Super Mario 64 on Virtual Boy Now Runs at 50fps

Super Mario 64 is running on a Virtual Boy, in stereo 3D, at 50 frames per second. Fan developer Mochi64 has shown the latest build of the project, and it takes you from the famous opening right through to the King Bob-omb fight on real Virtual Boy hardware.

Nintendo’s red-and-black headset was never meant to cope with anything like this, which is exactly why the footage is such a treat.

How do you fit Mario 64 into a Virtual Boy?

You cheat, cleverly. Mochi64 explains that the Virtual Boy is far too weak to draw Mario’s worlds in real time, so every view is ray-traced ahead of time and stored on the cartridge. Mario and the enemies are then drawn live on top of those prepared backgrounds.

So this is not the N64 game running unchanged on a 1995 console. It is a rebuild made around the machine’s limits, which is the kind of homebrew trickery we love. The developer admits getting it smooth took ages, and the result really does look like Mario 64 seen through a red visor.

What we know so far

Speed: 50fps in stereo 3D, according to Mochi64. We have not tested it ourselves.
How far it goes: from the title screen to King Bob-omb at the moment.
The limit: cartridge space. Mochi64 told Retro Dodo that the Virtual Boy tops out at 16MB, and around five levels looks doable.
The whole game? That would need a custom cartridge on real hardware, the developer says, though there is already a patched emulator that allows bigger ROM sizes.

When can you play it?

Not yet. Mochi64 told Retro Dodo the plan is to add a few more levels and stars before putting out a demo. There is no date. For now you can follow progress on the developer’s YouTube channel and GitHub.

As with any fan project built on a Nintendo game, this is unofficial, and there is always a chance it never sees a public release.

Our take

Homebrew on odd Nintendo hardware never gets old (see Game Boy games on the Pokémon Mini for another one), but this is something else. Nintendo’s first big 3D platformer running on Nintendo’s first 3D console, 30 years on, is a lovely bit of history coming full circle. The pre-rendered trick is smart, and it looks far better than it has any right to.

Anyone still got a working Virtual Boy in the loft? Let us know if you would dig it out for this.