Comparison between the original and Hi-Res versions of 007 GoldenEye to check performance on Real Nintendo 64 hardware.
Note: The Hi-Res version is a fan-made modification.
I was unsure whether I should share my opinion or not, but I decided to share it...
So...
The truth is, I wasn't planning to make this video, mainly because I didn't think this 007 hack would actually work on real hardware. That's because many of the mods and hacks made for the Nintendo 64 don't run on the actual console, even with the Expansion Pak. So I honestly didn't expect this one to work either. I figured it would be like many others that only run on emulators, hacks that, in my opinion, shouldn't even be called N64 hacks, but rather N64 emulator hacks.
However, to my surprise, when I ran the file through the EverDrive, the game worked. Yes, it ran with an even worse framerate than the original, but it worked. And let's be honest, apart from F-Zero and some other fighting game (which I forgot the name of, it's so bad), most N64 games have unstable framerates anyway. So anyone who had an N64 is already kind of used to that. Remember, framerate wasn't as big of a deal back then as it is today, when most players are used to 60fps games, or at least a stable 30fps. That just wasn't the case with the N64.
So, seeing a game like 007 running on real N64 hardware at that resolution, even with worse framerate, is impressive. It brings the N64 visuals surprisingly close to those of many Dreamcast games, and I'm talking purely about visuals here, not framerate.
I'm sure that, back in the day, a lot of people who didn't own a Dreamcast would've played this version (Hi-Res) just to get a taste of what the Dreamcast was like.