If you’re reading this on the toilet that’s good, because the footage below is the kind of stuff that gamers crap themselves over. It’s been almost 20 years since Mario 64 made it’s release in 1996 for the Nintendo 64, but it still remains one of the most re-playable and fun games of all time. Now, thanks to YouTube user aryoksini, it is also one of of the most visually stunning. Using the brand new Unreal Engine 4, which will be used in upcoming games like Gears of War 4 and Kingdom Hearts III, aryoksini has given Mario 64 a whole new look:
The team was originally going to make this using the Blender game engine, but ran into limitations and decided to go with Unreal Engine 4 instead
Aryoksini says he understands that hyper realism and Mario don’t mix, and the video is only to show progress on the project.
The team has been working on this project for over a year, and they’ve certainly made a lot of progress in that time. This isn’t the final project, but I’d love to see Mario in an environment like this.
I used to have fantasies when I was 11 about Mario 64 in a Resident Evil style setting, and this is definitely the closest I’ve ever been to seeing it as a reality. Sure Mario’s basic color pallet doesn’t match the beautiful settings surrounding him, but there’s something about it that just looks so damn cool. Physically Mario seems to have the exact same movements as he did in the original, as demonstrated in the video.
He and his team are actually planning on making a completely remastered version of entire levels from Mario 64, but as we know from past incidents, Nintendo doesn’t mess around when it comes to copyright infringement. Earlier in the year Erik Ross, who was working on a person HD Mario 64 project, received several cease and desist letters from Nintendo, ultimately resulting in him shutting down the project. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen to these guys, because this looks insanely cool. Check out the full video below, and subscribe to aryoksini for updates on the project.
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