By Dexerto | Created at 2026-09-28 18:30:46 | Updated at 2026-09-29 01:15:04
10 hours ago
A developer has managed to get a recognizable version of Super Mario 64 running on original SNES hardware using a Super FX chip.
Super Mario 64 was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1996, with Game of Tobi exploring what Nintendo’s landmark 3D platformer might look like running on the significantly older SNES.
Super Mario 64 runs on original SNES
Game of Tobi showed off the project, dubbed Super Mario FX, running on an original SNES in a new video.
Despite its appearance, this isn’t a direct port or recompilation of Super Mario 64. Tobi instead created a custom engine that uses assets from the original N64 game.
Several areas are already up and running, including Peach’s Castle and Bob-omb Battlefield, with Mario’s original animations and other assets reused along the way.
Getting everything working on the older hardware came with some considerable limitations. Tobi said levels needed to be shrunk to fit within 2MB, describing storage as a “big bottleneck” for the project.
Textures have been another hurdle, with different levels of detail being used to help performance. Bob-omb Battlefield has proven particularly challenging. Tobi said he previously spent hundreds of hours getting the same stage running on Game Boy Advance and is already happy with how the SNES version performs.
The project runs on original SNES hardware using a flash cartridge that supports the Super FX chip.
Super FX was a graphics-enhancing chip included inside some SNES cartridges to supplement the console’s own hardware, allowing it to handle effects including polygon-based 3D graphics. Star Fox was the first game released using the technology.
Super Mario FX references a long-running rumor that Nintendo once planned a 3D Mario game for the SNES using the same chip before Super Mario 64, although this has never been confirmed.
Once the project is ready, Tobi plans to release it in a way that lets players build it themselves using assets from the original Super Mario 64.
Tobi is also working on a Game Boy Advance project that recompiles the original N64 game. According to the developer, that version is now “very playable,” has sound and a higher render distance, and is close to release.
