Super Mario 64 Online lets you play the classic with your pals
The multiplayer mode you never knew you wanted
A fan-made version of Super Mario 64 reinvents the Nintendo 64 classic into an online multiplayer game. Super Mario 64 Online lets up to 24 players roam around the blocky Mushroom Kingdom, with a cast of characters that extends far beyond the Mario brothers.
Among the new heroes playable in Super Mario 64 Online are Waluigi, who gets a lot of screen time in the free download’s trailer above; Princess Peach, who’s become more of a regular member of the Super Mario roster as of late, and Princess Rosalina, someone who makes a solid transition to 64-bit era graphics.
Every character has unique powers and abilities in the game, which players can test out both by themselves and with others. The coolest, and strangest, thing to see in the trailer is players running around with each other — multiple Waluigis and Rosalinas racing against each other, playing around Mushroom Kingdom. There are plenty of servers to check out, and it seems like Super Mario 64 Online has a healthy, growing player base.
It helps that the team behind it includes some well-known names on the modding scene.
Designer Kaze Emanuar has worked on hacks for the N64 game over the past four years, including Super Mario 64 Maker and, most notably, Super Mario 64: Last Impact. That mod added new levels and bosses and took more than 4,000 hours of programming work, according to Emanuar.
With something like this, the fear is that copyright strikes are on the way. This online version of the game is built off a Super Mario 64 ROM, and the team behind it previously got hit with a DMCA takedown from Nintendo — for Last Impact, which is no longer available to download. But for now, this is a sweet take on an all-time classic, expanding on the multiplayer idea of Super Mario 64 DS and bringing to the masses.
