Video: Super Mario 64 Leaps Onto Wii U Virtual Console

So were M2 responsible for the N64 and DS ports as they have a few extras, or did Nintendo just take notes from their GBA porting?

Why is it always the Wii U Nintendo need to forget home consoles and get the handholds up to date get N64,GBA games on the 3Ds

Wish they would redo this for the 3DS, especially now the new 3ds has a second control stick. A straight port would be better than the DS version. They should bring more N64 games to the 3DS it's a waste not to.

I want GBA VC for 3ds. I hope they put Mother 3 on VC sometime....

Super Mario 64 is amazing, if only it has a sequel! Personally though, I prefer the DS version since it has Yoshi, Luigi and Wario. The game is a lot more fun with those guys in too.

7 questions
1. Why did it take them SO long?
2. Do you think we are gonna get more n64 games?
3. ANY gamecube games?
4. Since we dont have any for the wii u, thatd be nice to get mario golf. I love that game. What do you think of it?
5. OR will this be like the other month when we got those great wii games, and then that was it?
6. If it took them this long to feature mario 64, is it foolish to expect a deluge of n64 games?
7. Is Resident Evil 4 a possibility?

@mrchills in reference to question 5, more Wii games are scheduled for this month too. We've got Pandoras Tower and Sin and Punishment to look forward too. I doubt it'll be a flash in the pan, but then I doubt we'll see new games every week.

COuldn't they have ported the superior Super Mario 64 DS?

@mrchills to answer your questions:
1. No idea, Nintendo certainy like to do things at their own pace!
2. Definitely!
3. I doubt it - We're more likely to get Wind Waker HD - style remakes at this point.
4. Have never played Mario Golf, worth a play?
5. Hopefully, we'll see more N64 games on the way
6. I think it would be silly to expect a deluge. Nintendo will continue to dripfeed VC games, as they always have done.
7. As a Wii digital re-release? Possible, but unlikely

I am a huge fan of "Load/Restore" feature in the virtual console games because I suck, but I'll finally finish this game now and on the glory of the gamepad.

Meh..I'd rather have Gamecube games.

Are the European versions of the two N64 games on the Virtual Console the PAL or NTSC versions?

@Bulbousaur Mario 64 is the US version but DK is the 50 HZ PAL version unfortunately.

@OorWullie Guess I'm not buying DK 64 then.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but can you use the Wii's Classic Controller Pro for N64 games?

I bought DK64 and it plays amazing! I dont understand what is the problem with a 50hz version? I play it anyway on my gamepad..

@AhabSpampurse

Is that only for Europe, I haven't heard a peep from NOA about more Wii titles.

I almost bought this for the nostalgia factor. But my n64 is still getting regular use so... So many fond memories and that soundtrack! I'm excited about the DS games on WiiU though.

This is my favorite Mario game of all time (perhaps tied with Super Mario 3), but I can't really justify getting it now. My backlog of downloaded games on Wii U is pretty monstrous by now - I just finished Elliot Quest (AMAZING game!) last night, and now have Golden Sun, Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Citizens of Earth (is that game barely playable yet or is it still a crashing mess?) all waiting to be played.

Will certainly get DK64 in a couple of weeks, though, as I never finished that one back in the day, which is a shame for a fanboy like me.

I'm a bit disappointed by DK64 and MKDS. DK64 is funny but compared to 60Hz Mario it looks horrible. I hope Ocarina is the US version.

I don't know who the genius at Nintendo is who thinks ZR should be the options button. Is there a way to customise DS controls?

Growing up with PAL, I'm not so bothered about the Speed, it was the Black Borders that used to P#ss me off.

That was an incredibly bad video. Please try to make your videos a bit more succinct with informative content. All you did was ramble on about how you think Mario 64 is great. How about go through what controllers are compatible, what control schemes you think work well, boot times, any additional features or lack of etc.
You started off the video by saying there is nothing else you can say that we havn't already heard and then proceeded to rant on for 4mins about exactly that.
Pointless.

@Bulbousaur Mario 64 - NTSC - DK64 - PAL

@ricklongo - "but I can't really justify getting it now."

I'm waiting a few weeks to see if we get the B3G1 sale that the EU had. Though I already bought it and can get it again for $2. Though I still haven't paid $1.50 for Super Mario World yet either.

So this is for real Wii U VC, no going into the Wii menu? Might be worth $2 for that. And DK64 is a given as I've never had a chance to play that but always wanted to, 3D platformers are my favorite game genre.

@rjejr
Right, this is Wii U VC, so you get the benefit of off-TV play if you want and controller customization. Also, digitized original manual.

I'd spend $2 without thinking if I had bought it on the Wii. But I never did! I was kind of surprised. I think I've played this one too much. I do remember renting an import N64 and playing this before most people did in the US. It was mind-blowing at the time.

