Mario, Peach, Toad, Wario and Bowser race side by side in original Mario Kart 64 artwork

NINTENDO 64 ORIGINAL → NINTENDO 3DS

Back on the
starting grid.

The corners you know. The rivals you remember.
One more lap, now in your hands.

A LET’S-A GO!

NATIVE 3DS PORT65%IN DEVELOPMENT

ORIGINAL NINTENDO ARTWORK / 1997

1 PLAYERA NEW HOME FOR A CLASSIC RACEGET THE LATEST BUILD

1. Introducing the port

Two screens.
One more race.

A native adaptation built on SpaghettiKart.
The familiar drive, with a little more room for the details.

NEW NINTENDO 3DS · EXISTING PROJECT SHOWCASE

01 THE RACE02 THE DETAILS

THE RACE

A native 400 × 240 race view. Adjust the render scale, distance and Bilinear, Blur or CRT filtering to suit your setup.

THE SECOND SCREEN

The lower screen brings together touch menus, the course map and race information. Five HUD layouts let you find your preferred view.

CleanMK7MKDSMKDS 2Classic

Old 3DS & New 3DS

Built with profiles for both generations. Performance depends on your hardware and settings.

Hardware & performance questions ↓

REPLAY

Take a closer look.

01 / 12

Captured gameplay

Koopa Troopa Beach · VS race

Koopa Troopa Beach brings coastal turns and a full field of racers. The lower map keeps the course in sight beyond the next corner.

Enlarge the selected view to choose the upper or lower screen.

IN THE GAME · TWO SCREENS

Race day, on both screens.

Follow the racing line on Luigi Raceway, Koopa Troopa Beach and Rainbow Road. The lower display keeps the course map in sight as the race unfolds above.

Captured in Azahar · Port 1.6-E15-local · Image previews show the upper screen. Open the viewer to switch screens; gameplay clips show both.

Chase your own best lap.

Luigi Raceway’s broad straight opens the Time Trials run. The course outline and lap information sit on the lower display.

Trade the tarmac for sand.

Koopa Troopa Beach brings coastal turns and a full field of racers. The lower map keeps the course in sight beyond the next corner.

One more lap above the clouds.

Bright rails frame Rainbow Road’s winding course. Compare the view ahead with the full circuit on the lower screen.

2. Mario Kart 64 courses

Know every corner.

Four cups. Sixteen circuits. A whole lot of memories.
Explore Nintendo’s original illustrations of the circuits.

MAP SELECTCHOOSE A CUP

Original course artwork for Luigi Raceway — 01
Luigi Raceway

Original course artwork for Moo Moo Farm — 02
Moo Moo Farm

Original course artwork for Koopa Troopa Beach — 03
Koopa Troopa Beach

Original course artwork for Kalimari Desert — 04
Kalimari Desert

ORIGINAL N64 COURSE ART / NINTENDOOpen the original manual

Mario, Luigi and Toad weave through the traffic in the original Toad’s Turnpike artwork

TOAD’S TURNPIKE / ORIGINAL ARTWORK

FROM THE BOOKLET TO THE HANDHELD

Same friendly rivalry.
New starting line.

Mario Kart 64’s world is all big personalities, impossible shortcuts and last-second shells. This project brings the original game to Nintendo’s handheld through a native port, with a dual-screen interface of its own.

The work continues. Explore the source, try a build and help shape the next lap.

Meet the project & its contributors

3. Before starting the game

A quick pit stop.

Your console. Your game. Everything ready for the first race.

1
Choose your build.
Install the CIA with FBI, or use the full 3DSX with the Homebrew Launcher. The CIA is recommended for expanded application memory.
Get the latest release
2
Bring your own game.
Place your compatible USA ROM in sd:/3ds/MK64/ and name it mk64.z64. It must use Z64 byte order.
3
Let the first lap load.
Launch the port to validate the ROM and create mk64.o2r. Keep the console charged during extraction. Future launches reuse this archive.

