Super Mario 64: Arguably Better Edition - R3
preview
By: Mors [W]
This is Super Mario 64, but with changes that would (arguably) make it a better game overall. It also features a few additional bonus features if you're into that sort of thing.

The base hack is fully console compatible, but the widescreen version was NOT tested on real hardware, so if your N64 ends up exploding and giving you 3rd-degree burns, I'm not the one to blame!

The changes include:
- Better camera
- Better controls
- Wall sliding from later games
- Widescreen
- Optional "Hard Mode". Hold R before starting a new game!
- Optional "No Lives Mode"
- A new 120 Star bonus
- Tweaked HUD
- Analog camera via player 2
- Better performance
- D-Pad controls (epic)
- Bug fixes

Made by Mors using the SM64 Decompilation project! Shoutouts to GTM for testing, Benial for helping me with the Skull Mario HUD icon, and Kaze Emanuar for giving me the code for his bug fixes.

You need a US Z64 ROM of the original game to use the patch.

The latest release (R3) adds an additional widescreen patch and introduces a few other additions and fixes. A full changelog is included alongside the patch file.
Completion: Full Game Hack Type: Tweak
Base ROM: Super Mario 64 Region: North America (NTSC)

Update History
No History
 
[O] Created: Feb 16 2020, 5:41 PM
[O] Updated: Never
[O] File Size: 1.67MB
[O] Views: 45766
[O] Downloads: 6534
[O] Favorites: 4
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Reviews
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Comments
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Yoshin
Feb 22 2020, 2:40 AM
For some reason I cannot get this to run on console, is it compatible with console?
Works fine on Mupen64 through libretro.
 
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Mors
Feb 22 2020, 5:40 PM
Quote (Yoshin on Feb 22 2020, 2:40 AM)
For some reason I cannot get this to run on console, is it compatible with console?
Works fine on Mupen64 through libretro.

Yea, it was tested on console.
 
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HyperCat392
Feb 28 2020, 6:31 PM
hey!!! i removed this comment the best i know how... by changing it
 
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Mors
Feb 29 2020, 10:47 PM
Quote (supersonic392 on Feb 28 2020, 6:31 PM)
hey, i can't seem to patch it, can i have a prepatched rom

No, sharing that would be illegal.
 
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HyperCat392
Feb 29 2020, 11:26 PM
oh... ok, i get why
 
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Kirizame
Mar 9 2020, 12:11 AM
Holy hell, the Hard Mode version of Rematch with Koopa the Quick needs to be nerfed.
After trying multiple time legitimately I settled on abusing the delay of bringing up his text box by doing a frame perfect jump and going down to the beach to start the race, using the shell to ride up the mountain and getting there with half a second to spare.
Unless you've added something or there's a warp I'm missing I honestly can't see how it can be done legitimately.
 
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Mors
Mar 13 2020, 12:14 PM
Quote (Kirizame on Mar 9 2020, 12:11 AM)
Holy hell, the Hard Mode version of Rematch with Koopa the Quick needs to be nerfed.
After trying multiple time legitimately I settled on abusing the delay of bringing up his text box by doing a frame perfect jump and going down to the beach to start the race, using the shell to ride up the mountain and getting there with half a second to spare.
Unless you've added something or there's a warp I'm missing I honestly can't see how it can be done legitimately.

OOPS that seems to be a mistake, I'm stupid.
I'll fix it with the next update, thanks for reporting.
 
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MattKimura
Mar 13 2020, 8:52 PM
I love this hack for the improvements, and it does make a definitive way to play SM64 in general. However, there's some things that are bothersome. First, the title screen modification. I don't need a reminder letting me know that I applied the patch successfully and that I'm running the patched rom. If this is an improvement hack, this is one let down that doesn't make the game feel official anymore. The game should look the same as it did, and let the gameplay improvements shine on their own.

The second issue I have with the hack is the bone Mario lives icon. A friend of mine told me that I can press B on the file selection to bypass this, but it should've been the other way around. Where it's press B to get the bone Mario icon as sort of an easter egg kind of thing. I have no idea why the bone Mario icon is relevant, it looks out of place.

But other than those two issues, the hack is amazing and makes the game much better to play. I hope you'll take these into consideration on the next update. I'll definitely recommend this hack to others once it's refined.
 
