Mega Man 64, a 3D version of the PlayStation original, rocked up the Nintendo 64 scene in 2000. As players put on Mega Man’s boots and explore 3D realms of wrecked towns, underground dungeons, and mechanical monsters, the game managed to combine a flurry of shooting action with light puzzle solving and a story entwined with ancient technology and a mysterious lady named Roll. Nowadays, one solo developer known as RaieFox has taken this same game under their wing, naming it the MegaMan64Recomp project, and it now runs as a native application on modern PCs.
RaieFox has recently released version 0.9.0, which is effectively the first stable build, and anyone can get a copy from the official GitHub page and jump right in and finish the entire campaign without using an emulator. There is no code in the middle, as this is a native PC software that draws power directly from whatever rigs you have beneath your desk rather than pretending to be an outdated console.
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You can immediately tell the graphics have been improved because the port manages to squeeze high frame rates and appears sharp on widescreen monitors, allowing all those blocky N64 textures some breathing room. Movement feels far smoother than it did on the original hardware, and even when you’re in the middle of a high-speed fight, distant details remain crisp. The primary gameplay cycle remains mostly unchanged; stomp Reaverbots, collect bits, upgrade the buster, and continue on to see what the next plot beat has in store. Every facet of the game that made the original so popular continues to function perfectly.
For the most part, however, setting up this version of Mega Man 64 is simple; all you have to do is download the files from the GitHub repository, supply a copy of the US Nintendo 64 ROM, and a basic toolset will handle the rest. The procedure itself uses the same modern recompiler that has been used to bring other vintage N64 titles to the PC in recent years, so you won’t have to spend extra money or worry about difficult fixes later. Gamepads and keyboard controllers are pre-configured, allowing you to use them immediately. The game has a launcher that allows you to adjust the resolution, FPS rate cap, and basic display settings on the fly.
A few minor but noticeable flaws remain: seams will occasionally emerge where level pieces meet, certain particle effects will wobble when things get fast, the occasional cut scene will drift out of sync with the audio, and widescreen is still a little behind the other display modes in terms of refinement. None of these issues will prevent you from progressing through the campaign, but they do indicate that there is still work being done in the background to get this game up to the level of quality you expect.
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