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Last month, Nintendo announced Nintendo 64 games would be coming to its Switch Online service in the form of a paid upgrade referred to as the “Expansion Pack”.
There have been all sorts of questions that have been raised so far, but one that keeps coming up is what version of Super Mario 64 will the service get? For Mario’s 35th last year, Nintendo included the Shindou iteration of the game in the “limited-time” Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection featuring an updated resolution and textures.
So, what will the Switch Online version be? While Nintendo is still yet to confirm exactly what we’re getting, we’ve taken the supplied screenshot on its website and compared it to our own image from the version in 3D All-Stars. As you can see, the N64 Switch Online version looks to be a standard ROM, as you may have expected. There have also been suggestions it might be the Shindou version – which is a good or bad thing, depending on who you talk to…
Nintendo Switch Online:
Super Mario 3D All-Stars:
Here’s what we had to say about the Super Mario 64 upgrades featured within Super Mario 3D All-Stars in our Nintendo Life review:
“Super Mario 64 is probably the one whose upgrade is most impressive. It may have only been upscaled to 720p here, but the fact it originally ran at 240p means you’re getting a nice clean upscale at three times the number of vertical lines. The result is a brilliantly clean-looking version of the game…
“…it isn’t just the polygonal elements of the game that get a sharper side. Nintendo has taken time to redo all the sprite-based elements, too, and it’s this move that’s probably the most noticeable upgrade. All the text is nice and smooth, the counters for the number of lives and stars you have are sharp, and even stuff like snow falling during the winter stages looks much better.”
So, long story short – if you’re even slightly bitter about Nintendo making this particular N64 classic available so soon after the limited-time 3D Mario release, just keep in mind that the 3D All-Stars version of the game will still likely be the ‘definitive edition’ (provided you’re a fan of the Shindou version) – with all the modern touches that make it look better than ever on Switch.
This obviously hasn’t been the only talking point regarding Switch Online recently. Earlier this week, Nintendo put some concerns to rest, confirming N64 games would run at 60hz in Europe. Phew!
What are your own thoughts about Mario 64 being featured in the N64 launch line-up for Switch Online? Leave a comment down below.