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Emulator for playing Nintendo 64 games on PC

Emulator for playing Nintendo 64 games on PC

Vote: (13 votes)

Program license: Free

Version: 0.5.1

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(13 votes)

Free

Version

0.5.1

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • Compatibility with a huge number of different N64 ROMs
  • Continues to be updated on a regular and reliable basis

Cons

  • Lacks a natural front end and requires a decent amount of technical knowledge to get set up
  • Sound quality sometimes requires some manual configuration

Mupen64 is one of the best Nintendo 64 emulators on the market, but it has a few unique peculiarities that make it less convenient than some of the other alternative emulators around. But if you're looking to play Nintendo 64 games with the same level of performance and quality that you would have found on your original Nintendo 64, you'll be hard pressed to find a better option around.

The most inexplicable part of Mupen64 is the lack of a front end. While most modern emulators have a graphical interface that makes it easy for even the most technically non-proficient user, Mupen64 launches straight from the command line. And while that's not a huge inconvenience, it could turn off new users, and it makes for a far more complicated setup than other emulators. If you're looking to make any alterations to the emulator's settings, you need to do it directly through the config files. That means that anyone who wants to tweak the way the emulator works will need to either have a sophisticated knowledge of what they're doing or go digging through internet resources to find a tenable solution. That said, you can use any number of third party plug-ins to integrate a front end interface into it. It can just be an exhausting process for anyone but power users.

Another weird eccentricity of Mupen64 is that it uses its own proprietary plug-in specs, so that means that many of the plug-ins that have been created with mass use in mind won't be directly compatible with the Mupen64 interface. Mupen64 makes use of a high amount of sound buffering, so going into the settings and changing the buffering speed could be a necessity if you're looking for a reliable sound performance that replicates the sort of experience you'd find on a traditional console.

If you're willing to look past the less intuitive aspects of the emulator, the performance and features here are some of the best available. Mupen64 offers a wide range of different plug-ins, and that means that there should be a fix for even the most difficult games to run. It hypothetically has the highest compatibility rate for available ROMs, but it's going to take quite a bit of work to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

While Mupen64 was once known to be one of the slower N64 emulators around, the developers have put a lot of effort into making sure that its performance is worth it. It now runs smoothly and is one of the faster emulators of this type. Additionally, Mupen64 has strong support from developers. New updates are released at a steady clip. While it may not be perfect, there aren't many emulators around that get this steady level of support.

Pros

  • Compatibility with a huge number of different N64 ROMs
  • Continues to be updated on a regular and reliable basis

Cons

  • Lacks a natural front end and requires a decent amount of technical knowledge to get set up
  • Sound quality sometimes requires some manual configuration