Mario Kart 64 Is Now Available In HD Graphics

Super Mario Bros. games have played a huge role in shaping the gaming industry. Besides being the flagship character of Nintendo, the plumber and his myriad of games have brought up a generation of developers. One of the most influential franchises in the mythos of the Mario brothers is the Mario Kart racing series.

Probably the most essential game in this popular Mario series was Mario Kart 64. The game brought many advances, including 3D graphics, to the Mario Kart series via the Nintendo 64. Now, a fan project allows new players to experience one of the most prominent games of Nintendo history in HD.

Major Takeaways

• Mario Kart 64 is now available to play in HD through a fan mod.
• Andrat on YouTube has developed a mod for the game which textures it in clear HD.
• The mod is available on GitHub and the Dolphin emulator.

A new mod for Mario Kart 64 by developer Andrat on YouTube allows players to experience the game in HD. The modder uploaded a trailer for this project on his YouTube channel. You can clearly see the before and after effects of this mod on the game and it looks much better.

Mario Kart 64 goes from looking like a blurry 90’s game to a current indie project through this mod. As you can see below all of the modes and levels of the game are available in crystal clear HD for players. Voice Actor Andrat also has Mario say “Wow! That looks pretty good” in this famous accent, which is a nice touch.

If you want to access this mod, it’s available on the code hosting platform GitHub. You can run it on the standard version of the ROM through a normal emulator or the Dolphin emulator. Hence, you can experience the HD version of Mario Kart 64 without much hassle.

Even though the Dolphin emulator runs all of the GameCube titles natively, it doesn’t have that support for Nintendo 64 games. According to GameRant, this mod also has a low chance of removal due to copyright reasons. That is because it does not give out free copies of the game, but works with the legal copies the player already has. 

Basically, the mod is like a texture pack for emulators so Nintendo most probably won’t pay heed to it. The remake also has a Twitter account you can check out. All of that aside, we are really happy to see one of the greatest video games of all time get an HD remake.

New Boo model! This one is accurate to the promotional art :) pic.twitter.com/SryBE8YLo1

— Mario Kart 64 HD (@mk64hd) September 7, 2022

Its gameplay and graphics divided critics at the time of its release, which is a sign of an innovative game. But, Mario Kart 64 set new standards in utilizing the power of consoles and improving on its 16-bit predecessor. As time has gone by, many have labeled its 3D presentation as magical for that time. 

Since its release in 1996, Mario Kart 64 has sold 9.87 million copies worldwide, becoming the 2nd-highest-selling Nintendo 64 game of all time. Alongside the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, it solidified 3D gaming as the next frontier of gaming. In a time when the concept wasn’t as popular, this was an industry-defining moment.

Andrat used the same method as the original developers to create an HD 3D version of the game. Having the opportunity to revisit Mario kart 64 in all its glory, but in HD, is a blessing. We hope to see more remakes like this in the future.

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