If 3D platforms are your favorite I hope you like collect-a-thons. Donkey Kong 64 is about collecting to a fault, IMO. That was the game that broke me from having to complete every game I own. I did complete it, but it was a real slog for me at times. It was the beginning of the end for Rare in my estimation. Some people really like it though, so don't let me dissuade you. It had plenty of interesting elements, too.

Has anybody tried playing SM64 with the Hori Smash Bros pad does it work well ? (Or is it even allowed).

Mario 64 now two decades old. God, I remember playing the demo version at a Montgomery Ward's and being completely blown away. One of my happiest Christmas's was receiving the N64 and this game.

@rjejr If you enjoy the "collectathon" aspect of 3d platformers then it should be right up your street. So many many banana themed things to collect in it.

I am so happy playing through this now, i'm 26.
Like everyone else i remember playing this when i was 9 or 10, I used to think its such a massive game and feel overwhelmed.
Now i know most of it like the back of my hand i'm just enjoying the memories.
Now bring on more N64 games, Wave Race, 1080, would be a great follow up in the next few weeks!

Also people moaning about the black borders, the game looks great as that was the ratio, why would you want it stretched and distorted?

@Moose_4 The folks complaining about about borders are talking about the EU versions.... the 50hz PAL versions have borders on the top and botttom, its cut off a bit from the 60hz NA versions. they're not talking about stretching the 4:3 NA version to fit a 16:9 tv....

Edit: nevermind, just realized you're European... in that case, the version you originally played was the one that was distorted. they're asking for the game in it's "original" aspect ratio, not the squashed versions europe got.

If there's a classic Nintendo game that's as badly in need of a remaster as SM64, I'd love to hear it. I refuse to buy a re-release of a game that is only marginally changed from its Wii incarnation for the price Nintendo is asking. It's ridiculous. Give me HD textures and 1080p and I'd be happy to shell out 3x-4x the price. But I can use my Club Nintendo points to get the Wii version and play exactly the same game.

I may pick up star fox 64. but I will differently pick up that star fox for ds game.

i was hoping one of the wii u features for this game was to turn it into a real game called doom 64.

50hz is no way these days. They should quit releasing pal versions while their is 60hz option. The HDMI port is already a prove that most people don't have old fashioned TV anymore. So what stupid excuse are they using to release 50hz pal version..... the worst thing for gamers

I can definitely understand why people want to see n64 and Ds virtual console on 3ds, but the 3ds is already backwards compatible with ds games so I don't see that as being necessary. I think GameCube vc will be revealed at E3 the wiiU is now capable of playing every past Nintendo home console games except gamecube and especially with having a GameCube adapter it only make sense for GameCube games to come sooner then later.

Man, the sound compression in Mario64 is just awful. I can pass the lack os smoothness and the jaggies but please, the sound? Jesus, it's a torture to play this game in VC. It just makes me wanna plug in my old 64

@drewb0203
I know the 3DS needs VC Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS games, these games look better on a smaller screen.

@McoobabWATP @aaronsullivan - I've watched my kid watch some Youtube walk thrus (helicopter parenting at it's finest) for this game, and apparently it's the game that killed the 3D platforming genre due exactly to all the collecting, but I still feel I need to play it. This and a similar looking Wario game, name alludes me.

I just went through a old box from a garage sell. Forgot i had the super mario 64 and dk64 cartridges plus numerous others!

@ANGRYBALDMAN666 in terms of a game library the 3DS is vastly ahead of the Wii U so it deserves the virtual console support, you will likely see GBA games on the 3DS when the new infrastructure created by DeNA launches later this year.

I just released that Nintendo does have decent pacing, sure we complained and moaned that N64 games took to long but, if you think about it

A good deal of 2013 was delivering NES and SNES
2014 was adding to those and adding GBA
now we get N64 and DS w/ Wii games digitally distributed
next year maybe we'll GCN games.. maybe not.

I do hope though that since a new online infrastruture is coming with the DeNA partnership that will encompass all platforms that.. everything on Wii U will be emulatable on NX/the next console >.> if not i hope they give us a good selection between now and 2017/18. I can hope right.

@NebulaGamer For all we know, the successors to the Wii U and 3DS is infact the same console (NX). Alternatively, NX could be the replacement to Wii U and smartphones be the replacement to 3DS.

@Grumblevolcano For all we know, NX is not the successor to Wii U or 3DS. NX was presented alongside the Wii U and the 3DS.

@rjejr I still found it enjoyable ,the collecting didn't really bother me as a kid ,will need to play it now to see how I feel thought.I think the criticisms a bit harsh tbh it didn't "kill" the genre any more or less than sunshine and tooie being seen as disappointments (regardless of how good they actually were) when compared to their predeccessors did.

@mrchills I'm also annoyed by this. It's like Nintendo released a few wii games then never heard about them again. There's not even a section for them. I feel like they do this to fill in gaps between releases. They need to put in more effort. Heck they didn't even put in effort with the Wii's 64 releases.

As @rjejr I never played DK64 so I will get it to see if I missed something. I played SM64 back in the day and loved it. But it taught me to wait for more than one game before buying consoles, as I pretty much bought the system for it.

