Story:
The game is set in early 2022, predating the storyline of the Nintendo 64 game by one year. Joanna Dark is still a student at the Carrington Institute and she is eager to complete the final stages of her training. After completing her training successfully, scoring an A++, Daniel Carrington sends her to her first ever mission with the Carrington Institute: She must destroy an illegal cyborg manufacturing facility, deep into the South American jungle.

Gameplay:
Perfect Dark is an action game that is presented from an overhead perspective, similar to Konami's Metal Gear Solid for the Game Boy Color. Joanna Dark, the playable main character, can move and shoot in eight directions and must initially complete a training mode where she will be provided a fixed sequence of challenges so that the player learns the game mechanics. These mechanics include the use of stealth, in which players are challenged to kill enemies by sneaking up behind them without making noise (e.g. running or reloading weapons), a memory type game that involves pressing various buttons in a specific order to open up doors, and a target range in a first-person view for shooting practise, among others.