golden eye Now available to play on Nintendo Switch. Ah, how long we have waited to write this sentence! After 25 years as an N64 exclusive, Rare’s first-person shooter has finally escaped the confines of 64-bit and is now playable via a Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription, or on Microsoft’s Xbox.
However, anyone who has already tried the game on Switch may experience control issues. Honestly, the way the N64 pad’s inputs are mapped to a modern dual-stick controller is a bit messy to say the least, and the default layout has you almost guaranteed to hit the wrong buttons and pull the wrong trigger — at least to begin with. On the Xbox, it seems, the controls have been tweaked for the analog dual controller by default, but not on the Switch. It’s of course possible to reset the buttons systemwide (and check out the video above to see Alex explain the simple steps), though resetting can be a minor hassle.
However, we discovered a little trick any A Switch owner can use them to quickly convert the controls to something a little closer to the analog dual-lane setup that has become standard for the genre over the past two decades. Granted, it isn’t bone Convenient control system, but a suitable workaround for anyone experiencing: Split your Joy-Con and switch the hands you hold it in.
There is a little more than that. You will also need Go to the game settings Via the pause screen and switch a file Control type from default “1.1 Honey” to “1.2 Solitaire”, but by swapping your left Joy-Con for your right hand and vice versa, the “left” trigger raises your sights and the “right” trigger becomes the trigger – just like you’d find in any standard FPS these days. It also places a WASD motion on the “left” analog stick while you look at the “right,” just as it normally does.
For reference, here are the instructions in points, because we’re kind like this:
- start the game as usual, Using two Joy-Cons as one controller (press and hold “L” on the left and “R” on the right)
- Once you reach the level, pause immediately, Go to the controls screen on your watch and Switch the style from ‘1.1 Honey’ to ‘1.2 Solitare’
- also, Change the “Look Up/Down” setting to “Vertical” If you want to reverse the default appearance controls
- Unpause the game and Put your left Joy-Con into your right hand and vice versa
- Play GoldenEye on Switch with controls that feel more natural in 2023
Is it perfect? Obviously not. Switching weapons or opening doors is not easy anymore. However, this is a decent workaround if you just don’t click with the unwieldy default NSO layout and don’t want to spoil your other games by remapping buttons.
Instead of thatAs mentioned, you can use the system-wide button reset feature on the Switch Switch sticks from left to rightAlso optional Remap ZR>ZL and ZL>R.
This has the advantage that you don’t have to switch the Joy-Con between hands and also Work with Switch Pro controller. The drawback here is that you’ll have to manually change the buttons back in for them to work “normally” with other games, though you can save the setting as a preset to quickly change between them. Either way, there’s no need to struggle with the default layout – you have options!
Of course, we’d definitely recommend playing this game with an official Nintendo Switch Online N64 pad if you’ve got it, but those have been in serious short supply since their debut, with stock disappearing the moment it hit Nintendo’s online stores. If you are not lucky enough to have one of these buttons, remap them or try this funky setup and let us know if it helps!
(Also, don’t forget to switch the ratio to 16:9 in the settings for a full widescreen experience — a first for any game on Switch Online, we think. Looks like sharp!)
How does this work for you? Did you find a better solution, perhaps with two controllers? Let us know in the polls and comments below.
