“N64oid review - Know Your Mobile” |
| N64oid review - Know Your Mobile Posted: 15 Mar 2011 07:56 AM PDT Back when the Android platform was first launched, one of its most impressive talents was being able to emulate retro gaming machines, such as the SNES, Mega Drive, NES and Master System, via specially-coded emulators. As the years have rolled by the power of the average Android handset has increased, so predictably we've seen even more powerful consoles being replicated. Last year it was the Sony PlayStation via the brilliant PSX4Droid, and now it's the turn of Nintendo's popular N64 console. Developed by the same person responsible for the 'oid' range of emulators, N64oid is an impressive achievement because the hardware it is emulating is far more powerful than the older 8-bit and 16-bit games machines. The N64 was launched in 1996 to combat the then-dominant PlayStation, and employed advanced 3D visuals to create million-selling classics such as Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye 007.
Naturally, the increased demand of emulating such detailed graphics means that N64oid doesn't offer quite as smooth a ride as its predecessors. In fact, many games refuse to function at all, and a large number of those that do load up are riddled with graphical glitches and other issues. If you're expecting the near-faultless hit rate experienced in NESoid or Gensoid, then you're going to be disappointed. Having said that, when N64oid does work the results are remarkable. Super Mario 64 is the benchmark, and it's arguably the game that most people are going to want to play. It's emulated near-perfectly, with smooth visuals and clear audio. There are occasional moments of slowdown, but on the whole it's perfectly enjoyable. Other must-have titles - such as F-Zero and Zelda – are a little less polished, but remain playable if you're willing to fight past the rough areas. Obviously as time goes on the compatibility of N64oid will improve, and you'll find that the number of games you can play will increase. In addition to this, those titles that are already playable will experience enhanced performance and speed. The N64 was famous for bringing true analogue control to console gamers, and prior to the launch of this app we had genuine fears for how this interface would be replicated on a touch screen device. The good news is that the analogue stick translates very well – in fact it's a lot more forgiving than using a virtual D-pad. A few minutes spent with Super Mario 64 is enough to convince you that N64 games are perfectly playable on a touch screen. Unfortunately, some titles like Goldeneye 007 have more unique control setups, as they make use of the N64 pad's 'Z' trigger, which rests under the bottom of the controller. In N64oid this button is mapped to the top corner of the screen, which means you can't aim and shoot at the same time. Thankfully you can overcome this issue by using Wii Controller IME app to bond your phone via Bluetooth with a Nintendo Wii Remote and Nunchuk attachment, the latter of which comes with an analogue stick and trigger.
It's worth noting that getting hold of N64 games isn't quite as straightforward as snagging a few NES ROMs with tiny file sizes. The average N64 game is around 10MB in size, even when archived in zip format. Thankfully ROM Gripper++ has an N64 downloads section now, and other ROM search apps are expected to increase their libraries to follow suit. Just make sure you're within range of an open Wi-Fi spot before clicking the download link. N64oid proves just how versatile Android is. It's amazing to think that what was a cutting-edge games console just over a decade ago is now playable in your pocket. The caveat is low compatibility and often sketchy performance, and it goes without saying that any phone without a 1GHz CPU isn't going to be suitable for such a demanding app. Regardless of its current problems, we have no worries recommending N64oid to any self-respecting retro fan. It's worth the asking price for the opportunity to play the sublime Mario 64 on the move. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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