2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Let me know what you think about my reviews.
User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18108
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby VideoGameCritic » September 16th, 2021, 6:37 pm

Here's a pretty obscure 007 game for your reading pleasure. This might be an import. Getting set for the upcoming 007 special, to coincide with the new movie.

Feedback welcome!

User avatar
Matchstick
Posts: 977
Joined: October 26th, 2017, 6:45 am

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby Matchstick » September 17th, 2021, 12:54 am

Well, today I learned there's a game based on The Living Daylights. Far out! I knew about a few games based on License To Kill, though I don't think any of them were released in the US. Not that I have high hopes for any game published by Domark, but as a classic Bond fan, I am certainly curious.

Oddly enough, License To Kill was supposed to receive a NES release that was to be published by Tengen, and was advertised as an "upcoming release" in several magazine ads back in the day. As a kid, I was pumped, and checked Toys R' Us every time I went to see if the game had been released. Needless to say, I'm still waiting.

As far as review feedback, I appreciate your honesty, Critic, in regards to not remembering much about the film. That being said, I absolutely think it would have been in your best interest to watch it again prior to the review. No, I don't remember much about hazardous rocks, either, but an escort mission involving an opera house is one of the opening scenes from the film, followed by a scene involving a pipeline, and the "killer milkman" character is absolutely one of the villians in the film.

In fact, that's the main bad guy's head goon in the movie, and in that particular scene, he disguises himself as a milkman to infiltrate a M16 safehouse and capture a defected general. Yes, he uses bombs disguised as milk bottles, and even strangles people with the headphones on his walkman. There's also a pretty kick-ass brawl between the KGB milkman and a M16 agent in an enclosed kitchen space, frying pans and pots of boiling water included. Absolutely one of the best parts of the film.

Plus, there's that later scene where Bond and his lady are sledding down a snowy mountain on an opened-up cello case. I wonder if that made it into the game...

It's not a bad Bond flick, really. The pre-credits sequence is one of the best of the era, and the theme song is performed by a-ha, of all acts. I also looooooove the 80s model Aston Martin in the film. It runs a little long (it feels like three different movies combined into one) but is better than some of the Moore movies before it.

The wife and I are sucker for Tim Dalton, though, so take that for what it's worth. I like The Living Daylights, but it can't come close to License To Kill, which is my all-time favorite Bond film. Fight me 8-)

I get the feeling you're bound to have some sort of James Bond boxed set, Critic, or at least own the films on VHS or assorted DVDs. Give The Living Daylights another go if you have the time. You may be surprised by just how faithful the game was to the source material.

Alucard1191
Posts: 476
Joined: November 16th, 2016, 12:55 pm

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby Alucard1191 » September 17th, 2021, 12:12 pm

I actually had to look that one up. It's Timothy Dalton as Bond! No wonder I don't remember. I don't actually think I've seen that one. I've seen all the Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, and the bulk of the Connery movies, but never Timothy Dalton. Looks like he was Bond for a very short time before it became Brosnan.

My wife doesn't like a lot of these old spy/action movies so I don't get to watch them like I used to.

Critic, you could only handle 4 levels, but gave it a D. How much worse would it have had to be to get an F?

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18108
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby VideoGameCritic » September 17th, 2021, 4:43 pm

Actually it was the C64 critic who wrote this review so I will defer all questions to him...

User avatar
BlasteroidAli
Posts: 1594
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 7:50 pm

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby BlasteroidAli » September 17th, 2021, 7:46 pm

The living daylights was a superb movie. I had an atari back in the day and that is where I played this game. Title screen is great as are the sounds. Even better than the C64 but the game play is the same. This is a very fair view of the game. I seem to remember back in the day it was just not fun. All versions of the game play the same with evil rocks as one of the main enemies. Pipes etc. The Amstrad version looks to be the worst. So all in all a good review of a very average but really big game at the time. It was not obscure if you lived in the UK.

matmico399
Posts: 1419
Joined: November 25th, 2015, 6:11 pm

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby matmico399 » September 17th, 2021, 8:13 pm

Nice to see the c64 critic back. I was wondering if he was working on this site anymore. Nothing like good sarcasm in a review.

User avatar
Matchstick
Posts: 977
Joined: October 26th, 2017, 6:45 am

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby Matchstick » September 17th, 2021, 8:30 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:Actually it was the C64 critic who wrote this review so I will defer all questions to him...

Ahhhhh, that makes sense. Wasn't sure if that was still the case around here or not. All is forgiven, Critic!

Breaker
Posts: 605
Joined: May 13th, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby Breaker » September 18th, 2021, 12:33 pm

Matchstick wrote:...as a classic Bond fan, I am certainly curious...

...an escort mission involving an opera house is one of the opening scenes from the film, followed by a scene involving a pipeline, and the "killer milkman" character is absolutely one of the villians in the film.

