Cliff Notes – Mario Kart 64 is available on PC with track editor thanks to fans
- A fan-made PC port of Mario Kart 64, named SpaghettiKart, features modern graphics, high frame rates, and a track editor for custom courses.
- The project is legal as it does not contain original code and is not sold for profit, although it requires users to provide their own legally-sourced ROMs.
Mario Kart 64 is available on PC with track editor thanks to fans
A Nintendo classic. If you’re not built for the rail-grinding frenzy of Mario Kart World, fans have released a revamped PC port of Mario Kart 64.
As with Pokémon (and Doctor Who and James Bond), there’s an argument that the best Mario Kart is the one you grew up with, even though going back to past entries can seriously harm your nostalgia.
That’s firmly the case for Mario Kart 64, the first 3D entry in the series, which while great at the time but is pretty pedestrian and plain by modern standards. The best part of it today are the courses, with classics such as Wario Stadium and Choco Mountain (both represented in Mario Kart World); as well as Kalimari Desert, Royal Raceway, and the branching path chaos of Yoshi Valley.
If you’re in need of a trip down memory lane,a team of fans under the name Harbour Masters have released a PC port with modern graphics settings, including ultrawide and 4K resolutions, high frame rates, and antialiasing.
As you can see, based on the launch trailer, it no longer runs like sludge and, incredibly, it comes with a track editor where you can make your own courses too.
The project, named SpaghettiKart, also includes a custom track importer, a freecam, and the option to increase the difficulty of CPUs.
Like other works by Harbour Masters, including their previous ports of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time and Star Fox 64 (aka Lylat Wars), this reverse engineering project is legal because it doesn’t contain any of the original code and it is isn’t sold for money – although that probably won’t stop Nintendo’s lawyers entirely.
As such, this is the result of months of work from a ‘vast number of contributors’ and, as noted by the team, it is still a ‘work in progress’ with the occasional ‘crash for a small minority of users’.
‘We would like to thank the tool developers, decompers, compiler researchers, decomp.me, torch, n64split, splat, game researchers, and a special thanks to the OverKart 64 community,’ a note reads on the YouTube description.
‘This project garnered a vast number of contributors, as such we cannot list them all here, however, a big thank you to all involved and anyone who contributed over the years. Our sincerest of apologies if we left anyone out!’
To play SpaghettiKart, players have to provide their own legally-sourced ROMS, but that’s the only barrier to entry. You can download the port here.
Alternatively, if you’re not into the PC scene, the original Mario Kart 64 is available for anyone with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription.
The Switch Online version probably isn’t optimal (Nintendo)