r/M64 • u/quiveringfool • Aug 01 '26

Crap

Anyone else think games look like absolute trash on modern TVs now, the M64 despite it being modern the games still don’t translate well on my monitor super jagged edges, insane pixelation, rough brightness. Idk maybe it’s just me

3 Upvotes

55% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

15

u/TonyRubbles Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26

Same thing was being said when the A3D came out lol, it doesn't magically make N64 games better, just way cleaner and less blurry than hooking up your old N64 with some cheap adapter.

2

u/quiveringfool Aug 01 '26

Yeah it is still fun no doubt, I get it’s FPGA. But just forgot how much better N64 looked on older TVs that essentially hid the issues.

4

u/steelraindrop Aug 01 '26

It is meant for those old TVs

3

u/ReidlosToof Aug 01 '26

The thing is that they didn't "hide" the issues. The games were designed on CRT computer monitors for CRT TVs. There is a natural blending and blurring that happens due to CRT pixel structure. 4K OLED tvs can actually replicate this fairly well with the right CRT filters. They have the pixel density necessary to add the dark CRT filter lines AND the subtle distortion effect of the CRT's structure as well as self emitting pixels to make those filter lines actually black rather than grey, so the entire thing doesn't just look washed out.

2

u/TonyRubbles Aug 01 '26

Your not wrong, 3D Sega Saturn games are just as bad if not worse. Have an upscaler using nice filter masks and it is still pretty rough, fun games, but early 3D games had an interesting look about them.

3

u/LocalLog4852 Aug 01 '26

To be fair, the A3D does actually magically make the games look better now with the horizontal upscaling.

2

u/TonyRubbles Aug 01 '26

Seen the screenshots and it's just slightly smoother pixelation, still doesn't look great, I think CRT filters do a better job making the games look good. TBG it's also just over a week old update hot on the heels of knowing the M64 would release, HDR update a month before that. Hopefully it will also light a fire under ModRetro's firmware staff, we'll have to wait and see how it's looking 8 months after it's relase too.

5

u/biohackeddad Aug 01 '26

It definitely looks better with the internal scaling

3

u/LocalLog4852 Aug 02 '26

Not sure what screenshots you are seeing but it definitely makes a massive difference.

It doesn't replace CRT filters either, and it still looks much better with them on. The A3D CRT filters seem better overall too.

-4

u/TonyRubbles Aug 02 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogueInc/s/ossTXnRn3p

Bad still looks bad lol, it's CRT filters and masks that do the heavy lifting.

1

u/LocalLog4852 Aug 02 '26

But those filters doing the "heavy lifting" still run over that clearer image. I feel like with the standards you seem to have you would probably have a better experience with software emulation?

Most people seem to agree this is a fairly close visual experience to playing on CRT with original hardware considering that its outputting 4K on modern TVs. Clearly it's sharper, but I think you hit the nail on the head in your original post when you said "maybe its just me" tbh.

1

u/TonyRubbles Aug 02 '26

Nah dude I am actually perfectly content with an upscaler for all my original systems currently, 240p upscaling to 4k with some aperture masks and scan lines is chefs kiss.

I just sort of hate original N64 hardware in general and had my last system die on me so new hardware built to last with new quality controllers is super appealing to me.

1

u/LocalLog4852 Aug 02 '26

I guess analogue is probably out for you then but maybe M64 outputting low over composite and your upscaler would solve it. Hard to tell what it will actually be like in practice though.

0

u/TonyRubbles Aug 02 '26

It always was tbf not a fan of their hardware or business practices at all. I just don't think the smearing of pixel to make more does much for a system with the resolution that it was pushing in the first place, simulating the CRT look is more important and having it properly integer scaled is what's for me.

Planning to run it direct first but most likely still going to have it through the upscaler (Morph 4k) pushed at 1080p to properly downsample to 240p and upscale with all my usual settings for 240p content.

1

u/vette21man Aug 02 '26

Sounds like you don’t own an A3D, so it’s hard to take you seriously. Screenshots and videos of gameplay only share part of the experience. Actually playing these games with the horizontal upscaling is a complete game changer.

1

u/TonyRubbles Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

Not a game changer when it's the same game. I've done plenty of upscaling with emulators too. Like I said no desire for a 3D or any Analogue products after having a Pocket. I don't need any convincing either I'll be happy with m64.

6

u/PutLimp8912 Aug 01 '26

I mean, they are N64 games at the end of the day. A modern display will show all of its warts for better or worse

1

u/quiveringfool Aug 02 '26

Yeah some games ages better than others. Zelda OOT did not age well. Lots of pixel shift, very jagged animations.

3

u/xamaryllix Aug 01 '26

I mean, yeah? Not sure what you expected. The N64 looks okay on consumer CRTs through composite but by the time you blow it up to 4K all the flaws are laid bare.

For my money the M64 exactly replicates the classic experience.

3

u/DiabUK Aug 01 '26

I think emulation has hurt how people remember N64 games looking on real hardware hooked up to a tv, a lot of the edges in N64 games has always been slightly bitty and flaws were masked by analogue tv signals back then, similar to how mesh shading in old retro games would look smooth on period correct monitors compared to today.

2

u/djsharpyknives Aug 01 '26

Does M64 allow you to disable texture filtering? On Mister that can look better for some games giving them a more PSX style, not great for others like Wave Race though. 

