Fan remakes of games are becoming more and more popular as creators attempt to recapture nostalgia and promote an attitude that developers and publishers should be recreating their legacy games.
One company that gets a lot of attention is Nintendo, through Mario and Zelda ‘remakes’ that appear on YouTube after a creator has dabbled in Unreal Engine 5 or Blender.
The last time Super Mario 64 was handled by Nintendo was the 3D All Stars package.
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A YouTuber called Endo has revisited the classic, and perhaps most pivotal 3D platformer ever created, Super Mario 64.
In the video, Endo remade the Mario sprite from the original game, and the first level, by mocking it up and revamping the visuals.
Sadly, that’s where the ‘remake’ ends, and leaves us wanting more.
Considering this is just an attempt by a fan, it’s a pretty good shot at rebuilding the retro game.
The textures are smooth, Mario looks more realised, and the world feels fleshed out, when compared to the original game.
However, that’s where it ends, and the comments under the video are begging for more.
It’s a gorgeous concept, and it’s a wonderful idea that I wish Nintendo would action themselves.
It begs a bigger question, would a remake even be worth it?
Super Mario 64 is great because of how it looks and feels - it’s a window into an age and era of Nintendo.
Even if the company themselves remade the game, it wouldn’t feel anything like the N64 release, but fan remakes do help, in some way, to urge companies like Nintendo to honour their older games.
There are millions of fans who would love to see older Nintendo games get a new lease of life, even if it's just via an HD remaster.
For now, we can only dream and watch videos like this, that optimistically attempt something we’d all love to see.
Topics: Mario, Nintendo, Retro Gaming, Super Mario