MK64YOUR SD CARD

sd:/
 └─ 3ds/
     └─ MK64/
         ├─ mk64.z64
         └─ mk64.o2r

Want a faster start? Create mk64.o2r with SpaghettiKart on a computer, then copy it alongside your ROM.

Full installation guideNo ROM or extracted game data is supplied.

4. The operation card

Find your racing line.

Hop into a corner. Hold the drift. Time the item.

Original artwork of Mario at the wheel of his red kart

Circle PadSteer

A buttonAccelerate

B buttonBrake / reverse

R buttonHop / drift

L buttonUse an item

X buttonCamera distance

Y buttonCycle the top-screen HUD

STARTStart / pause

Touch the lower screen to navigate menus. From Game Select, L opens Options.
See the full control reference

5. Driver’s handbook

Before you
hit the gas.

A few things worth knowing before the next race.

Read the original 1997 Mario Kart 64 instruction booklet

THE ORIGINAL MANUAL

Does it work on Old and New Nintendo 3DS?

The port has hardware profiles for both Old and New Nintendo 3DS. The installed CIA requests expanded application memory on both; Old models can take longer to launch and exit while the system changes memory mode. Performance varies by console, course and settings. The CIA is recommended for the expanded-memory path.

Which ROM do I need?

Provide your own legally obtained USA Mario Kart 64 ROM, in .z64 byte order. Name it mk64.z64 and place it in sd:/3ds/MK64/. Renaming a .n64 or .v64 file does not change its byte order; the README links a conversion tool. Game data is not included in the download.

Why is the first launch taking so long?

The console validates your ROM and builds mk64.o2r. This first extraction can take a long time; keep the battery charged. You can close the lid while it continues, or press START to cancel safely. Later launches reuse the completed archive. For faster setup, create the archive with SpaghettiKart on a computer and copy it alongside your ROM.

Is this a 60 FPS port?

The original simulation runs at 30 Hz. Adaptive interpolation can add an intermediate frame when there is enough headroom, then fall back to the required frames under load. It is not a fixed or sustained 60 FPS mode. Render scale, distance and filters can be adjusted in Display settings.

Can we race together?

Multiplayer is planned, but is not currently available. Follow the GitHub project or our Discord community for development updates. The original game’s multiplayer modes should not be taken as a feature promise for the current 3DS port.

How do I update and keep my saves?

Open Options → Game → Update to check Stable or Experimental builds. Review the changelog and confirm installation; the game then closes. The updater preserves your ROM, O2R, saves and settings. Time Trial ghosts use the original two save slots in sd:/3ds/MK64/controller-pak.bin. Keep a backup of your MK64 folder.

6. The pit crew

A bump in the road?

Tell us your build, console model, course, game mode and display settings, plus what happened just before the issue. Screenshots and a clear set of steps help us find the problem.

GitHub issues Discord community

Diagnostic toolkit

SELECT: Capture a diagnostic report.
L + SELECT: Add an expanded application RAM snapshot. Larger and slower; not a whole-system dump.
Developer → Clean dumps: Remove reports and start a fresh log. Game data, settings and saves are preserved.

sd:/3ds/MK64/dump/

Share diagnostic folders privately. Keep ROMs, O2R archives, saves and memory captures out of public issues.

THE NEXT LAP

Still on the track.

An ongoing native port by EstebanPdN.
There’s more racing ahead.

Follow collection progress

65%

PORT DEVELOPMENT

Back on the starting grid.

THE RACE

THE SECOND SCREEN

Koopa Troopa Beach · VS race

Race day, on both screens.

Chase your own best lap.

Trade the tarmac for sand.

One more lap above the clouds.

Luigi Raceway

Moo Moo Farm

Koopa Troopa Beach

Kalimari Desert

Toad’s Turnpike

Frappe Snowland

Choco Mountain

Mario Raceway

Wario Stadium

Sherbet Land

Royal Raceway

Bowser’s Castle

D.K.’s Jungle Parkway

Yoshi Valley

Banshee Boardwalk

Rainbow Road

Same friendly rivalry.New starting line.

Choose your build.

Bring your own game.

Let the first lap load.