The Super Mario Maker games did a magnificent job of capturing many iconic Mario styles, but one was always conspicuously absent – the brilliant blockiness of the Nintendo 64 smash hit, Super Mario 64.
But never fear, because as is tradition across the web – all it takes is an inspired mind to fill that mighty need, and you better believe that Mario Builder 64 is no longer a pipe dream (heh):
Mario Builder 64 has been released. Much time and effort was poured into this project and I couldn't be happier to share it with all of you. Have fun! 😁 pic.twitter.com/vRiubA0PFZ
— Rovertronic (@Rovertronic) May 19, 2024
It’s hard to really detail what Mario Builder 64 is without feeling redundant – it lives up to its name. It is an open source project that provides a range of creation tools to make your own Super Mario 64 levels. You can select tilesets, props, skyboxes, enemies – you name it. It can even produce your authored content into a format that can technically run on actual Nintendo 64 hardware (if you are equipped to migrate it there). Even the UI elements are delightfully on brand.
Moist Maze Cave by KirbySuper, created in Mario Builder 64. Releasing this Sunday, 5/19/24. pic.twitter.com/cnXySzIpBz
— Rovertronic (@Rovertronic) May 18, 2024
The genius behind all of this is Rovertronic, a self-confessed Super Mario 64 romhack guru who may have just authored the romhack to top all romhacks. And Rovertronic has made it available to all – at least for as long as such a thing can be permitted to exist:
Download: https://t.co/vktbrWEsXM
— Rovertronic (@Rovertronic) May 19, 2024
There is also a functionality that allows you to download other peoples created levels, so your Mario building is not done in a void. Heck, if this tool manages to survive for even a little while we may see a whole new scene of crazy Super Mario 64 challenge runs being birthed, like those crazy hard retro Kaizo Mario World 3 romhacks that seemed designed to drive a person insane.
It really is an amazing project, and I can only hope it survives the searing gaze of Nintendo’s legal team long enough to create some awesome fanmade goodies.
Does the idea of playing an infinite amount of Super Mario 64 levels appeal to you? What about the idea of making your own? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
