[N64] Mario Kart 64 - 4 player dropped frame issue

[justin8571]

Hello everyone,

I have absolutely no ideas about hacking etc or to what extent something can be hacked. I'm basically in search of my holy grail and I'm hoping someone can tell me if it's at all possible, or if it's already been done.

I appreciate I'm five years behind but I've only just found Mario Kart 64 on the Wii's Virtual Console. I get together once a week with mates for four player vs mode, and we only play Koopa Beach as in our opinion it's the perfect track. I'm 41 soon and we've been playing this track for the past 15 years, and it just keeps getting better. I've recently moved to a more modern TV and the s-video output of my NTSC N64 displays an awful picture on the screen, which is why I searched around and found the VC's version.

The VC's version of MK64 has a far superior resolution to what I'm used to. It looks amazing and in one, two or three player modes it's silky smooth and perfect. However, four player mode is awful. There's some frame issue where the N64 couldn't produce 30fps in four player mode so some frames were dropped in order for it to be playable. It would appear as though these dropped frames haven't been replaced in the VC's version and I guess that's why it runs so badly as the Wii can easily run at 30fps. It's just not smooth and impossible to control to any decent level.

So, is it possible to alter the Mario Kart 64 VC program to correct the missing frame issue? I wouldn't have the first clue about this but I'm sure it could be done with the right knowhow. Maybe someone's already done it even.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, and thanks in advance for any answers.

Justin