Would be SO MUCH MORE AMAZING if they let the N64 titles render at 1080p...same goes for DS VC titles, they should have them render internally higher res than originally to look far better for 3d elements anyway, esp in Mario Kart DS

@remlapgamer Yeah, it helped me a bit in Super Metroid.

@mrchills
The Virtual Console service launched several months after the Wii U. In the first 9 months of the service launching, they pretty much released the bulk of the NES library, barring a few select titles. In the second year, Nintendo released 30 of the best GBA games for the service and continued to fill out the SNES LIBRARY, and introduced Wii games to the service.

It's feasible to expect year 3 to see at least 20 top N64 games, 20 top DS games, and 20 top Wii games, while continuing to round out the SNES/GBA library. I suspect year 4 will be when we see GamCube (IF we see GameCube). If not, year 4 will probably be used to fill out the N64/DS/Wii catalogue.

Either way, I'm happy.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!"

The UI-elements still get manhandled by modern filtering engines.

Is there any way to free look with the gamepad playing Mario 64? Was that available in the original game lol, I forgot.

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that this game looks dark on the VC? Drives me nuts... the colors don't pop like they are supposed to. I will stick with playing it on a real N64.

MK64 is NOT 1080p. It's more like 480p upscaled. Still slightly better in 480p enhanced definition compared to a native N64, but definitely not HD like every emulator out there. Still, can't wait to get my hands on DK64. I saw thumnails for it in the North American Nintendo Direct so I know it's coming. But I wonder if they've edited it or not. I've heard Jetpak is property of Rare, not Nintendo, and Nintendo somehow doesn't own the code to DK arcade (DK64 arcade minigame is still the most accurate port of the Arcade game to be found on Nintendo hardware).

Maybe we could get RE2, Megaman 64 from Capcom.

@StarDust4Ever Honestly, why 480p? They already jumped the hurdle of taking N64 games, most of which ran at only 240p, and had them running at 480p under emulation. At this point, the work is already done in handling the internal resolution scaling, so why not up it a notch to 720p or 1080p? Are they using just the Wii portion of the GPU, which is limited to 480p, for this rendering?

@JaxonH i hope your right. Maybe if on wii u launch day the vc was packed with n64 and gamecube games, sales wouldve been better. However, i guess thats easier said than done.

@Pod 256x224, 320x240, 640x480 interlaced

A few select games did wide-screen like the Games from rare. I still have an original Nintendo 64, and when using it on my 57 inch CRT projection TV, a big Mitsubishi 1080i, up-scales are really good with s-video, but it is still very hard to look at compared to the virtual console versions. also the frame rate on games like Perfect Dark are absolutely terrible, but it's still a fun and great game to play.

Waverace 64 next, please ^____^
Uh! And 1080° Snowboarding too if you don't mind ^_______^

I'm really enjoying this game for the first time. I had the original on n64, but never got into it. I considered this my least favorite Mario game. I got a code from Club Nintendo for it and never played it. It cost me 2$ and I'm pleased to say that im enjoying my self with it. It must be the gamepad. People can talk about the graphics, but VC is a representation of that generation.it is what makes the pixelated 8 bit games enjoyable today. You can talk about frame rate, 60hzs, DS port, and 1080 all you want but a good game is a good game. Sadly, that is what current gamers lack today. Knowledge of fun in games and the physics of one.

@sinalefa - Never bought an N64, that controller still scares me.

Check Angry Joe Show's youtube channel. He just had a friendly play video of Mario Party 10 pulled by copyright claim from Nintendo. It's time for NL to followup on this issue of Nintendo's aggressive copyright claim practices. This is sleazy.

So I'm just curious since I hate playing pre-HD console games on an HDTV, does this actually clean up well on a flat screen or is my Wii VC version wired into my trusty CRT still the better option? I tried running my N64 through a flat screen once as a means of necessity but it was a horrid experience. I know that was with RCA cables and Wii U uses an HDMI cable so that is why I wonder if it's worth finally transferring my data and paying an extra 2$ since I alreay own about half of the Wii VC N64 games.

I don't understand why they haven't flooded the wii u with virtual console. I actually play more virtual console than regular games because I can use the restore/save feature when I'm poor on time. Sucks that the wii virtual console library is superior.

@Discostew Here's a screengrab I uploaded directly from the Wii-U. The N64 emulator appears to run natively at 720p even though I have my Wii-U configured for 1080p output. Still there is obvious pixelization present in the image. Also the N64 games appear to render darker than they should.

http://sta.sh/0r1tr1st71x

Yep. After studying the screenshots more closely, the N64 VC is definitely rendered in 480p then scaled internally to 720p (and scaled again to 1080p based on output settings). There is no reason the Wii-U doesn't have the horsepower to render in native 1080p resolution. Even the Ouya emulator can do that...

@MadAdam81 No, it wasn't originally there either. Was just an add up to make sure they got more sales. I prefer this version