You’ve been met with a terrible framebuffer emulator, have you?

Prepared by Joe

You are itchy. An itchy itch that feels… itchy. An itch from your childhood, or even an itch nostalgic for the forgotten era of 2015. You long to scratch it, but that scratch is playing through The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask AGAIN. You are a sweaty retro gamer with disposable income and are met with choice paralysis from the sheer amount of ways you can play Majora’s Mask.

Sure you can bust out your N64 and play on a sticky plastic console that smells like socks and has dried Coke on it from 2002. OR maybe we just… *ahem*… “dumb” your cartridge and play it on Project 64 on PC. Now what? Enhance it with texture mods? Increase the resolution? What about that framerate or the input lag? Should you just buy a 3DS or – … Please stop, I’m getting a headache.

The N64 in 2024 is an anomaly that can’t be tackled objectively, whether it’s the controller, emulation quality, the sheer amount of ways to play it on home consoles, and that stupid 20fps framerate. Here, we will go over all the ways you can enjoy this kenographic piece of early 2000s glory. So sit back, crack open a Coke, try not to spill it, and read on.

1. The Nintendo 64 Console

All my ROM dumps are legal now

Why not with the original way to play it? If you have your childhood copy around and a console to play it on, you’re golden. The game will be played as intended on its native console. In all of its crusty, aliassed, 240p 20fps glory. The main downfall of just playing the original comes down to you. Do you have working equipment? A clean copy of the game? The 100% necessary memory expansion pack? A TV that can handle the signal? Or even a CRT? An RGB Adapter? There are many variables to enhance the experience, and all these are generally expensive, let ALONE the console and original cartridge if you don’t already own it.

Glorious 240p!

• Pros:
  • Native/Original experience
  • Maximum Nostalgia 
  • Low input lag on CRTs
  • HDMI mods/accessories to play on modern TVs
• Cons:
  • … Original experience (low resolution, low framerate)
  • Sheer cost of necessary equipment (Ram pack, cartridge, console)
  • Sheer cost of accessories to enhance the quality (HDMI mod, Analog to HDMI adapter, controller mods)
  • Limitations on modern TVs

2. Official Emulation: GameCube, Wii, Wii U

Banger

So maybe you, like me, first experienced Zelda through Super Smash Bros Melee and found the Great Bay stage to be… strange. Then maybe you, like me, discovered you can actually play it on the same console with the Zelda Collector’s Edition for GameCube. This kicked off Nintedo’s routinely shameless grift of selling you the same ROM file over and over again with varying degrees of emulation quality.

I’ve bought this game over 3 times. – Me, idiot

You can enjoy Majora’s Mask on every Nintendo home console after the N64, all emulated, and all sold differently. Instead of boring you with paragraphs-long descriptions of each rendition, here:

GameCube

The Legend of Zelda Collectors Edition bundled with the Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and a Wind Waker Demo.

Yeah… Not that different

• Pros
  • 480p (2x resolution)
  • Intuitively reconfigured control mapping 
  • Serviceable emulation quality
  • Similar input lag to the N64 original
  • Texture pack compatible with Dolphin Emulator
• Cons:
  • Performance issues (15fps – 20fps)
  • Inaccurate frame buffer emulation (inconsistent motion blur, post-processing)
  • Analog video out / expensive digital out 
  • While worth it (in my opinion) the Collectors Edition is fairly expensive. About $50-70USD 

Wii

Virtual Console!

A bygone era

Emulated versions usually have trouble emulating this part. This is also a framebuffer effect.

• Pros
  • 480p (2x resolution)
  • Intuitively reconfigured control mapping (Same as GC)
  • Much better emulation quality
  • Similar input lag to the N64 original
  • A single application
  • Easily addable in a modded Wii
  • Inexpensive Wii to HDMI
• Cons:
  • What Virtual Console?
  • Analog video out (default)
  • Still 20fps 
  • Wii proprietary controllers only

Wii U

Virtual Console…

Oof. Source: Nintendo World Report

• Pros
  • 480p (2x resolution)
  • Intuitively reconfigured control mapping (Same as GC/Wii)
  • Serviceable emulation quality
  • A single application
  • Easily addable on a modded Wii U
  • Native HDMI out
• Cons:
  • What Virtual Console?
  • BAD input lag
  • BAD… loading times?
  • Still 20fps 
  • Dark filters over everything for some reason.
  • Just don’t bother with this one.

3. Official Emulation: Nintendo Switch

Hmm still not quite right. Source: Kelphelp on Youtube

There are few who don’t know the pain and agony that came with Nintendo murdering the Virtual Console and replacing it with a subscription service as well as the sheer hubris of Nintendo to release ANOTHER home cooked N64 emulator that gives more heartburn than a sriracha sundae. To this day, It has improved, but has many unaddressed flaws that other emulators managed to avoid for years now. That being said, it has also managed to correct some of the most egregious emulation sins thus far. That’ll be $50 a year, please.

Also by Kelphelp!

• Pros
  • 720p (3x resolution) 
  • Retroarch-esque control scheme by default
  • Serviceable emulation quality with very accurate frame buffer emulation
  • Livable input lag
  • Included with NSO
  • Convenience of using a modern console
  • Can be played with any USB controller
• Cons:
  • Noticeable audio lag
  • Input lag is STILL present
  • Overblown fog effects/lighting
  • Controls can’t seamlessly be corrected
  • Locked behind a subscription

To Be Continued…

Spooky season is almost upon us

While I know we want to hear about the fabled PC ports and the infamous 3DS remake, I feel like those would better be suited to a part 2 to fully flesh those out since the console emulation topic is so broad. Do you have all or some of these versions? Are they good enough for you? My favorite out of these versions is the Gamecube version for exclusively nostalgia reasons so it wouldn’t phase me if even the Wii U version was.. Just fine for… some. Sound off in the comments if this was helpful or cringe. In any case, stay tuned for part 2: The Actual Best Ways to play The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.

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