Switch N64 emulation is about to get a whole lot better, but only on Switch 2 because it takes the power of next-generation hardware to apply a basic CRT filter
Switch 2 is nearly upon us, and as we all know the most exciting part of a new hardware launch isn’t the new games – it’s the new ways to play old games. Nintendo’s official N64 emulator is getting some genuinely excellent upgrades on the new hardware, but at least one of those new features doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that actually requires next-gen power.
On Switch 2, the Nintendo 64 Classics library available through the Nintendo Switch Online subscription will allow you to apply a CRT filter. It’s a pretty nice-looking filter, but it’s one that looks quite similar to the filters already offered for the other emulators on the platform.
You’ll find a lot of the same jokes about next-gen power in the Twitter and YouTube comments on this announcement, but a genuinely good CRT filter – which this appears to be – does require more power than a simple scanline overlay, since it makes use of proper graphical shaders to more accurately recreate the look of an old-school TV.
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Whether the original Switch would’ve been completely incapable of running such a filter is, of course, a topic that will be endlessly debated among retro nerds, but it’s been clear from the jump that Nintendo has struggled with N64 emulation on the console.
The other big new feature for N64 games on Switch 2 is rewind, and it’s a lot easier to see the technical challenges here that might necessitate the next-gen requirement. Emulator rewind features essentially rely on the constant creation and deletion of save states in the background, and given the original Switch’s limited capabilities it’s easy to see how this might lead to degraded performance.
For me, if I want a CRT look while retro gaming, I’m just going to play my actual N64 on a real old-school TV, but that is admittedly not a luxury new players coming to these games for the first time will be able to enjoy, and N64 games do tend to look a whole lot better with a little bit of fuzz over them. Rewind is a genuinely excellent feature to have no matter what your personal retro setup is, though.
The final new feature being added in this June 5 update is a remappable control layout, and thankfully this one is available on both Switch 1 and 2. Remappable buttons are a pretty basic accessibility feature that really should’ve been here from the start, especially given how awkwardly the N64 controller tends to map to modern gamepads.
Check out our guide to the best N64 games if you’re looking for the classics, or dig into all the upcoming Switch 2 games if you need the new stuff.
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