1 like from: ShadowOne333
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Mors
Mar 14 2020, 1:48 PM
Quote (MattKimura on Mar 13 2020, 8:52 PM)
I love this hack for the improvements, and it does make a definitive way to play SM64 in general. However, there's some things that are bothersome. First, the title screen modification. I don't need a reminder letting me know that I applied the patch successfully and that I'm running the patched rom. If this is an improvement hack, this is one let down that doesn't make the game feel official anymore. The game should look the same as it did, and let the gameplay improvements shine on their own.

The second issue I have with the hack is the bone Mario lives icon. A friend of mine told me that I can press B on the file selection to bypass this, but it should've been the other way around. Where it's press B to get the bone Mario icon as sort of an easter egg kind of thing. I have no idea why the bone Mario icon is relevant, it looks out of place.

But other than those two issues, the hack is amazing and makes the game much better to play. I hope you'll take these into consideration on the next update. I'll definitely recommend this hack to others once it's refined.

You can disable the whole bone Mario thing from the options, it's a death counter as opposed to the default lives system of the original game.

As for the title screen, I guess I can add an option for that too, I see your point.
 
1 like from: ShadowOne333
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Tuppcord
Mar 19 2020, 3:23 PM
it is indeed arguably better
 
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ShadowOne333
Mar 24 2020, 3:26 PM
Quote (Mors on Mar 14 2020, 1:48 PM)
You can disable the whole bone Mario thing from the options, it's a death counter as opposed to the default lives system of the original game.

As for the title screen, I guess I can add an option for that too, I see your point.

Thanks for this amazing hack!

I have to say that i also share the same sentiment as @Matt.
If it's possible, I'd like to suggest an optional patch, or a 3rd patch, which keeps both the original Title screen and the original Ending credits text from vanilla Super Mario 64 alongside all of your improvements over the original.
I prefer my hacks to have a clean look to make them look as if they are official, but not without taking merit from the original hacker of course.

I hope you take this suggestion into consideration for an upcoming update!
And thanks again for this wonderful hack!
 
1 like from: Mors
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GIOlo8QQ5at9cTgD
Apr 10 2020, 6:32 PM
Any chance we could get a version of this patch with just the control changes that can be used on other mario 64 romhacks? I'd love to play star road or any other hacks out there with the control/walljump/camera changes here, they make the vanilla game practically unplayable after trying it out
 
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ssjkakaroto
May 11 2020, 12:30 AM
Hi Mors, any chance you can make available your changes as .patch files so we can apply it on the PC version too?
 
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Mors
May 15 2020, 4:12 AM
Quote (ssjkakaroto on May 11 2020, 12:30 AM)
Hi Mors, any chance you can make available your changes as .patch files so we can apply it on the PC version too?

Someone else actually asked me if I was considering to make a fork so I will just quote my response from that.
Quote (Mors)
Im considering it but right now the PC port is too unstable, and I'm quite busy myself.

Not to mention that there's no way for us to distribute binaries that don't contain data from the original SM64 ROM, so even if I did port my hack I wouldn't be able to distribute it. I could, of course, just release the source, which is something I'm actually planning to, but most people wouldn't be able to play it regardless.

Once someone finds a way to dynamically load data from the ROM then I will create a fork with all the changes from my hack then more.

As for releasing it as a patch, the hack is, unfortunately, a bit too big for that.
 
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TSC
Jun 13 2020, 12:07 AM
Patch file isn't compatible with the OG rom. Especially since XDELTA patch files aren't for Z64 roms.
 
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Mors
Jun 13 2020, 7:33 PM
Quote (TSC on Jun 13 2020, 12:07 AM)
Patch file isn't compatible with the OG rom. Especially since XDELTA patch files aren't for Z64 roms.

Maybe get a better ROM then, if it wasn't compatible others wouldn't be able to get it running.
 
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Fez64
Aug 6 2020, 7:25 PM
Very good stuff, though if I could make a recommendation, would it be possible to remove stage kickout from the pre-spawned stars? Maybe restarting the stage with the dead-end ones?
 
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MrHoot2000
Sep 14 2020, 6:06 PM
Make this compatible with Super Mario 3D All-Stars Plz
 
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JumperK
Sep 15 2020, 5:50 AM
Quote (MrHoot2000 on Sep 14 2020, 12:06 PM)
Make this compatible with Super Mario 3D All-Stars Plz

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I highly doubt that's gonna happen...
 
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Mors
Sep 15 2020, 3:44 PM
Quote (MrHoot2000 on Sep 14 2020, 6:06 PM)
Make this compatible with Super Mario 3D All-Stars Plz

lol nope, I'm porting it to the PC port instead.
 
