A Family Guy Goldeneye skit in one of the show’s latest episodes pays tribute to the beloved N64 classic Goldeneye. In classic Family Guy fashion, a joke plays out for just a little too long and does a surprisingly good job of recreating the atmosphere of the Nintendo 64 game.
Family Guy is no stranger to nostalgic references. The show is arguably built on them, and people who grew up in the ’90s are sure to encounter something familiar from the past every now and again. While the brand of humor used in the show isn’t welcomed by all, it’s still nice to see a nod to what is regarded as one of the greatest all-time first-person shooters. Take a look at the Family Guy Goldeneye skit (uploaded to YouTube by Bits&Gags) and see for yourself:
In the Family Guy Goldeneye skit, we see Peter and Meg attempting to escape a North Korean prison camp. Peter asks his daughter just how exactly they’re going to escape the prison camp and she states that there’s only one way: “an impossible video game escape.” Peter excitedly requests that it be done in the style of Goldeneye and that’s exactly what we get.
The animation style abruptly changes to 3D models that are of much better quality than we got on the Nintendo 64. We see a 360 pan zoom centered on the character models, eventually transitioning to a first-person perspective.
Meg moves throughout the North Korean prison camp while Peter follows behind her making various commentary. She takes out a number of guards with minimal difficulty, spurring Peter to comment that their accuracy is terrible. Eventually, they come to a grate with four locks; Meg shoots off the locks and they jump down into the hole.
Compare the previous scene to a playthrough of the Surface I level by YouTuber Graslu00:
A comparison of the two videos shows that the people behind the show did a respectable job of emulating the style of the game. The North Korean camp is pretty clearly based on the Surface I level. This is evidenced by the communications dish, the road leading up to the ventilation shaft, and the shaft itself. We even see the correct red crosshairs pop up on screen when one has to manually aim to shoot off the locks!
Either the team at the show really knows their stuff, or they took the time to do enough research. Whatever the case may be, the Family Guy Goldeneye skit does a solid job of letting viewers see what the game was like.
