Perfect Dark (universe)
| Perfect Dark (universe) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Rare 4J Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Rare Xbox Game Studios |
| Designer(s) | Martin Hollis David Doak |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Console/platform of origin | Nintendo 64 |
| First installment | Perfect Dark (N64) (2000) |
| Latest installment | Perfect Dark (XBLA) (2010) |
| Article on Wikipedia | Perfect Dark (universe) |
ThePerfect Dark universe (パーフェクトダーク,Perfect Dark) refers to theSuper Smash Bros. series' collection of properties that hail from thePerfect Dark series of first-person shooters developed byRare. Due to Rare's sale toMicrosoft and resulting lack of presence on Nintendo platforms afterwards,Perfect Dark only received limited representation in theSmash series.
Franchise description[edit]
The game first started as an adaption of the then-upcoming James Bond filmTomorrow Never Dies as a successor to one of Rare's most successful prior titles,GoldenEye. However, the studio lost the rights to the film after being outbid by Electronic Arts. The developers saw this as a blessing in disguise, as they felt working on an original project would allow them to be more creative.[1] Several names likeCovert Ops andAlien Intelligence before the final titlePerfect Dark was chosen. The two slash marks in the logo was inspired by the Japanese writing system. The intentionally poor grammar of "Perfect Dark" was inspired by the team's love of Japanese products using English words and phrases inappropriately, a practice also known as "Engrish." The game was now set in a dystopian science fiction setting based on popular media at the time likeGhost in the Shell,Elektra,The X-Files,La Femme Nikita, novelist Thomas Pynchon, andThe Matrix.
Development on the game was rocky from the beginning, with more and more features routinely being added, such as high quality sound, full voice acting, and native 16:9 widescreen support, to the point of the team not realistically including them all in the final product. These unchecked ambitions, as well as completely reworking theGoldenEye engine during development, incited a minor exodus of key staff due to expired contracts, and the team moving to new offices in 1999 slowed the game to a nearly four year development cycle. To make sure the game ran at all on theNintendo 64 hardware, it was one of the few games that required the use of the Expansion Pak, which allowed for higher resolutions and more memory. The game also received minor controversy pre-release due to it being the first M rated game developed and published by Rare. The game finally released on May 22, 2000. The game starred Joanna Dark, a secret agent who must assassinate her targets to take down the evil dataDyne corporation. Joanna was an early example of a female lead in the first person shooter genre, and was deliberately made more plain looking than most hyper-sexualized female protagonists to be a more realistic character and stand out among her contemporaries.
The series went dormant for several years after Rare was acquired by Microsoft and many projects in development were canceled. One of these projects wasVelvet Dark, a spin-off based on Joanna's sister. A proper sequel initially made forGameCube was not canceled and instead shifted to Xbox, before finally releasing asPerfect Dark Zero, as a prequel to the original, and as a launch title for Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005. while the game was received as a solid entry to the series, many voiced disappointment and how it was much worse than the previous entry in many ways. While the graphics and weapon combat were praised, many design decisions like orientation sensitive actions and a more sexualized design for Joanna were believed by fans to have betrayed the design philosophy of the original game. A two-parter sequel to the original calledPerfect Dark Core andPerfect Dark Vengence began development shortly after but was cancelled by Microsoft in 2007 due to underwhelming sales ofPerfect Dark Zero.[2]
The series once again went dormant due to Rare choosing to shift focus away from legacy intelectual property. The series recently made an unexpected return atThe Game Awards 2020 with a teaser trailer for a game simply titledPerfect Dark. The game was being co-developed by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics (best known for their work onTomb Raider andLegacy of Kain) and was planned to be released on PC and Xbox Series X/S. After years of no announcements, a new trailer released on June 9, 2024. The next announcement was its sudden cancellation on July 2, 2025 alongside the closure of The Initiative.[3]
InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
TheCloaking Deviceitem is based onPerfect Dark. Additionally, theMotion-Sensor Bomb in the Japanese release ofMelee is based directly on itsPerfect Dark appearance. The international releases ofMelee redesigned the item to resemble its appearance from an earlier Rare game,GoldenEye 007, which was the gamePerfect Dark had been based on in terms of gameplay and engine. Both items' references to Rare properties are minimized, with their games of origin listed as "TOP SECRET" in the Western releases, and the references toPerfect Dark in the trophy description removed entirely in the American version. All versions still list the game in the credits sequence, however.
LaterSmash games redesigned the Motion-Sensor Bomb and treat it as an originalSuper Smash Bros. series property. The Cloaking Device was removed entirely, although invisibility is still present in certain modes such asSpecial Smash or by using aBoo inSmash Tour.
Trophies[edit]
- Proximity Mine
- (JP language option) 床、壁、天井などに投げつけると設置され、誰かが近づくと爆発。敵味方問わずに巻きこむ。小さいが、威力は強力。本来は近くによっても動かなければ反応しない爆弾だが、『スマブラ』の登場人物は全員落ち着きがないので、あっという間に反応してしまう。
- (EN language option) The perfect accessory for ambushes, the proximity mine has long been a favorite covert weapon of the Carrington Institute any surface[sic], and once armed, detonates with incredible force when it detects motion within its range. In the frantic world of Super Smash Bros., it doesn't take long for it to go.
- パーフェクトダーク(N64)
- Perfect Dark (5/00)
- Cloaking Device
- This state-of-the-art camouflage device bends light rays in such a way that players using it appear almost invisible. The device fosters confusion, and players using it will not take damage while cloaked. This does not mean, however, that players become invulnerable, so they can still be sent reeling or flying across the screen, depending on their damage percentages.
- Perfect Dark (5/00)
- (International)
- TOP SECRET
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
Both the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy ColorPerfect Dark games are mentioned among the titles listed in theChronicle in PAL versions ofBrawl. However, no other content from the series is seen anywhere else in the game.
Trivia[edit]
- Perfect Dark is the newest major universe (represented by a character, stage, item, or Assist Trophy) to be represented inSuper Smash Bros. Melee, with an initial date of May 2000.
