The Panasonic 3DO and Super Mario 64 are two things that probably shouldn't go in the same sentence. One is a stupidly expensive retro console from the '90s that couldn't remotely keep up with proper fifth-gen contenders, while the other helped usher in a new age of 3D gaming.
That contrast hasn't stopped one Panasonic FZ-10 owner from trying to run Super Mario 64 on the 3DO, as developer Eyepatch Entertainment is working on a cursed conversion (h/t, Time Extension). Rather than trying to make a traditional "port" of Nintendo's iconic plumber platformer, the retro console enthusiast is building a 3D engine that uses "real Super Mario 64 decompilation assets" that are then rendered using the 3DO's CEL co-processor.
"What you're seeing right now, this is a from the ground up 3D engine for the 3DO" explains the creator while showcasing rather haunted-looking Super Mario 64 demo footage. The video features both footage running on a Panasonic FZ-10 connected to a CRT and the Opera 3DO emulator side by side, which helps hammer home some of the limitations of the old oddball console.
"Uh, this shouldn't work," claims the dev before admitting that it "doesn't really work." Yet, right before our eyes is something that just about resembles the landmark platformer that blew our 2D-trained minds back in the '90s. "I took inspiration from that GBA port," explains Eyepatch Entertainment before labelling the project as "basically just homebrew and not a port."
The creator doubles down, saying, "you can't call this a port," revealing that it uses map data to generate "a suitable Mario model that will run in 2D." In my eyes, that's actually more impressive than a traditional port when you consider the massive 3D incapability of the OG hardware here, as the demo recreates everything from Peach's Castle to Bob-omb Battlefield complete with its resident Chain Chomp.
Technically speaking, Eyepatch Entertainment is right when they say Mario 64 can't run on the 3DO at the start of the video. However, this whole project highlights a core element of developing multiple versions of games for systems in the '80s and '90s. Sometimes, technical sacrifices had to be made to get big hits on your chosen platform, and while this is certainly a more extreme case of that, it's absolutely giving "simplified Game Boy port" vibes.
Sure, Nintendo's icon might be reduced to an "animated sprite" and bound to torturous tank controls, and the lack of sound and rock-bottom frame rate lows are entirely different issue entirely. But, in my eyes, this is still Mario 64 on the 3DO, and if I was presented with this back in 1993, I'd probably have a blast.
In fact, I'd have a blast right now trying to run Mario 64 on my Panasonic 3DO FZ-1, so I'll be keeping an eye out for the project if it's shared on the interwebs.
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