Goldeneye is back, baby! The game that changed first-person shooters is finally available to play on Nintendo Switch and Xbox for new and veterans gamers alike (sorry, PlayStation players). We already knew there’d be differences between the two platforms—namely, that online play would be a Switch exclusive. But, as it turns out, there’s another major difference we weren’t privy to: Goldeneye’s controls are better on Xbox than Switch.
As Polygon highlighted, Goldeneye’s Xbox developers offer more modern controls on Microsoft’s console than you’ll find on the Switch. With the Switch, Nintendo stayed true to the original controller’s layout, which is perfect if you managed to pick up the Switch’s N64 controller (currently sold out), but if you’re playing on Joy-Cons, you might struggle to pick up the controls at first.
Because the layout assumes yours is an N64 controller, you can’t shoot from the right trigger—only the left trigger or the A button. You also have to live with the right-stick emulating the N64’s C buttons, which is fine, but it means you won’t have the modern first-person shooter twin-stick controls. On Xbox, however, you have a new “Diamond” control option, which basically remaps the controls as you’d expect when playing a first-person shooter. If even Diamond mode doesn’t suit your fancy, there’s also a customizable control option to remap the controls as you see fit.
None of that means the game is unplayable on Switch, but it does mean that you’ll need to unlearn your default control schemes to master Goldeneye’s. Unless, of course, you don’t want to change at all. Then you need to make the game change for you.
How to fix Goldeneye’s controls on Switch
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The first step is to fix what you can in-game. Goldeneye on Switch brings the eight original control schemes from the N64 original to Nintendo’s current console. For the best in-game controls, choose “1.2 Solitaire” from the “1.1 Honey” default. You’ll find that option by pausing the game in a mission and choosing Controls. If you’re a veteran Goldeneye player, you’ll want to head to Settings and choose “Upright” for the “Look Up/Down” option, which will invert your controls. Old habits are hard to shake.
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To fix the rest, you’ll need to utilize the Switch’s settings for button remapping on your controller, as laid out in this Reddit post. Head to System Settings > Controllers and Sensors > Change Button Assignments. If you’re using Joy-Cons, you’ll need to work on one at a time, but here’s the gist: Remap the left analog stick to the right analog stick, and vice versa. Then, remap the ZR button to the ZL button, and vice versa. That change will let you fire with the right trigger, and aim with the left. If you prefer, you could also remap L as B, to activate items with L, and remap R as A, to swap out weapons with R.
When you’re done, choose “Save as Preset Mapping,” then name it Goldeneye—that way you can reset the controllers to use as default for other games, and return to the page and load your Goldeneye preset whenever you want. Also good to note: Since you swapped the sticks, you’ll need to control menus with the right stick rather than the left.