Despite its 1996 release, theNintendo 64’s original hardware and games have both remained relatively hot-button in enthusiast circles here into 2024. Now, the next frontier of high-end N64 gameplay may be through recompiled PC ports instead of emulation, courtesy of Mr-Wiseguy on GitHub. Wiseguy is responsible for the release of bothN64RecompandZelda64Recomp, a project that portsThe Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Maskto PC with N64Recomp’s graphical and QoL improvements, as screenshotted above and highlighted by YouTuber Nerrel below.
So, what makes crazy graphical improvements like real ray-tracing, uncapped FPS, and proper ultrawide support possible for N64 games? If you’ve been in the Nintendo 64 enthusiast scene for a long time, you may recall the waves made when a completely decompiledSuper Mario 64PC Port dropped in 2020 and allowed for features likereal ray-tracing, full model replacements, and so on. It still gets mods to this day.
Recompiled ports aren’t quite the same as decompiled ports like the SM64 PC port in this context, but both will run natively on PC and thus be able totrulymaximize performance and effect accuracy to the original hardware while still providing the PC-expected enhancements that come with emulation. N64Recomp is basically the best of both worlds, and since manually decompiling N64 games takes years of labor from one or more people, a tool to more efficiently recompile them into a quickly playable-on-PC state is a godsend for preservationists everywhere.
A tool like this also ensures that old classics that aren’t currently receiving the attention of big mainstream hits remain playable well into the future in an ideal state. A Twitter post by Dario, who makes the RT64 plugin leveraged by N64Recomp and some N64 emulators, highlights this.
My friend Wiseguy’s been working in secret for a year on a tool to make PC ports of N64 games without complete decompilations. The result doesn’t include assets and only requires a ROM to play.He’s managed to run games like Banjo-Kazooie, Rocket Robot and even Superman 64. pic.twitter.com/sKGuViEsJZMay 10, 2024
Even as we speak, advancements like this aren’t the only huge boons we’re seeing for fans of the Nintendo 64’s library or even original hardware. The open-sourceSummerCart64recently dropped and is basically the definitive flash cart for the old console since it also implements full 64DD support. Several real hardware-compatiblehomebrew N64 games and ROM hacksalso keep releasing, including highlights like the 30-fighterSmash Remixand Mario 64 engine rewrite,Peach’s Fury.
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Christopher Harper has been a successful freelance tech writer specializing in PC hardware and gaming since 2015, and ghostwrote for various B2B clients in High School before that. Outside of work, Christopher is best known to friends and rivals as an active competitive player in various eSports (particularly fighting games and arena shooters) and a purveyor of music ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Killer Mike to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.
