Super Mario 64 PC port updated: co-op, ray tracing and HD visuals

Nearly 30 years after Nintendo first released Super Mario 64 in 1996, the fan-made PC mod scene has pulled off a pretty big compatibility win: Super Mario 64 Coop Deluxe, Render96 HD, and the Super Mario 64 ray-tracing mod can now be run together in one setup.

Put them all together and you get online co-op for as many as 16 players, with synced progress and shared Power Stars. You also get extra playable characters, including Luigi, Wario, and Peach, each with their own abilities, along with real-time lighting, shadows, reflections, and HD textures and models modeled after Super Mario 64’s 1990s promo art and its pre-release look.

Project64 Download

That’s a big deal because Super Mario 64 is the game that laid down the blueprint for 3D platformers. It also went on to become the best-selling Nintendo 64 game, according to Nintendo’s own sales numbers. And despite all that, it still hasn’t gotten the full modern remake a lot of fans have wanted, apart from 2004’s Super Mario 64 DS.

So if you’ve been waiting for the closest thing to an unofficial remake, this update is well worth a look. Plenty of people in the PC port community already treat this enhanced version of Super Mario 64 as the best way to go back to it, even if purists still lean toward the original Nintendo 64 visuals.

You can grab these mods through the fan-made Super Mario 64 PC port community on sites like GameBanana, plus related forums and Discord servers. Just know the legal gray area since it uses Nintendo-owned intellectual property.

Author: Jesús Bosque

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