2 likes from: endlessmarioearth, ssjkakaroto
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endlessmarioearth
Oct 5 2020, 7:26 PM
Quote (Mors on Sep 15 2020, 3:44 PM)
lol nope, I'm porting it to the PC port instead.

That's amazing. Speaking of which, is it possible to port other Mario 64 hacks to the PC port? I've been loving the PC port so much, I think all hackers should port their stuff to the PC port, it just looks so much better. I would love to see Star Road and Last Impact ported to the PC.
 
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Mors
Oct 7 2020, 6:00 PM
Quote (endlessmarioearth on Oct 5 2020, 7:26 PM)
That's amazing. Speaking of which, is it possible to port other Mario 64 hacks to the PC port? I've been loving the PC port so much, I think all hackers should port their stuff to the PC port, it just looks so much better. I would love to see Star Road and Last Impact ported to the PC.

It's not, unfortunately, at least not easily. You can port hacks made using the decompliation easily but assembly hacks like Star Road and Last Impact would require rewriting all the code.
 
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MrHoot2000
Oct 13 2020, 2:30 PM
Quote (Mors on Sep 15 2020, 3:44 PM)
lol nope, I'm porting it to the PC port instead.

Fudge, that would have been cool.
 
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Rakoon CD
Nov 10 2020, 5:21 AM
The poles in Dire Dire Docks are gone for me. I'm in hard mode, so I don't know if it's deliberate.
 
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Captain kitty cat
Dec 7 2020, 6:16 AM
I'm probably going to check this out, having to wall-jump once you hit the wall or whatever was kind of annoying sometimes, and this can help :)
 
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ModBros.
May 11 2021, 8:59 PM
I like how the icon for search results etc. is just Mario sliding down a wall. That's all we need to know about this hack.
 
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LonelySoul1107
Jun 7 2021, 9:32 PM
How do I Patch? I'm trying to play on project64 emulator, with little luck.
Edit: it works, but any time i start a new file, i get warped to the end.
is that normal?
 
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JRenNinobla2002
Jul 22 2021, 7:55 AM
Quote (supersonic392 on Feb 28 2020, 6:31 PM)
hey!!! i removed this comment the best i know how... by changing it

Jokes on you guy, but I saw your unedited comment on Mr. Mors' reply so HA!🤣
 
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bungus69
Dec 28 2021, 5:03 PM
Hello, thank you for creating this excellent hack. I made this account specifically to ask you about a problem I'm facing that is preventing me from achieving 100% completion. When I do the red coin mission in Dire Dire Docks, the moving poles do not appear. I am playing on Hard mode. This seems to make it impossible to collect two remaining red coins. I am playing this hack on a real NTSC N64. Therefore, the related hack, Super Mario 64 Plus, is not useful to me. I wonder if you could fix this problem? I have thoroughly enjoyed your hack so far.

In addition, I have a widescreen CRT. I have been playing the hack in 4:3, because the widescreen version produces video garbage, regardless of which display I use. For example, when I test the widescreen version on my 4:3 CRT, it has the same result. Solving this problem is not a priority for me, but it would be really appreciated if you could fix it.

Thank you again for your hard work on this hack.
 
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Mors
Dec 28 2021, 10:42 PM
Quote (bungus69 on Dec 28 2021, 5:03 PM)
Hello, thank you for creating this excellent hack. I made this account specifically to ask you about a problem I'm facing that is preventing me from achieving 100% completion. When I do the red coin mission in Dire Dire Docks, the moving poles do not appear. I am playing on Hard mode. This seems to make it impossible to collect two remaining red coins. I am playing this hack on a real NTSC N64. Therefore, the related hack, Super Mario 64 Plus, is not useful to me. I wonder if you could fix this problem? I have thoroughly enjoyed your hack so far.

In addition, I have a widescreen CRT. I have been playing the hack in 4:3, because the widescreen version produces video garbage, regardless of which display I use. For example, when I test the widescreen version on my 4:3 CRT, it has the same result. Solving this problem is not a priority for me, but it would be really appreciated if you could fix it.

Thank you again for your hard work on this hack.

You gotta beat the fire sea for the poles to appear. That's how it is in the original game as well.

As for the widescreen issue, I never tested it on the real hardware and I guess it's a resolution the N64 hardware doesn't like. So I guess your only solution is to use an emulator there, sorry.
 
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bungus69
Dec 29 2021, 7:15 AM
Quote (Mors on Dec 28 2021, 10:42 PM)
You gotta beat the fire sea for the poles to appear. That's how it is in the original game as well.


Excellent, this is my first SM64 playthrough in years, so I must have completely forgotten this detail.
 
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