N64 Pi0 Testing (some work!)

[PitchForkNinja]

So I've heard a lot about how the Pi Zero wasn't powerful enough for many N64 games, and I just didn't think that was true. I decided to test a few N64 games, because some do work (sadly the audio lag is there, and these games can be pretty laggy, but this also happens on the RPi3 sometimes and is a standard in N64 emulation). There has been very little documentation of this, so I decided to put out a list. These tests are on RetroPie 4.2. on the regular Pi Zero. I did not over clock my Pi, and it does not have a heatsink. In case you were wondering, these tests are not extensive, so if you encounter missing textures, its probably because I haven't played it enough.

SIDE NOTE: DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK Just want to get this out of the way, if this heats your Pi too much or causes something to go wrong in your GBZ Build (Mine is not in one yet, its in a static bag ), I am not responsible for any damage.

Also, I did use this guide and Popcorn's post to see a few bare minimum games that might work. Since the video uses the Pi 2, some probably won't work on the RPi0, but feel free to test games anyway. It's an older version of RetroPie, so maybe some more will work? (IDK)


THE GAMES

All of these games are tested from boot up, and I gave the Pi time to cool down after playing each game.
Audio Lag WILL OCCUR. Get ready!

Animal Forest (English Patch) - Playable - Menu is black, but you can see your cursor and item names. I would say it works if you really want to play this game (like me!) Can be ever so slightly laggy
Banjo-Kazooie - Playable - Really laggy. Missing background in menu, but text and items are visible. Again, only if you really want to play it.
Diddy Kong Racing - Playable - A little laggy at first, but then smoothes out into a pretty nice experience.
F-Zero X - Playable - Very well
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - Unplayable - Menu Glitches
Mario Kart 64 - Playable - Very Well in Time Trial (little bit of lag in vs, haven't tried multiplayer, but I imagine it would be pretty laggy)
Paper Mario - Unplayable - Slow Framerate and Missing Textures
Star Fox 64 - Playable - Very Well
Super Mario 64 - Playable - Very Well (opening is slightly laggy
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Playable - Really low framerate (not much testing)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Playable - Really low framerate
Turok Dinosaur Hunter - Playable - Controls felt awkward (XBOne), but gameplay was pretty smooth
Wave Race 64 - Playable - Really laggy (it works, but is not great) Unless you love this game I would recommend you skip it.

BEST SETUPS (that I have found)

For all of these games I used the resolution setting DMT-4, but I don't actually know if that does anything.

Animal Forest (English Patch) - Mupen64plus-GlideN64 (better inventory than gles2n64, your cursor shows, but background and item images are still missing)
Banjo-Kazooie - I would recommend Mupen64plus-gles2n64, but GlideN64 works pretty well too
Diddy Kong Racing - Mupen64plus-gles2n64
F-Zero X - Mupen64plus-gles2n64
Mario Kart 64 - Mupen64plus-GlidN64
Star Fox 64 - Mupen64plus-GlideN64
Super Mario 64 - Mupen64plus-gles2n64
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Not sure you would want to even play it, but Mupen64plus-gles2n64
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Not sure you would want to even play it, but Mupen64plus-gles2n64
Turok Dinosaur Hunter - Mupen64plus-gles2n64
Wave Race 64 - Mupen64plus-gles2n64 (still not great)

Feel free to comment any more games you want me to test! I'd love to expand my N64 collection, although I might not be able to find the best emulator due to time constraints. Will update in the future!

[RetroRocket]

Nice dude! I'd love to see your testing on

Beetle Adventure Racing
San Francisco Rush
Stunt Racer 64
Goldeneye
Jet Force Gemini
Pokemon Snap!
Pokemon Stadium
Re-Volt
Snowboard Kids
Super Smash Bros
Vigilante 8

[Robochris]

Mine has helders AIO 2.2 board. I loaded some n64 games (really just to say, look what I can do) but some seemed playable.

My problem is that the d pad isn't recognized as the joystick. Any quick fix for this?

