Super Mario 64 header screenshot

Numerous N64 games will support Path Tracing thanks to this upcoming N64 emulator plugin


DarioSamo, the man behind the Ray Tracing Mod for the unofficial PC port of Super Mario 64, has announced a new Ray Tracing plugin for Nintendo 64 emulators. This plugin will allow you to enable native ray tracing effects on numerous games, will support DLSS, and will allow you to play the original N64 games with 60fps.

DarioSamo has shared a video, showcasing some games using this Path Tracing N64 plugin. In order to capture this footage, the modder used the mupen64plus emulator.

DarioSamo plans to include a whitelist of compatible games in the plugin so users don’t get confused and try to run this with every title out there. However, there will be an optional toggle for people who wish to experiment more.

Additionally, a bunch of games that never had 60FPS patches will be able to run at 60 FPS or more, while still running internally at their original rates. This will be another big feature of this plugin.

Lastly, this plugin will have a regular raster mode that looks the same as the original game. This will theoretically open the door to improvements like decoupled rendering with 60FPS or more. And yes, DarioSamo also plans to support HD texture replacements in the same way existing plugins work.

This plugin is currently in an early development stage. As such, you should not be expecting it anytime soon. Nevertheless, we’ll be sure to keep you posted!