Hidden ZX Spectrum Emulator Found Inside GoldenEye 007 On The N64

29 March 2012 Cauterize Retro

With a colourful past in under the name Ultimate Play The Game, developers Rare went from strength to strength throughout each era of gaming as we know it. Of their most iconic releases in the nineties, ROM hackers seem to have found a hidden Easter egg in GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64- a fully functional ZX Spectrum Emulator.

Despite being one of the most popular releases to ever grace the Nintendo 64, it has taken a good 15 years for anyone to discover that the likes of Atic Atac, Sabre Wulf, Jetpac and Knight Lore have been sat dormant in each and every GoldenEye 007 cartridge out there.

According to those who managed to uncover this mystery, Rare were reported to have been working on a ZX Spectrum emulator for the Nintendo 64 at the same time as GoldenEye 007, placing the code into their on-going project for testing purposes. The original source also goes on to state that this emulator can potentially run any other ZX Spectrum snapshot file, hopefully providing an unusual method of enjoying the classic home computer.

Video of the ZX Spectrum Emulator in GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo 64)

The original source has also provided a download link for a patch to unlock these hidden features in the NTSC ROM file of GoldenEye 007. Get ready to amaze your fellow retro gaming friends with the most unusual discovery of the year so far.

Link: ZX Spectrum Emulator hidden in GoldenEye 007 N64

Find GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo 64) on eBay

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Last Updated ( 29 March 2012 )

Comments

(Link to this comment) gunstarhero 2012-03-29 22:53

...and it's two days away from April 1st. Interesting article, just been reading the link

(Link to this comment) Playgeneration 2012-03-29 23:42

Donkey Kong 64 has a spectrum game in it, so that's where this emulator ended up being used presumably. Jet pack something the game was, where you put the pieces of a shuttle together.

(Link to this comment) Zenszulu 2012-03-30 16:52

Ah Goldeneye the game with millions of secrets that Rare just kept hidden, I remember back at the time when Rare released the cheat codes that you just tapped in and could help you beat the game, they managed to keep them a secret even after Perfect Dark was released, can't say I am too surprised something like this is in there.