A Mario 64 PC port came out today, and it works great. The unofficial full PC port runs on Microsoft’s DirectX, and it can even run on 4K.
Mario 64 is legendary across fans, players, and modders for years as a romhack. The game is on different emulators like the Bizhawk and Project64. Even then, it’s the first time that a full Mario 64 PC port is out in the open.
Superb features for Mario 64 port on Windows 10
What differences does the new PC port have with emulation? For starters, this iteration of Mario 64 runs natively on PC. It references DirectX 12, which means you would need Windows 10 to run the game.
The Nintendo game will run on the native resolution of your monitor, which can be weird. Most players have powerful PCs with HD resolutions with no issue. It also works above the original 30 FPS limit, running on the computer’s framerate.
Where can potential players find it? Many fans downloaded the game, but it’s available in different places. These include Reddit, Youtube, and most social media – all users need to do is dig.
Fans are still waiting for the negative reaction Nintendo will likely have with the port. The Japanese game company is notorious with how it holds its IP close to its chest. Nintendo sued many ROM sites in the past for illegal hosting of their games.
Super Mario 64 for PC likely came from 2019 decompilation
When it comes to many fan game projects, most hacks have documentation. Some teams even create long-term blogs or forum threads that track their progress. The new release is weird, if not different than the rest.
The new Mario 64 PC port does not have any documentation. It seemingly came out of nowhere, which is an oddity. This release likely stemmed from the decompiled Mario 64 in 2019.
With the entire game decompiled, it gave programmers a better insight into the game. This decompilation offered various improvements that programmers can do.
For starters, Super Mario 64 ran at an original 30 FPS with a 240p resolution. Most textures will look ugly, especially when stretched to 4K. Mario 64 character models use colors instead of textures, allowing stretching to look okay.
The PC port also does not have a framerate limit, so it ties to the refresh rate of your monitor. High-refresh rate monitors will experience an odd type of super-fast gameplay. Players can fix this problem by capping the refresh rate at 60Hz.
Sure, the textures still don’t hold up to a 4K monitor. The colors look basic, but they’re crisp and bright at high res. Once the player caps the framerate, the Mario 64 port is immaculate.
Featured image courtesy of Unreal/Youtube Screenshot