These ports of Nintendo 64 titles to other consoles and PC without the use of emulation are all being done by decompiling the game. This gives the programmer access to the code that makes the game so they can modify it to work on other consoles or back on PC/Mac. Mario Kart 64 is one of the latest to get this treatment for the Sega Dreamcast. This is a continuation of my article from about a month ago where Mario Kart 64 was ported to PC. If you read that article, you have a good idea how this is one is going to go.
Sega Fans Do What Fans of Nintendon’t
Mario Kart 64’s port to Sega Dreamcast saw a release a while back but it didn’t feature sound, so I ignored it. I waited for it to improve in frame rate as well.
Now the development of this port is getting interesting. Not only can you play Mario Kart 64 on your Sega Dreamcast, without the use of an emulator, but it has sound now AND a special guest is coming soon.
Over on Time Extension they covered a tweet by Falco Girgis, prolific retro programmer that I first met covering their Elysian Shadows project and Kickstarter.
Girgis mentioned the addition of Sonic the Hedgehog in the Sega Dreamcast port of Mario Kart 64. Apparently, Sega’s mascot will take the place of Toad in the lineup.
Sorry Toad fans.
The Wait is Strong
The video embedded above from Segaguru on YouTube shows off Mario Kart 64 on Sega Dreamcast running with sound. This is awesome because it is a great way to compare the underlying power of the Nintendo 64 to the Sega Dreamcast (slightly unfair but can be fun).
Much like similar ports, you will have to provide your own assets from your copy of Mario Kart 64 to make this work. That could be dubious at best and possibly illegal depending on how you obtain those assets. I cannot offer any assistance in that.
Unfortunately, there is no demo available, no release, nor release date announcement in sight. That means more waiting.
While I prefer to cover things that my friends here on Hive, and those reading this elsewhere, can check out firsthand via at least a demo, I had to cover this Mario Kart 64 port. I do my best to keep these limited access pieces to a minimum on purpose.
Let me know what you think in the comments below. Are you a fan of Mario Kart 64?