

perfect dark will always have a close place in my heart

I had so much fun back in the day. Thank you so much for this game Rare :)

Love the Chicago theme music!

If Rare holds this title so highly, and they have such a strong bond and love towards this game, make another one. Shit, I don't care if it takes 2 years or so, we need some more Perfect Dark, we need a sequel. The stuff they could do now with new technology would push this game so far, but hey, I wouldn't mind it sticking to the old mechanics and functionality of the original. I like the slower paced, take time to aim, be stealthy approach this game had. Get Graeme Norgate and Grant Kirkhope together again to compose the soundtrack, get a team dedicated to creating a good sequel, please stay true to the original, create some classic perfect dark environments and expand upon them, make some great reactions and quotes from the guards again. The list could go on, but the true fans will know. I want to see a Perfect Dark 2, not just Dark 2.

Great to see this kind of insight into what remains one of my favourite games. The amount of fresh themes and innovative in-game mechanics crammed into Perfect Dark still boggles my mind. What a soundtrack as well!

The first Perfect Dark is one of the best games I played. You know how great a game is when you still think about it after the years... It's been over 10 years since I played this game for the first time. Rare games are part of my life. They're all just amazing! When Nintendo released Wii, one of the things I wanted the most was some Perfect Dark remake...

I just wish Perfect Dark was released on PC... Literally the perfect FPS on par with GoldenEye.

One of the best FPSes ever made! Superseded Goldeneye in every way imaginable and that was great to begin with! 360 version is even smoother and a real joy to play! -- A.T.

Really love these snippets from behind the scenes.

Thank you for this wonderful valuable upload! Childhood memories~

Remember when Rare made good games?

Perfect Dark, Cankers Bad Fur Day, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 64 were possibly the best days of gaming in my life. Local multiplayer is such an unparalleled gaming experience.

These Beats Dave Clynic made on pd is just insane. u play the missions and its like ur actually in a movie based on the story line and that black cinematic option it has in the game. I love this and I wish I could get it in stores instead of getting it on line from a credit card. it would been so much better

Thank you so much Rare. I wish more companies would do interviews with their employees about how they made games, people take things for granted on how people make games

I had no idea this game was about aliens. All I did was play multiplayer mode with my brother and sister lol

Best game of all time!!

Thank you everyone who worked on Perfect Dark this is my favorite game and I still play it in 2018. I think this one of the top three games of all time. When I was growing up in the 1990s I literaly wished the future was like Perfect Dark. For me this game played a huge role in my childhood and it's not just a game so again thank you so much.

Perfect Dark was one of the highlights of my childhood and I find it very interesting the kind of people, companies and the way they worked 20 years ago compared to today. You don't get amazing original concepts like this any more.

This was one of the few video games where the absolutely massive hype and massive anticipation actually paid off and delivered everything I expected and more. What a classic! Long like PD

I am never selling my copy, still have the box and instructions. I only pre-ordered three games on N64, the other two were Zeldas. I wish I could have this on my 3DS

HD Remasterd Remake for PC we need !

Old but gold! I think that a HD remastered version of GoldenEye and Perfect Dark for the PC, PS4, X1 and Switch would be a great idea! Please RARE!

I kind of stumbled into Perfect Dark on accident. My local Electronics Boutique store was offering promotions where if you traded in three or four of games, you could get a new one. One of these games was Perfect Dark, something I somehow had not heard a thing about. My friends and I had just finished playing Gauntlet 64, and so I took it and three other games and traded them in for PD. Because none of us had actually heard about this game, it actually sat on my shelf for like two months while I played other games. Then one day I decided to see what it was all about, put it in, and was totally hooked. I loved the game from day one, and I got my friends into it as well. Perfect Dark and WWF No Mercy became the two games we played like crazy until we all graduated and went our separate ways. I still have the cartridge and my saved game where, over the years, I finally did everything in the game you could do. I have so many fond memories of Perfect Dark, whether it's beating all of the challenges or getting the last gold on the firing range or the hundreds of the multiplayer matches we played . . . even the single player campaign was solid and had a lot of fun moments.

Still my favorite FPS game. I wish there was an official PC port for it, the half-broken emulator versions don't cut it for me.

You guys are my top favorite company

Legendary team who made legendary games.. rare was a gem that we need back

This game was an instant classic that outshines golden eye by a HUGE margin

You seriously have to bring back all of your old N64 ips !!

The Rare personal feel much nostalgia and desire to return to work with Nintendo. Fact...

I can't explain how good this game was/is. I put SO many hours into this game. I was surprised and disappointed how many games in the future lacked and still do this day don't have some of the amazing features that Perfect Dark had. One of the best games ever made in my opinion.

I have this on 360 and it's still incredible. I remember playing it on n64 at my neighbor's house. The guns, the graphics, the secondary fire, and of course, THE SOUNDTRACK.

Rare Revealed: Dinosaur Planet

Odd I figured if you were going to do a retrospective you would have shown the original PDthen transitioned to the remaster.

The different outfits of Joanna Dark is a vastly under rated part of the game. Makes me wonder... there are tons of little bits and pieces that make a game so good, and they all form together to make a masterpiece such as Perfect Dark.

I'm from the future and games ain't this wonderful anymore. truly a piece of art and work.

Eveline Novakovic ♥ she's so beautiful

Always loved Perfect Dark way more than GoldenEye. The soundtrack in PD is the greatest I've heard in a game.

Thanks for every game you get involved Ken Lobb, god bless you and your whole team

To this day it's still my most favorite gamer ever hands down. So many great memory's plating that game as a kid and I even have it on my pc now with the 60fps / widescreen mod. It's so much fun to play at 60fps.

I still miss Perfect Dark graphics engine. since then I haven't play a shooter game that let me explode the computers and the light bulbs of the enviroment!!!!!!!!!!

Rare... cashing in on nostalgia...

Thank you Rare, for creating this game. This is, and always will be, a true masterpiece. It is one of my favourite games of all time. I applaud every single person that worked on this game. If I could meet the team who made this it would be a dream. Thank you Rare, for the years of entertainment. Perfect Dark will always be king of FPS!

Thank you Rare and original team for making one of my favorite games of all time Perfect Dark, only the ones who experienced it back in the day know the groundbreaking experience and technical achievement this game was back then I was like 12 years old when I played it, I saw in a magazine the team behind Goldeneye was releasing a new game, saw some pictures of it and I was sold, I wanted it from the first time I heard from it I still have a mint like new cartridge with the box and everything and listen from time to time to the Soundtrack which is amazing Thank you