Gaming tech-focussed publication Digital Foundry has taken a look at the recent GoldenEye 007 remasters for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Xbox Series X|S consoles. Sadly neither versions are completely perfect and both run at 30fps with dips, but they are playable and an enjoyable experience to boot. The Xbox version features higher resolution visuals and a more modernised control scheme, but the Nintendo Switch version has better audio and incudes online multiplayer, albeit with friends. Here’s some of the highlights of Digital Foundry’s write-up.
“The Xbox version aims for 4K rendering while Switch operates at 720p – both are significantly higher-res than the original 240p visuals, which is an issue when the artwork in these games was designed to be seen at 240p on a CRT. By increasing the resolution, the flaws are laid bare for all to see.”
“Furthermore, in the case of the Xbox version, the emulation highlights other issues – warbling vertices, visible texture seams and lots of z-fighting. Now, you might be expecting me to criticize the emulation here, but in reality, this is actually more accurate than what is used on Switch. It’s a symptom you’ll notice with low-level N64 emulation – so that means Xbox version developer Code Mystics’ emulation work is pretty robust.”
“On Xbox, there have been many complaints about performance with its 30fps cap and users reporting stuttering and slowdown. I experienced this too, but measuring the frame-rate results in a near locked 30fps – it looks like the frame-rate cap is working in a sense, but perhaps the distance your character travels between frames is more variable than it should be. This makes the game feel more inconsistent than it should, even though it’s light years beyond the original game.”
“Switch, despite initial impressions, runs more slowly than Xbox with frequent frame-rate dips and unstable frame-times. Again, it’s faster than the N64 original, but not as stable as it should be. This is particularly galling when the unreleased Xbox 360 versions offers a completely locked 60fps in all modes.”
“Ultimately, when we’re talking controls, visuals and sound, neither of these new releases are anywhere near perfect and are overall disappointing. Each has its own advantages – controls are better on Xbox and it runs faster, while Switch has online multiplayer via the NSO service and better audio.”
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Thanks to Torrey for sending in the news tip!
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