All games in our Nintendo 64 collection can be run online using only your browser (with an N64 online emulator) on PC and Mac. You can then prevent malware and bloatware from getting into your system.
Contents. Emulators Name Operating System(s) Latest Version Active Controller Pak Rumble Pak Transfer Pak 64DD PC Multi-platform ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓ Windows ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ Windows, Linux, macOS ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ Windows (official) (SVN) ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ Windows ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ macOS ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ Windows 1.0.0 ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ Multi-platform ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ Windows, Linux, macOS ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ R64Emu Windows, Linux, macOS ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ Mobile FZ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓ -pandora Pandora (v2.2) ✓ ✓?? ✗ ✗ ✓ MegaN64 (Mupen64+ based) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ Consoles, N/A ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ Not64, ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓, ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ Comparisons Although many Nintendo 64 emulators have been made and many games can be run between them, complete compatibility and/or accuracy still leaves a bit to be desired. For half a decade, Mupen64Plus and Project64 have vied for the most playable emulator, and which has been more compatible has depended on when and in what configuration each emulator has been tested. Both emulators default to lackluster plugins, but, as of August 2017, both emulators have roughly equal graphical accuracy when running with GLideN64.
Mupen64Plus arguably has the edge in audio accuracy over Project64 + Azimer's audio plugin. is an open-source, multi-platform, plugin-based emulator based on Hacktarux's Mupen64. As of, the codebase has reached compatibility parity with Project64, when both emulators are run with GLideN64. Mupen64Plus lacks a native GUI, instead of being run either from the command line or by dragging and dropping ROMs onto the executable and editing the config with a text editor such as Notepad. There are several third-party GUIs made for it, of which M64Py may be the most solid. The end-user experience has improved in 2017 with, which combines new versions of Mupen64Plus with GLideN64 and a new Qt5 GUI. This is as compatible as N64 emulation gets as of August 2017, and the package can be played out-of-the-box without having to mess around with plugins.
Mupen64Plus has also been ported to a number of different platforms. And use shallow forks of Mupen64Plus and its plugins for their N64 emulation. Wii64 and Not64 are both based on Mupen64, with Not64 being a fork of Wii64.
Not64 claims to be better optimized as well as having higher compatibility and more frequent updates. N64 emulation on Wii is not very good, and it is recommended to stick with the Virtual Console N64 releases whenever possible. is a mostly open-source emulator for Windows. Its official release builds are more up-to-date than Mupen64Plus', and the current version, 2.3.2, is roughly as accurate as the development versions of Mupen64Plus when both are played with recommended plugins. It has a more user-friendly interface than the Mupen64Plus attempts and supports more features such as overclocking and Transfer Pak emulation.
However, it doesn't come with GLideN64 out-of-the-box, and the default video and audio plugins aren't even the best in the box. It presently remains confined to Windows, though work is underway to port it to Android and Linux. For the most part, it works well in, but, if you're on a different platform, use Mupen64Plus instead.
's Nintendo 64 libretro core is based on Mupen64Plus and its plugins but with heavy modifications. It introduces many features and optimizations not present in mainline alongside RetroArch's general features, including Project64-style overclocking for faster framerates, 3-point texture filtering, superior A/V sync and latency, and even an exclusive LLE Vulkan renderer based on Angrylion's pixel-perfect plugin, making it a better alternative to the standalone version in most cases. Its developers have expressed intentions to eventually rewrite the core and brand it as its own emulator, called paraLLEl. That new paraLLEl core has a special ' option which, if used, can make the visuals of N64 games look less blurry with fairly mitigated jaggies even at their native resolutions.
Although, it may need a. is an up-and-coming emulator that aims for cycle accuracy while, at the same time, aiming to eventually be usable on modern PC hardware.
It currently lacks many features and has spotty compatibility, but it's gradually improving. It can already emulate some well-known edge cases such as the picture recognition in Pokemon Snap., along with its various versions and forks, was once a decent, speedy open-source alternative to Project64 and Mupen64, though it usually lagged behind the two compatibilities wise. Nowadays it has completely fallen off the radar, as development has stopped, is Windows-only, and there is no longer a central code repo to speak of. There is little reason to use it nowadays outside of historical purposes, very specific edge cases, or if your device is too slow to run Mupen64Plus or Project64. Daedalus is an Nintendo 64 emulator for the PSP, which has been ported to Windows, but results are even more hit-and-miss than on other emulators due to being made for PSP first and foremost. On PSP, most games are unplayable, but there's a with the right settings (Quest 64, for example). is macOS-only, closed-source, and asks you to pay for full access to its features.
It was once one of the only choices for Mac users, particularly those with older Macs, since it's the only emulator with a PPC ), but, with the switch to x86 and Mupen64Plus being ported to macOS, it has now become irrelevant. marked a milestone in Nintendo 64 emulation, in that it was the first to play some popular N64 titles at full speed on hardware made at the time of its release through; it isn't without its drawbacks though - pressure from users, combined with legal threats from Nintendo, forced them to discontinue development. Besides being for historical value, there's not much to expect from this emulator anyway due to compatibility issues. is a Nintendo 64 emulator made in C#. The 'Ryu' word is named after the 'RyuJIT' used in both Visual Basic & C#. But it might have been inspired by the lead author's sole (so far) at Switch emulator, 's Git repository and his depreciated tool. '86RYU', a x86 JIT compiler, is being developed alongside this emulator too.
