A couple weeks ago, I covered the latest update for Mario Kart 64 on the Sega Dreamcast. The embedded video in that article probably stood out to fans of audio – it was off quite a bit. Well, there has been an update making the audio more in sync with the action on screen.
Sound and Music Matters, To Some
I grew up in a family that was trying to break the previous generational thought that “children should be seen, not heard.” This meant my original ideas, talking, discussing things I learned in school, things that were on my mind in general were fine to speak up about and ask my parents about. When playing video games though, not so much. Video game music in the 80s was quite repetitious and somewhat annoying depending on what game you were playing. My parents did not have the patience for that.
This meant I played a lot of games with the sound off, or low. For me, music in a game is not all that important or interesting. Not nearly as much as the graphics and colors were, I grew up playing on a black and white television till around 1993 (my family always had food on the table but was a few generations back on entertainment).
Sound Issues Are Common with Non-Dreamcast Games
If you have been playing on the Sega Dreamcast long, I am talking about actual hardware here, then you know the trouble of getting the audio right in non-Dreamcast games. Mostly this occurs with emulators of 16-Bit or newer platforms (Sega Genesis being the biggest offender somehow).
Fixing the audio issues in a port as massive as Mario Kart 64 is a VERY big event. This is nothing to sneeze at. While it may seem trivial to most, it is quite impressive.
According to the embedded video above, there is likely only one more test release before fans get their hands on the final product. Please remember, you will have to supply your own assets for the Mario Kart 64 graphics and audio.
Those that stick around for the later part of the video will find a rather foxy surprise.