The latest Nintendo Switch update brought improvements to N64 emulation on Nintendo Switch Online, meaning classics like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time now work much better.
When the N64 emulation launched with the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack tier, Ocarina of Time in particular suffered from graphical issues and noticeable input lag.
As reported by VGC, the latest platform update not only adds Banjo-Kazooie to the list of N64 games, but also brings some improvements to the overall emulation quality.
Switch dataminer OatmealDome took to Twitter to share his own findings with the Nintendo Switch Online update, and noted that a texture glitch in Ocarina of Time – the one that removed water transparency in the room where you fight Dark Link – has now been fixed.
[NSO – Nintendo 64]It looks like the water in the now infamous Water Temple room has been fixed in the latest update? I think the fog is still missing, though. I haven’t checked the rest of the game to see if any of the other issues have changed, but it’s promising. pic.twitter.com/wcoG3hIxu2January 21, 2022
Another dataminer, LuigiBlood, added that the N64 ROMs themselves have not been modified in any way, thanks to the fixes made to the real improvements of the emulator. If true, it would mean that Nintendo has started to deliver on its promise to improve Nintendo Switch Online’s N64 emulation.
The latest update didn’t fix everything though. Twitter users always find a bug that crashes Paper Mario during the Game Over screen. There’s also no support for the N64’s Controller Pak, which means there’s still no way to properly save or load games outside of Nintendo Switch’s ellipsis solution. Online.
Ocarina of Time was arguably in need of improvement the most, and while issues still exist (the emulated version still can’t render fog), tweaks to some textures and a reduction in input lag bring the game a bit closer. game of this original N64 experience. .
However, it is disconcerting to see issues in games released after launch, such as Paper Mario. Nintendo will have its work cut out if this trend continues, especially if evidence of at least 38 N64 titles coming to Nintendo Switch Online proves to be accurate.
Given that the expansion pack is a fairly expensive upgrade from the base tier of Nintendo Switch Online, the service’s N64 emulation simply couldn’t stay in such poor shape forever. And thankfully, improvements are starting to appear as new games are added to the service.
We’ll be interested to see the state of N64 emulation on the system in February when The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask launches. As the sequel to Ocarina of Time shares many strengths with its older counterpart, Nintendo will surely want the emulation to be on top form, especially since Majora’s Mask is often considered one of the best N64 games.
