I am an enormous Nintendo 64 nerd, so it is bizarre that it is taken me until 2025 to correctly fiddle with Zelda ROM hacks. It is even weirder since I have been craving extra outings like Ocarina of Time: Grasp Quest since getting my grubby tween paws on the disk that got here with Wind Waker. So, why now? Properly, it is largely as a result of there’s now a flash cart for the ’90s console that has a extra approachable price ticket and is available.
Enter the SummerCart64 (SC64 for brief), a brand new open supply N64 flash cart that arrived on the scene late final yr. The model I picked up final month is the $89.99 Kaico version, and it is just about a rival to the present Everdrive64 choices on the market that been serving to retro console followers run their ROM hacks and their very own backups for over a decade. Nonetheless, the principle motive I resisted choosing a kind of up was the value, as we’re speaking $125 at Amazon for the most cost effective X5 model.
I principally suppressed my wishes to dive into all the varied Zelda ROM hacks on the market for years earlier than grabbing the SummerCart64. Sure, I do know I might have simply used an emulator and both my PC or a gaming handheld, however for no matter motive, I had determined sooner or later that the one method to do was utilizing an actual Nintendo 64 and an 8-inch Panasonic CRT from the 80s. What can I say? I am a brat.
I wish to be clear – I am not dunking on the Everdrive X5 by any means, and I am certain it is a imply piece of package. That mentioned, I’d have needed to seize the $214 X7 mannequin to get correctly into enjoying unusual Zelda ROMs since that mannequin will retailer your recreation saves with out resetting the console and has a real-time clock for expanded recreation compatibility. Coincidentally, the SummerCart64 boasts each of these options at a lower cost level, and that is partly why I’ve now taken the plunge.
Roaming by means of uncanny Hyrule with ease
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I do know a few of you on the market might be unfamiliar with the idea of a N64 flash cart, so permit me to fill you in utilizing the SC64. The accent successfully makes use of a microSD card to retailer a couple of recreation ROM and permit you run them on authentic {hardware} such as you would with an actual cartridge.
Kaiko’s launch particularly already comes armed with firmware by Polprzewodnikowy, the creator of the open supply mission, an 8GB microSD card, and an adapter that’ll let you dump recordsdata utilizing a PC. The cart itself additionally has a USB-C port in-built for updates, one thing that is going to assist the accent age like a fantastic wine.
Supplied you have bought an authentic Nintendo 64 and your individual backup of Zelda: Ocarina of time, enjoying ROM hacks on SC64 solely requires one train. You may principally must patch your copy along with your mod of selection (I used this instrument at romhacking.com), as that can create a modified file you possibly can run on the flash cart. Aside from that, the entire thing is virtually plug and play, and you can run a bunch of latest adventures utilizing the accent’s built-in menu system.
I am solely simply beginning my journey, so I have never explored all of the customized firmware choices on the market the likes of the SC64. However, even in case you simply use the cart straight out the field, you will have every thing you should get caught proper in. I made a decision to kick issues off with just some Zelda OoT hacks, particularly Final Trial and The Sealed Palace, as each of these fully rework Hyperlink’s 3D debut into a wholly new journey.
Keep in mind how I mentioned I used to be being awkward and sticking to a CRT TV? That nearly ended up complicating my preliminary makes an attempt to play by means of ROM hacks earlier than merely highlighting how environment friendly the SC64 truly is. In case you are unaware, I dwell in Scotland, and we used to solely use PAL color-encoding relatively than NTSC. This often causes outdated screens to have points with displaying video games from completely different areas, however because the SummerCart64 can pressure ROMs to run in both format, I used to be swiftly capable of get spherical associated points with the hacks I used to be utilizing.
It is nonetheless early days on the subject of me enjoying by means of each Zelda ROM hack on the market, however here is what I can say for my time with the SC64 up to now. Proper now, I am enjoying by means of Final Trial, a customized journey that has Hyperlink awaken within the Misplaced Woods with no reminiscences. This leads the hero of time to discover a SoulsBorne-inspired fortress that includes different misplaced characters and a guardian named Shiba.
That is principally the setup for a collection of trials that can have Hyperlink face off towards a bunch of latest foes and challenges. I do not learn about you, however even simply typing that sentence has me completely hyped to select up an actual N64 controller and play by means of what feels basically like Ocarina of Time DLC, and I like how straightforward the SC64 makes the entire course of.
I am planning having an evening in the place I swap off my telephone, kill the facility to my router, and bask within the glow of my tiny CRT as I wade by means of customized Zelda adventures. I am fully in love with the actual fact I can convey expertise new outings on what’s now a 28-year-old console with out with effort, expense, or must faff round with something too difficult.
I get a sense this may not be the final time I speak in regards to the SummerCart64, and I’ll be spending plenty of time with this helpful little cart in 2025.
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