You have to really love your Nintendo 64 games to spend $250 to play them on modern monitors. Or just have too much money and need to get rid of some of it on something that will only give you a little bit of joy.
Ya know, I really liked Beetle Adventure Racing and Ogre Battle: Person of Lordly Caliber. I played both those games just recently on my actual Nintendo 64 that I still have from the 90s, with the S-Video connectors feeding into an S-Video to HDMI converter to a HDMI to USB converter so that I could stream it through OBS and take screenshots and stuff.
And it was fine. I played and enjoyed those games, just recently, on the original hardware and the original controller.
The graphics were crap, though — so many conversions made everything look kind of blurry. I didn’t feel a huge need to pull out any of my other N64 games and play them. The dream of having my S-Video switch connected up to my TV, and my SNES, N64, PS2 and Dreamcast all instantly available, like I did once, was over.
So maybe it’s a bit of both. I really would like to play my N64 games again, on modern monitors, and maybe I had a little too much money and needed to get rid of it on something.
Enter the Analogue 3D. I have a couple other of their retro consoles — the Analogue NT+ for Super Nintendo cartridges, and the Analogue Pocket for GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, SEGA Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket, and several others. The Pocket also can emulate several other systems, including the NES and SNES, via its OpenFPGA core system.
I do collect old video games. N64 hasn’t really been on the list due to how unfun it is to play it. I took the plunge. I ordered the Analogue 64 a year and a half ago. And it arrived, in a box, in the rain, yesterday.
Here’s what I got for my money: The Analogue 3D console, in white. It is very light. Comes with a USB C cable for charging, a region appropriate wall plug, an HDMI cable, a full size SD card for the O/S and other files, including probably the space for the controller pack simulation (where you save your games), and a note to update your firmware and the controller firmware (I’d gotten the recommended 8BitDo 64 controller, even though I still do have the original controllers).
What doesn’t come with it: Any OpenFPGA code. The Analogue 3D will only ever run N64 games. There’s probably a reason for this, but it has made some people pretty angry, given the full support in the handheld.
Another thing that didn’t come in the box: Screenshot support. That’s coming, they say, but it’s not there yet. They suggest piping the output through the HDMI to USB converter and then through OBS, but I don’t wanna. I could already do that with the original hardware. So I will be waiting to review any of my N64 games until such time as they add that.
And another thing: They don’t support pausing games, or state saving. The Pocket can do both those things. You can take snapshots at any time and instantly roll right back. Did I use that to get through some tough fights in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance? Damn right I did. Not available here.
The Nintendo 64 really hates 2D games
The N64 really leaned into the 3D aspect of their console. 2D, well, 2D was dead. 2D platformers, 2D Metroidvanias, 2D arcade shooters, all dead. 3D was the order of the day, and all the old Nintendo 2D franchises, like those mentioned, had better either get with the program or find new homes on the PlayStation because people wanted more Ds.
I’m down with that. They had a problem, though, and that problem is the controller. It had one analogue stick which was usually used for moving around. It had no second stick to control the camera, and so each game had to do the best it could to anticipate where the player might want to look. This is acceptable in games like Wipeout 64, where you’re always looking from the back of your pod, but less so in Quest 64, where the camera lazily drifts around giving you tantalizing hints of the dangers right next to you. Castlevania Lets you select from three camera strategies depending upon what you’re doing. Megaman 64 gives you a quick control combo (Z+A) that focuses on enemies. Perfect Dark has you face the direction you’re running, also giving you easy strafe controls. Everyone solves it differently.
If there were a second analogue stick, as in the PS2, everyone would have solved it the same way. Nintendo did add a second stick to their follow-up console, the Game Cube, but PS2 had by that time claimed the market for both 2D and 3D console games. You just can’t give up 2D like that. 2D is awesome.
Paper Mario is arguably a 2D game 🙂
Here’s how the games look when captured by my iPhone. More on each of them when I can take screenshots. Past this gallery are the system specs, gleaned from their website.
System Type:
• FPGA-based hardware recreation of the Nintendo 64 (no emulation)
• 100% compatibility with all original N64 cartridges, controllers, and accessories
• Region-free cartridge slot
Video Output:
• Native 4K HDMI (also supports 1080p)
• Zero-lag signal path
• NTSC & PAL compatible
• “Original Display Modes” — CRT, PVM, BVM recreation in 4K
• Variable refresh rate support
Performance:
• Cycle-accurate FPGA recreation of CPU, RSP, and RDP
• Built-in Expansion Pak and Memory Pak equivalents
• Accurate audio: 48 kHz, 16-bit PCM
Controllers & I/O:
• Four original-style controller ports
• Compatible with original accessories (Rumble Pak, Transfer Pak, VRU, etc.)
• Integrated support for the 8BitDo 64 Controller (sold separately)
• Controller firmware update capability via system
• Wireless support: Bluetooth Classic + LE, dual-band Wi-Fi
• 2× USB-A ports (wired controllers/charging)
• USB-C power input
Operating System:
• 3DOS — redesigned Analogue OS for N64, in 4K
• OTA firmware updates via Wi-Fi
• System includes 16GB SD card for updates and OS storage
Dimensions & Build:
• 180 × 230 × 49 mm
• 837 g
• Available in black or white
In the Box:
• Analogue 3D console
• 16GB SD card (pre-installed)
• HDMI cable
• USB cable
• 30W USB-C worldwide power supply (GaN, PD 3.0)
Notable Limitations:
• Not compatible with CRTs or the Analogue DAC
• Capture cards work only in non-CRT display modes (4K/1080p)
• Does not run ROM files; physical cartridges only
• Does not support openFPGA cores
Good read. Jealous of that boxed collection.
🙂
I have that Star Wars Pod Racing game somewhere, too… dunno where I stashed it though.
Sometimes I’m kind of glad I’m not too into the retro scene because I think if I were, I’d be spending way too much money on these ‘physical emulators’ or whatever you call them. 🙂 Everything old is new again, I guess!
I don’t even remember what I still have and what I gave away over the years and I haven’t gotten to “The Closet” in our pre-moving purge/pack. If I find any N64 games I’ll give you a shout in case you want them.
Yeah, I’d probably be interested in almost anything old and home video console related as long as it isn’t Madden Sports or something like that. I was reading TAGN’s post from yesterday about how WoW Classic and Old School Runescape play with nostalgia as a business model and feel very much seen in doing the same thing, except with old video games.
But it is what it is, I guess…. 😉