[PitchForkNinja]

You're going to need to buy a controller with an analog stick. I'm using a XBone controller we had laying around my house and I plugged it in through a USB cable to my hub (that way I don't have to mess with Bluetooth). 360, DS3 and DS4 should work, but you'll need to do some googling.

[Robochris]

You're going to need to buy a controller with an analog stick. I'm using a XBone controller we had laying around my house and I plugged it in through a USB cable to my hub (that way I don't have to mess with Bluetooth). 360, DS3 and DS4 should work, but you'll need to do some googling.

I'm not going to use an external controller with my gbz. I use a USB snes controller with my pi 3 to play n64 so this should really be much different.

[PitchForkNinja]

I'm not going to use an external controller with my gbz. I use a USB snes controller with my pi 3 to play n64 so this should really be much different.

You're going to need to mess with settings on your controller and do stuff that I have no clue how to do. And since the best n64 emulators do not have a libretro core, the built in config input changer won't work. Good luck!

[PitchForkNinja]

Ok, here comes ROUND TWO

I will not be giving the best setup at first, because I'd like people to know as soon as possible, and I'd also like to have a life, because it takes a ton of time (even playing each game for like 5 minutes per emulator). I will most likely update this comment or add another with the emulators I used in a little bit, because I'll end up doing it anyway for my upcoming GBZ.

The Games

Be prepared for a lot of unplayables! The test uses Mupen64plus-gles2n64 (gles2) as the default, and Mupen64plus-GlideN64 (GlideN64) if that doesn't work.

By request, we have:

Beetle Adventure Racing
San Francisco Rush
Stunt Racer 64
Goldeneye
Jet Force Gemini
Pokemon Snap!
Pokemon Stadium
Re-Volt
Snowboard Kids
Super Smash Bros
Vigilante 8

Beetle Adventure Racing - Unplayable - Create new game menu did not work, unless you can figure this out, I recommend that you skip this one.
San Francisco Rush - Playable - Use GideN64, it worked quite nicely, minus audio lag. Do NOT use gles2.
Stunt Racer 64 - Unplayable - Black screen on startup; could not exit. Forced hard shutdown
Goldeneye - Playable - Controls felt janky, but it worked well.
Jet Force Gemini - Playable, but not worth it - Startup worked on GlideN64 only. Long and laggy cutscene. Extremely laggy. I would say no, but if you really love this game to death, sure.
Pokemon Snap! - Playable - Works very well in menu, gets slightly laggy in game, and some Pokemon glitch on walls and through walls. Use GlideN64, gles2 did not work in the menu.
Pokemon Stadium - Playable - Use GlideN64. Kinda laggy, but since its Pokemon, you could get away with it.
Re-Volt - Playable - Very laggy. I would say no.
Snowboard Kids - Playable - Very laggy. It works a little better on GlideN64, but I would pass.
Super Smash Bros - Playable - Pretty laggy. I would keep it for kicks, but not really play it that often.
Vigilante 8 - Unplayable - Extreme missing textures.

Most are technically playable, but don't run that well. Again, feel free to comment any more titles. I'm off to play some Arms!

These tests are coming up sometime this week:

Mario Party
Mario Party 2
Mario Party 3
Banjo-Tooie
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Donkey Kong 64
Mario Golf
Mario Tennis
Perfect Dark
Pilotwings 64
Pokemon Stadium 2
Star Wars - Rogue Squadron
Star Wars - Shadows of the Empire
Yoshi's Story

[Chrisagu28]

This is fantastic news! Since the Pi0 doesn't have the power to play SNES star fox (which I really wish it did!), but manages to play the n64 version. I am not complaining lol.

So you mentioned which emulator per rom but I didn't read which video resolution you are using. I assumed it would be a low resolution of 320 x 240 but curious which one you tested with so I setup it up on mine.

[PitchForkNinja]

Since the Pi0 doesn't have the power to play SNES star fox (which I really wish it did!), but manages to play the n64 version.

Starfox works for me! Try using a lower video setting and different emulators. I used DMT-4, because its the lowest resolution video setting, but I don't know if it is the right one.