In fact, that's the main bad guy's head goon in the movie, and in that particular scene, he disguises himself as a milkman to infiltrate a M16 safehouse and capture a defected general. Yes, he uses bombs disguised as milk bottles, and even strangles people with the headphones on his walkman. There's also a pretty kick-ass brawl between the KGB milkman and a M16 agent in an enclosed kitchen space, frying pans and pots of boiling water included. Absolutely one of the best parts of the film.

Plus, there's that later scene where Bond and his lady are sledding down a snowy mountain on an opened-up cello case. I wonder if that made it into the game...

It's not a bad Bond flick, really. The pre-credits sequence is one of the best of the era, and the theme song is performed by a-ha, of all acts. I also looooooove the 80s model Aston Martin in the film. It runs a little long (it feels like three different movies combined into one) but is better than some of the Moore movies before it.

The wife and I are sucker for Tim Dalton, though, so take that for what it's worth. I like The Living Daylights, but it can't come close to License To Kill, which is my all-time favorite Bond film. Fight me 8-)

I get the feeling you're bound to have some sort of James Bond boxed set, Critic, or at least own the films on VHS or assorted DVDs. Give The Living Daylights another go if you have the time. You may be surprised by just how faithful the game was to the source material.


BlasteroidAli wrote:The living daylights was a superb movie. I had an atari back in the day and that is where I played this game. Title screen is great as are the sounds. Even better than the C64 but the game play is the same. This is a very fair view of the game. I seem to remember back in the day it was just not fun. All versions of the game play the same with evil rocks as one of the main enemies. Pipes etc. The Amstrad version looks to be the worst. So all in all a good review of a very average but really big game at the time. It was not obscure if you lived in the UK.


I am really enjoying the appreciation for The Living Daylights I am reading here. It definitely is a top notch Bond movie. Its biggest flaw, in my humble opinion, is the villain. The best Bond movies have a great villain, and Joe Don Baker as Brad Whitaker is just not memorable. It suffers from one to many twists in the villain plot - the money for weapons used to buy diamonds to be traded for opium to be sold on the streets to generate money that will actually buy the requested weapons and keep the extra profit....oh no, I've gone cross-eyed.

Anyway, it has all the great parts of a Bond movie, and I, too, looooooove the Aston Martin in it. According to the game's Wikipedia page, the cello case sledding scene did not make it into the game, which is a shame. It seems perfect for a video game!

Alright, I'll stop rambling now. If you can't guess, yes, I'm super-stoked for No Time to Die to come out. I've bought tickets to see it in IMAX at an early release on October 6th.

User avatar
BlasteroidAli
Posts: 1594
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 7:50 pm

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby BlasteroidAli » September 18th, 2021, 12:35 pm

Alucard1191 wrote:I actually had to look that one up. It's Timothy Dalton as Bond! No wonder I don't remember. I don't actually think I've seen that one. I've seen all the Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, and the bulk of the Connery movies, but never Timothy Dalton. Looks like he was Bond for a very short time before it became Brosnan.

My wife doesn't like a lot of these old spy/action movies so I don't get to watch them like I used to.

Critic, you could only handle 4 levels, but gave it a D. How much worse would it have had to be to get an F?


https://videogamecritic.com/2600jj.htm?s=3#rev236

A previous game that got the mega score!!!

User avatar
Matchstick
Posts: 977
Joined: October 26th, 2017, 6:45 am

Re: 2021/9/16: Commodore 64: James Bond 007: The Living Daylights

Postby Matchstick » September 18th, 2021, 5:04 pm

Nice to see us classic Bond fans come to bat for The Living Daylights as a film. I feel like it gets so much flack from casual fans. But for those of us who remember the mystery and excitement surrounding Timothy Dalton's ability to play James Bond, our fears were put to rest after the first few moments of the movie. I'd take his performance over Roger Moore's last few films, any day - though I will always have a soft spot for A View To A Kill. But, then again, I feel that way about pretty much any movie featuring Grace Jones :D

I remember seeing the Duran Duran music video for A View To A Kill on MTV back in the day. My Dad refused to take me to the theater to see it, as he completely loathed Roger Moore as James Bond. He was (and still is) a Connery purist, and regular viewings of Never Say Never Again were a common occurrence in our household throughout the 80s. I feel like that movie was on TV every damn weekend of my childhood...

When Dalton got the role, the "curse was lifted," so to speak, and we headed to the theater to see The Living Daylights. It was my first Bond movie in a theater, and while I thought the movie was just OK at the time, it's an experience I'll always treasure.

Back on topic with the Commodore 64 game, Domark did good in using the original UK movie poster art for the game box. Good lord, if this doesn't get you amped to play the game, I don't know what will:

Image
Last edited by Matchstick on September 21st, 2021, 12:20 am, edited 1 time in total.


Return to “Review Feedback”