Shortly after Perfect Dark was released, Rare planned to develop a "sister" title, called Velvet Dark, for either the Nintendo 64 or the Nintendo 64's successor, the GameCube, but the project was ultimately
abandoned. The name "Velvet Dark" references Joanna Dark's alleged sister, the character players assume the role of in the game's co-operative mode. Meanwhile, Free Radical Design released TimeSplitters for the PlayStation 2 in
October
2000, a first-person shooter based around a completely new engine. TimeSplitters bears several gameplay and presentational similarities to GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, including a similar aiming system and unlockable options
through
quick level completions. After Rare was purchased by Microsoft in 2002, the company released a prequel, Perfect Dark Zero, as a launch title for the Xbox 360 in 2005. Although the game received generally positive reviews from
critics,
some publications felt it did not meet their expectations.
In a retrospective analysis, Edge acknowledged that the game's frame rate and other dated elements of its design rendered it "nigh-on unplayable". The magazine found the ambitious mentality which resulted in weapons and computer-controlled
players being "designed for possibilities rather than balance", both one of Perfect Dark's most interesting aspects and the cause of its biggest problem: "Restraint would have made Perfect Dark a tighter, more focused
experience, helped with those framerate issues, and removed almost all of the fun". The magazine concluded that despite Perfect Dark not standing up as a good game to play in 2009, "its currency of ideas and provocation [...] remains
sound". In 2015, Den of Geek considered Perfect Dark "a game that's done more for the shooter genre than often credited for", and said that the game was still ahead of time because no game had revitalised its ideas.
Since its release, the game has attracted a following of elite players who constantly try to speedrun its levels and break world records. These records are managed by their website and involve highly skilled players exploiting tiny gameplay
inconsistencies. The game is occasionally cited as one of the greatest video games of all time by some publications. In 2006, Perfect Dark was placed at No. 15 on IGN's Readers Choice Top 100 Games Ever, while Nintendo Power included
it in their list of Top 200 Nintendo games. In 2007, IGN editors placed the game at No. 86 on their list of Top 100 Games of All Time, noting that "Everything that GoldenEye made great, Perfect Dark did too, and then some."
Similarly,
Edge placed the title at No. 28 on their 2007 list of 100 Best Videogames (a list voted for by readers, Edge staff and gaming industry professionals).The magazine claimed that the game brought the Nintendo 64 era to a satisfying close.
A reboot, also titled Perfect Dark, is being developed by The Initiative.