If you’ve fallen down the “Super Mario 64 but on my PC and better” rabbit hole… welcome. Grab a snack. You’re among friends.
Because picking a Mario 64 PC fork is weirdly like standing in the paint aisle holding 14 near identical whites and suddenly questioning your entire personality. Do you want classic, easy, multiplayer chaos, or a glow up so intense Mario needs a skincare routine?
Here’s the short version: there isn’t one “best” fork. There’s the best fork for the way you want to play. So let me walk you through the main four options people keep circling back to in 2025—without turning this into a 47 tab research project.
If you want “Mario 64, but it just runs properly”: sm64ex
This is the “keep it classic, just less cranky” option the baseline most other forks are built on.
Pick sm64ex if you want:
- The original game feel (vanilla is a flavor, thank you very much)
- Native PC goodness like widescreen support
- Uncapped framerates (smooth Mario is a joy)
- A stable, straightforward experience
The catch: you usually have to compile it yourself with Windows build troubleshooting, which sounds scary because it kind of is the first time. It’s not impossible, but it’s also not “click one button and frolic through Bob-omb Battlefield.”
I think of sm64ex like the original game showing up freshly showered and wearing clean socks. Same Mario. Just… less 1996 about it.
If you want the easiest setup (and you hate terminals): SM64 Plus
If the words “build tools” and “command line” make you feel like you’re about to be audited, SM64 Plus is the one I’d tell you to try first.
Pick SM64 Plus if you want:
- A launcher that does a lot of the annoying setup for you
- Optional quality of life upgrades like:
- – a better camera
- – extra movesets (yes, stuff like the Odyssey dive)
- – 60FPS interpolation options (smoother motion, less "N64 wobble")
This is the fork for people who want to spend their evening actually playing Mario 64, not whispering “why won’t you compile” at their monitor like it’s a haunted object.
(Ask me how I know. I have stared into the void. The void stared back. The void said “missing dependency.”)
If you want to relive childhood… but with friends yelling in Discord: sm64coopdx
Mario 64 was originally a solo adventure. sm64coopdx said, “Okay, but what if we made it a group project?” And honestly? It’s beautiful chaos.
Pick sm64coopdx if you want:
- Online multiplayer through the whole game
- Synchronized enemies, stars, and progress
- The ability to make every star feel like a team victory… or a betrayal
This is the fork where someone will absolutely body block you off a platform and then claim it was an “accident.” Sure, Jan.
If your main goal is “play together,” don’t overthink it. Start here.
If you want Mario 64 to look like a modern remaster: Render96ex
You know those old promotional Mario 64 renders where everything looked oddly smooth and shiny, and kid-you assumed the game would look like that?
Render96ex is that fantasy made real.
Pick Render96ex if you want:
- High resolution / high poly models
- Fancy lighting upgrades
- Even ray tracing and advanced effects (depending on your setup)
It’s a full on glow up while still keeping the original vibe, which is harder than it sounds. The downside is obvious: it’s more demanding. If your PC starts sounding like it’s preparing for takeoff, that’s your sign to dial back the settings.
Ray tracing is not a gentle suggestion. It’s a lifestyle.
The one thing every fork needs (no exceptions)
No matter which fork you choose, you’ll need a legal US ROM in Z64 format.
That’s the key. No ROM, no party.
Once you’ve got that, everything else is just choosing your preferred flavor of “Mario 64, but make it PC.”
My “stop spiraling and pick one” cheat sheet
If you just want me to point at something so you can move on with your life:
- I want classic + stable: go sm64ex
- I want easiest setup + nice extras: go SM64 Plus
- I want multiplayer mayhem: go sm64coopdx
- I want the prettiest version possible: go Render96ex
And listen—whatever you pick, you’re still going to end up launching it at 11 p.m. “just to test it,” and suddenly it’s 1 a.m. and you’re doing long jumps like it’s your job. That’s just the Mario 64 PC fork experience after sorting out where to get the files. Lean into it.
Now go collect those stars on your desktop and make Bowser regret his entire brand.
