The Nintendo 64 took the world by storm when it debuted decades ago. But if you want to play N64 games today, your best option is an N64 emulator like Mupen64++. For some gamers, Mupen64++ is even better than Project64. Download Mupen64Plus for Windows, macOS and Android, iOS.
What is Mupen64++?
Mupen64++ was released in 2001. The open-source, cross-platform emulator was inspired by Mupen64. Mupen64 has been attributed to Hacktarux. Initially designed to run on Windows and Linux, the last version of the emulator came out in 2005.
To be more specific, 0.5 was the last version that Hacktarux published. But the project was far from dead. It gave birth to several variations, including Mupen64Plus which Richard Goedeken created.
The project wasn’t all that ambitious at the start. Besides fixing the bugs that people had discovered in the last Mupen64 version, Richard wanted his emulator to provide a 64-bit recompiler.
But the emulator kept expanding. The plugin API was modified to allow the developers to place all the user interface code in one software module. While controversial at the time, the modifications were eventually implemented, allowing Mupen64++ to forge its own path, separate from its forerunners. Today, Mupen64++ uses a unique set of plugins that do not work with the plugins other emulators use.
Mupen64Plus Features
- It works on Windows, Linux, Android, macOS, AROS, and FreeBSD.
- It was written with C and C++
- It has a command-line frontend
- Hi-Resolution Texture Support
- Cheat System (Gameshark code support)
- It uses save files
How To Install Mupen64Plus?
Step 1. Download the emulator from the official site. You can try getting it from other sources. But those others sources may infect your computer with malware. Get the latest version.
Step 2. The emulator will download in a zipped format. Extract the emulator into a folder of your choice.
Step 3. Find and run mupen64plus-ui-console.exe
Where to download Mupen64Plus?
- mupen64plus-bundle-linux32-2.5.9.tar.gz: (1.67 MB)
- mupen64plus-bundle-linux64-2.5.9.tar.gz: (1.65 MB)
- mupen64plus-bundle-osx-2.5.9.zip: (2.56 MB)
- mupen64plus-bundle-src-2.5.9.tar.gz: (2.74 MB)
- mupen64plus-bundle-win32-2.5.9.zip: (2.36 MB)
- mupen64plus-core-src-2.5.9.tar.gz: (1.54 MB)
- mupen64plus-core-src-2.5.9.tar.gz.asc: (833 Bytes)
- Source code(zip)Source code(tar.gz)
- License: Freeware
- Release date: Sep 29, 2014
- Size: 4.2MB
- Platform: Windows, Android, Macintosh OSX 64-bit, Linux
How To Use Mupen64++?
This emulator is a little tricky because it doesn’t have a GUI. You can only run it from the command line:
1). You have to create a Mupen64Plus directory (C:\users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mupen64Plus)
2). Send the .ini .cfg files to the new folder. Add a ‘Save’ folder to this directory.
3). If you’re ready to play games, you can just drag and drop your ROMs to the .exe file.
4). If you want to add plugins to the emulator, close the program and go to the plugin folder.
5). If you have the plugins you want, place the files in the plugins folder.
6). Open the emulator once again and press ‘Ctrl + S’.
7). Place the plugin in the right category and click ‘OK’
As far as effective front-ends are concerned, you can use M64Py, Mupen64Plus-qt, and Mupen64Plus-GUI.
Conclusion
Mupen64++ is a great emulator. Admittedly, the buffering is excessive. It is responsible for the delayed audio that some people have reported. But you can solve that problem by lowering the buffering settings. This may lead to audio crackling if you go too far.
But this weakness is unlikely to affect your enjoyment. Mupen64++ has a strong following among fans of the Nintendo 64 because it exceeds expectations.
