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New first-person ROM hack of Super Mario 64 is the closest thing to a VR Mario game

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Ever wondered what the chunky polygonal world of Super Mario 64 would look like from Mario's perspective? Thanks to a new ROM hack, it's now possible to experience the game from a first-person POV, but you may not want to.

Super Mario Odyssey may have been one of the best selling games this year, but leave it to the retro community to breathe new life into older Nintendo IPs. There are already countless ROM hacks and edits to the Super Mario 64, but the latest hack from Kaze Emanuar allows you to play the title from Mario's perspective.

Looking at the demo (embedded below), this ROM hack may show why Nintendo is hesitant to bring their games into the realm of VR. Considering the extremely acrobatic movement demanded by the game, the first-person mod may cause more headaches than pleasure from gamers.

The fact that the hack exists is technically impressive. While the Nintendo 64 is known for being one of the first 64-bit console manufactured, most first-person games (like Goldeneye or Perfect Dark) run at a noticeably choppy framerate. The ROM hack of Super Mario 64 is incredibly smooth, although this is likely due to it being a ROM run inside of an emulator. It should be noted that most modern emulators can take advantage of the more powerful hardware available in PCs to smooth out gameplay or offer higher resolutions than can be attained on physical hardware. 

As it stands, this ROM hack is probably the closest thing we'll get to an VR-version of an officially released Mario title. If you're interested in trying the hack, it can be found in the description of Kaze Emanuar's video on YouTube (you'll need a Nintendo 64 emulator to run the file).

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2018 01 > New first-person ROM hack of Super Mario 64 is the closest thing to a VR Mario game
Sam Medley, 2018-01- 3 (Update: 2018-01- 3)