Emulation issues Main article: Emulation for the N64 is not at the point where many would expect it to be by now. The system is extremely complex compared to its contemporary consoles. With almost no documentation being available to emulator developers, it is difficult to create an emulator with a high degree of compatibility with games. Many games require specific plugin setups with specific emulators to be played decently. High-level vs. Low-level graphics One of the biggest hurdles in the road to proper N64 emulation has been accurately emulating the N64's graphics hardware, known as the Reality Display Processor, itself a part of the N64's Reality Co-Processor. The N64's RDP was the first real 3D accelerator GPU on consoles.
In fact, it was the most powerful consumer-grade GPU in the world at the time it came out. It is very hard to emulate all of its functions accurately due to the RDP's complexity & flexibility. In addition, many RDP functions have to be reproduced in software for accuracy, which takes a lot of processing power. For this reason, most developers have instead opted to approximate the RDP's functions using high-level emulation (HLE) through various APIs such as Direct3D, OpenGL, and even Glide. While this results in much more reasonable system requirements for emulation, along with prettier, higher resolution graphics, this method can be hit and miss. It often requiring per-game tweaks and settings to prevent graphical glitches on many games.
Some games implemented custom graphics microcode which had yet to be reverse-engineered. Although many or even all of them have already been implemented in HLE mode in 2016-2018 with dedicated work from GLideN64's lead programmer, gonetz, and one or two assistants. For example, 's games do now work, specifically when using GLideN64 plugin's high-level graphics mode. Other games may have issues with such RDP quirks as frame buffer/depth buffer access (issues with how the frame buffer is used as well as performance issues), VI emulation as well as issues with how combiner/blender modes are emulated (such as noise issues and combiner accuracy).
Low-level emulation can be handled in two ways, complete low-level software emulation or a hybrid approach of LLE RDP emulation, which involves using graphics APIs to simulate the RDP while using low-level RSP emulation to emulate the graphics microcode. Low level software emulation of the RDP involves replicating all RDP functionality in software, which allows for very high accuracy but can suffer from major performance issues unless optimizations such as vectorization and multi-threading are performed. Hybrid LLE emulation can allow for performance enhancement over low level software RDP emulation but can suffer from various problems due to things such as replicating the N64's numerous blending/combine modes, emulating frame buffer access and replicating how polygons are rasterized to the screen (due to how the RDP renders primitives on a low level). It should also be noted that even though most games 'work' through the HLE method, it is not an accurate representation of what the N64 hardware's video output actually looked like but rather a rough approximation by PC graphics hardware. Your mileage may vary on whether this is a good thing or not, given the N64's often blurry low-res output. Majora's Mask with high-level graphics (using Jabo's Direct3D) The N64 was the first console to feature texture filtering of any kind.
However, unlike PC graphics hardware and every console after the N64, its implementation of bilinear texture filtering was unique, in that, in order to reduce strain on the system, it only used three samples as opposed to four, resulting in slightly jagged textures. Instead of faithfully applying this 'imperfect' version of bilinear, HLE plugins instead apply conventional bilinear filtering, interpolating straight from the source texture up to the output resolution, much like on PC games.
While technically this method of bilinear filtering is superior to the N64's, it can also result in textures that look even blurrier than on real hardware. Another issue lies with the appliance of texture filtering per quad on static images, text, and sprites. Because each quad is filtered separately, this can cause some visual inconsistencies. Text and UI elements often look as though their edges cut off abruptly, and static images, such as pre-rendered backgrounds or menu screens, may look as though they are separated into squares. Some plugins allow the user to turn off texture filtering to remedy this, but, unfortunately, this also applies to textures in the game world, exposing their oftentimes low resolutions. RetroArch's Mupen64Plus core has taken some steps which help remedy these problems. It is the only emulator that implements N64-style three-point texture filtering, which results in a more faithful look.
It is also capable of rendering at 320x240, which sidesteps the issues with filtered text, UI elements, and menu screens, while still retaining texture filtering. Pixel-accurate plugins do not have these problems at all.
Nintendo 64 came out in 1996. The most popular games on this console were: Donkey Kong 64, Mario Bros. 64, GoldenEye 007, Top Gear Rally, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in Japan, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and Star Wars: Episode I Pod Racer. Here are the top Nintendo 64 Emulators ever created: Nintendo 64 Emulators for Android #1 – Mupen64Plus FZ (Version 3.0.183 ) This free N64 emulator has become the best one available for Android. Download from Google play. The controllers for this system were strange and shaped funny. The controller had three “handles” coming down.
These emulators work great and will let you play all those games that you have been wishing you could play again. If you are holding on to one of your old Nintendo 64 systems to collect it and the games and controllers in hopes that they will be worth something some day it is nice to play your games on a computer with an emulator so you don’t wear out your original ones. Nintendo 64 was a great step for Mario Bros. Especially because it was in a 3D version that just completely, absolutely, and utterly blew our socks off. This having raised the bar as well as Zelda 64 Ocarina of Time that was also in 3D really boosted the standard for games and graphics at the time and for the future.
Things made by Nintendo have always had a “fun” feeling to them whereas some of the other systems are more “hard” or created for those of an older generation but you will love our free emulators!