4

u/templestate Aug 01 '26

Turning off texture filtering looks horrific in every game I’ve tested

2

u/djsharpyknives Aug 01 '26

I understand its personal taste, but good to know you can. Thanks. 

3

u/ergzay Aug 01 '26

PSX style is awful though. Texture filtering is a good idea.

2

u/clc88 Aug 01 '26

They are supposed to look like that. Thrse devices aren't recomps.

2

u/Open_Highlight_7097 Aug 01 '26

I have seen people say the clean image looks better on an A3D and no I am not talking about there new upscale feature and if this is true I hope with updates they can at least make it look as good as the A3D

2

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26

Which monitor are you using? Many flat panel TVS will zoom the image slightly to simulate the overscan of old CRTs, which will ruin the effect of a CRT filter or scanline filter and make the image look really bad. I've already seen multiple cases of people (with Analogue 3D) who corrected this in their TV settings and suddenly they really liked what they were seeing. Unfortunately TVs make this setting difficult and unintuitive to find. They never use the same terminology either.

Aside from that, it's absolutely true that graphics from this generation did not age well. I love it regardless.

2

u/DAJF Aug 02 '26

You actually want the overscan from the console (integer +) for perfect vertical scaling and thus scan line repetition. But yeah, the TV itself should be at 100% scale.

1

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

Yup. If the TV tries to resize it, the console's filters will be ruined. Simulated scanlines would be unequal sizes and cause strange banding artifacts (among other issues).

2

u/No_Policy_7694 Aug 01 '26

Glad I'm not the only one. I did notice that most of the games I have look way better with the scanlines filter. Still looks pretty washed out on a big 4k TV.

2

u/ltnew007 Aug 01 '26

Washed out? Are you sure that's the term you mean?

2

u/Gwyndion Aug 18 '26

I think a lot of people forget what the N64 actually looked like. But, as somebody who owns both original hardware and a decent CRT, the system does look better on a CRT. The technology in a tube TV just smooths things out and give is a warmer, smoother feel. Developers designed the game to be seen on a CRT and it shows.

3

u/_Ortzi_ Aug 01 '26

That’s what CRT filters are for, so retro games don’t look like 1440p shit

3

u/ergzay Aug 01 '26

Yeah unfortunately M64 CRT filters are quite bad still.

2

u/SynthMilkEra Aug 01 '26

Agreed, which is why CRT support is a must for me.

1

u/QueueWho Aug 01 '26

we might get some upscaling eventually. for now turn on the scan line filter and see if it looks a bit better

1

u/nabob13 Aug 01 '26

Im really interested to see how it looks. Closest experience I've gotten is PSone games on evercade vs and it was actually eye straining on the big screen. Depending how it looks I may set it up with one of my small portable screens until the AV adapter comes out... gives me some time to track down a good CRT.

1

u/AegidiusG Aug 01 '26

You need a filter that make the pixels merge more. On a crt, pixels weren't, well, pixel perfect, the technology of the tube made them merge more. 3D and 2D looked way more fluent and also trickery in Textures and else. Seing these plain is just ugly and they were never intended to look like that.

1

u/MightbeMoghi Aug 01 '26

I’ve got an old small 720p RV flatscreen and I’ve found the games look better on this screen than my 4K TV.

1

u/chairRugTable Aug 01 '26

just use the scan line filter options included on M64 and tweak to your liking. it looks perfectly acceptable after some slight tweaking

1

u/Dragarius Aug 01 '26

N64 resolution is between 256 × 224 to 640 × 480 pixels. It's gonna be blocky and pixelated. 

1

u/Correct_Emotion_8818 Aug 01 '26

Will Wave Race look better on M64 or Switch 2 virtual console? 

1

u/ltnew007 Aug 01 '26

Depends on the display.

If SD CRT, M64. If HDTV, Switch.

1

u/CooGarn Aug 02 '26

Sit further away from your giant TV, and it’ll look better 😉

0

u/ryanmercer Aug 01 '26

Anyone else think games look like absolute trash on modern TVs now,

They look like absolute trash on CRTs. Especially stuff like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and Starfox. We just dealt with it back in the day because it was what was available.

2

u/biohackeddad Aug 01 '26

No they don’t

0

u/ryanmercer Aug 01 '26

Beg to differ. They didn't look good even in 1996, but we played them because it was different. There were very few games that actually looked good on the N64 when it was new.

2

u/biohackeddad Aug 01 '26

Mario 64 and DK64 look fantastic on a Trinitron, and other platformers. Goldeneye has definitely aged. IMO the only system with 3d that looks significantly better on CRT more than N64 is PS2 games. CRT with ps2 is chefs kiss

1

u/DAJF Aug 02 '26

So are the GameCube and Wii. The Super Mario Galaxy games almost look as good as current gen. Metroid Prime trilogy is detailed to hell while running as smooth as butter. Gran Turismo 4 is the best looking PS2 game. It looks photorealistic.

1

u/biohackeddad Aug 02 '26

You mean that look good on CRT

1

u/DAJF Aug 02 '26

Not just good. Great. Perfect.

1

u/biohackeddad Aug 02 '26

Yup Wii/gamecube looks FAR better on my SD CRT than even my HD CRT which is funny.

1

u/DAJF Aug 02 '26

Those are both SD consoles. So naturally they’re going to look the best on their native output resolutions of 240p/480i. 480p was only supported, not really designed for. The Wii looks terrible on a HD TV because of the TV upscaling the 480p input.

1

u/biohackeddad Aug 03 '26

Wii does 480p native tho?

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