PC Mod Adds Co-op to Super Mario 64

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

PC Mod Adds Co-op to Super Mario 64


Sixteen years after its release, Super Mario 64 gets two-player online co-op.

Before Super Mario 64 was released in 1996, Nintendo was working on cooperative gameplay that would have let two people play together as Mario and Luigi. Ultimately, it was released as a single-player game alongside the Nintendo 64. More than sixteen years after its release, a modder called Skelux has added co-op to Super Mario 64, so that Mario can finally play side-by-side with... Mario.

Sadly, Luigi is still absent from this modded version of Super Mario 64; instead, Mario's co-op partner is another Mario, only this one sports black overalls instead of blue. Two people can play together locally or online, or a solo gamer can "control both players for an added challenge." The video, created by Skelux, shows off some modified co-op gameplay, which has been made available to download. Naturally, it's only available for a PC emulator version of Super Mario 64.

It's unclear if both players share lives like in the New Super Mario Bros. series, but there appears to only be one set of lives in the video gameplay. The video also doesn't show what happens if the two Marios wander too far away from each other, which seems like it could be problematic. Still, this is an ambitious project that appears to have worked, and it's interesting to see what the classic single-player game looks like with a player two.

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/news/super-mario-64-mod-adds-co-op-6398958]

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[Fappy]

Doing the Clock Tower level with two people sounds like Battletoads co-op bullshit! THE HORROR!

 

[Theminimanx]

May I just ask, what's the point? The levels in super mario 64 were designed for just one person, which is especially obvious during flying part. I can't see another player adding much to this game.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I wonder why they didn't change the overall colors to white and green, which is what was done in the original Super Mario Bros.. Luigi wasn't anything more than a color swap of the Mario sprite until the American Super Mario 2 came out.

 

[Radioactive Kitten]

May I just ask, what's the point? The levels in super mario 64 were designed for just one person, which is especially obvious during flying part. I can't see another player adding much to this game.

The modder might have done it as just a sort of personal challenge, to see if it could be done at all.

Also, sometimes games that were designed for single player turn out to be a blast with modded-in multiplayer.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

May I just ask, what's the point? The levels in super mario 64 were designed for just one person, which is especially obvious during flying part. I can't see another player adding much to this game.

For the hell of it? For laughs? To see if it could be done? To dick around with an old game? As a challenge? There are any number of good reasons to do this. It's what modding is about.

It's like asking what the point of the mod that gives mod crabs top hat and a monocle is Skyrim is. Or the 200 player multi player mode in Just Cause 2. Just because, really.

 

[jollybarracuda]

It's like asking what the point of the mod that gives mod crabs top hat and a monocle is Skyrim is. Or the 200 player multi player mode in Just Cause 2. Just because, really.

More like "Just beCause, amirite? Heh....ehh...yah its been done too much, im so sorry.

Anyways, that sounds pretty awesome. I wonder if we'll start seeing Ocarina of Time and Banjo Kazooie co-op mods before too long.

 

[gardian06]

The video also doesn't show what happens if the two Marios wander too far away from each other, which seems like it could be problematic.

[time index 0:38-0:47] looks like vecAvgCamera*distanceBetween (average camera position times the scalar distance between the characters) this is without going to far into the vector math on camera positioning (and that's the simplified version)

OT: but how do we compare scores, and like with New Super Mario Bros Wii it looks we are still able to sacrifice the other player to reach goals meaning that now Mario pc fans can now yell at each other for douchbag actions FUN. though with shared death NOT FUN.

 

[Stein Inge]

I have to ask: I never got ALL the stars but I was under the impression that there were only 120 stars in the game, but the display in the video says 130 stars... Am I uninformed or has the modder added some stars?

 

[Rossco64]

... Why doesn't the player 2 Mario not just wear a Luigi inspired colour scheme?

 

[Pebkio]

I never though co-op would really enrich the Mario 64 experience. Let's see:

*deeledeedoo deeledeedoo deeledeedoo*

Dude! You're flying wrong... the view is getting too wide! DUDE... you made me miss the red coin!

...sometimes later...

No... stop getting hit... we're about to die. Dude... du-DUDE! Now we have to do it over... again!

...even later...

Why do you keep felling into the lava? I know it's hard to rotate the camera. Stop... hey! You just pushed me into the lava with you! That's it, I'm done! You're not allowed to talk to me for the next month.

*deeledeedoo deeledeedoo deeledeedoo*

Yep, that was just awful.

 

[dessertmonkeyjk]

Hey, a 3D platformer... with co-op. I still wonder why there aren't alot of theses.

Now you just need to give a reason to have a partner such as exclusive abilities, helping another get to a certain place, or even protect them while they hold a fragile object.

 

[Saulkar]

I shed many tears of nostalgic joy watching this.

 

[UltraPic]

I shed many tears of nostalgic joy watching this.

Why ?, mario kart 64 is still available.

 

[Saulkar]

I shed many tears of nostalgic joy watching this.

Why ?, mario kart 64 is still available.

I do not understand what are you trying to tell me.

 

[Easton Dark]

... Why doesn't the player 2 Mario not just wear a Luigi inspired colour scheme?

Because that'd be an uncanny valley Luigi. He's always been taller than Mario, but in this he wouldn't be. It'd eat at the back of your mind the whole game that it doesn't seem right, and you'll walk away from the game feeling scared.

Luigi must be tall.

 

[Squilookle]

I cannot believe it. I simply cannot b...

... Why doesn't the player 2 Mario not just wear a Luigi inspired colour scheme?

Because that'd be an uncanny valley Luigi. He's always been taller than Mario, but in this he wouldn't be. It'd eat at the back of your mind the whole game that it doesn't seem right, and you'll walk away from the game feeling scared.

Luigi must be tall.

Who cares how tall he is? I'd take a repainted Mario-Luigi over any other character anyday.

Sure beats the hell out of playing as Toad...

 

[weirdee]

... Why doesn't the player 2 Mario not just wear a Luigi inspired colour scheme?

Because that'd be an uncanny valley Luigi. He's always been taller than Mario, but in this he wouldn't be. It'd eat at the back of your mind the whole game that it doesn't seem right, and you'll walk away from the game feeling scared.

Luigi must be tall.

wasn't super mario world's luigi also a palette swap? the world didn't burn down at that time

 

[Bloodstain]

Wow, I don't want to know how many hours I spent playing this game. It must be one of my most played games ever.

I should tell my brother about this, it looks great.