The ModRetro M64 - Can it Compete?

ModRetro has followed up their Chromatic, their FPGA-based Game Boy Color handheld console, with the M64, an FPGA-based N64 console. As with the Chromatic, this is not the first FPGA-based N64, the Analogue 3D was released eight months prior (November 18, 2025). Crucially A3D has firmware updates that added new features and significantly enhance the console's value. So what does the M64 bring to the table? Is it good value for money? In this article I will address these questions and give my impressions of the console versus its competition.

The M64 currently retails for $229.99 versus the A3D's $269.99. ModRetro has also developed their own M64 Pro Controller which retails for $89.99. Both come in four colors, clear, purple, green and red from the company. A fifth color, smoke, is a GameStop exclusive and is available though its website and it may be possible to find one in its stores. ModRetro has released four new N64 cartridges, each retailing for $49.99. The controller and games are advertised as being compatible with the original N64 console. The console, controller and new games were released on July 28, 2026. An AV adapter, which converts the HDMI signal into analog audio and video, is available for preorder for $89.99 and "ships by Christmas". Special Hyperkin Captain+ controllers using the M64 colors and frosted plastic are available for $29.99.

There have been several YouTube reviews of the M64 but a lot of activity regarding the new console can be found on reddit, subreddits and X/(formerly Twitter) as opposed to traditional gaming news sites. Some of the most technically respected YouTubers, such as My Life in Gaming, Digital Foundry and Modern Vintage Gamer, have not posted reviews and may not even have M64s. Other popular reviewers have given it high marks but others were hard on it when working with pre-launch firmware. Some sites will not review the device on moral grounds. Regardless of one's opinions of ModRetro's founder or his other business ventures, the M64 is an FPGA console which exists and can be bought today. The intent of this review is to help others determine whether this console is right for them.

The Ordering Experience

Having been put on the ModRetro mailing list my inbox received regular updates about the status of the M64. I got to play with the M64 at PAX East back in March of this year. The only game available for playing at that time at the show was Mario Kart 64. Other instances where the console was demonstrated also usually used MK64 or Super Smash Bros. Using these games made sense as the N64 was all about four player gaming and these are two of the best multiplayer games for the system. However they could only go so far to show what the system could do, and up until near launch day the demos were pretty bare bones in showing off the console. While the console could run these games and the library is not huge the N64 had an official library of 296 North American games. 296 is a lot more than 2 and this does not count the dozens of Japanese exclusives or the PAL variants.

Launch day was June 28 and I dithered a little about buying the console as I already had an A3D. As a prior ModRetro customer I had the benefit of early bird pricing, which was $30.00 off the retail price of the console. I would end up paying $199.99. In order to do a proper review of the experience however I would need to buy not just the console but their bespoke controller. That would add $89.99 to the total price but I would be eligible for free shipping (for orders over $240.) Then they were offering the M64 AV Adapter as a preorder, another $89.99 to the bill. While the MiSTer can output N64 graphics over analog video and there is a SNAC adapter for N64 controllers, I always prize a console which offers analog output, so I had to have that as well. I did not buy any of the new cartridges. The total cost for my order was $379.97.

I ended up placing my order within 11 hours of launch but my order was not delivered until August 17, twenty days after I ordered. I saw people on YouTube and reddit get theirs well-before I got mine. My friend ordered his only hours earlier and received his unit by August 8. The NESWorld.com site owner, who is based in Europe, got his delivered before mine was even shipped. I was worried that I had jinxed my order by including the AV Adapter, the one "scheduled to ship before Christmas", which made me think I would not be getting my console or controller until then. I emailed customer service on August 6 and they responded within two hours that they ship out orders "first in, first out" and my console would be shipped out separately from the AV Adapter and as soon as possible. I received a shipping notice less than 48 hours later. Another friend of mine explained that a first-in, first-out system is a less efficient shipping method because each order is likely to be different from the last compared to a system that ships all similarly configured orders in batches.

Before I begin the review of the console and the controller, I will note that I am reviewing it as of the currently-available firmware, v1.24.3 There was a minor firmware update to v1.24.4 received since I received my unit and I upgraded to that, so this review will be a mix of the two firmwares. Had I received the console earlier I would have reviewed it based on launch firmware, but I did not receive it until after the first post-launch firmware release was available. I was thus spared any launch day bugs that were fixed with the first (v1.24.3) and second (v1.24.4) firmware updates. The release notes for the v1.24.3 firmware update are in an odd place, I would expect them to be on the ModRetro site but I could not. This was the only source I could find for what v1.24.4 does. Analogue not only freely allows you to downgrade firmware but keeps downloads of all its firmware binaries with their accompanying release notes on its support page.

ModRetro has searchable online manuals and the FAQ for both the console and controller on their website. Parts of the console and controller have been open sourced and links to those files can also be found there.

Courtesy of ModRetro's Media Kit

ModRetro Pro Controller

The controller's rear is made of aluminum. The texture is very coarse, likely to prevent slippage from sweaty palms. Although the metal adds weight, it is not significantly heavier than an original controller with a Rumble Pak attached. The controller buttons are shiny and the press is satisfying. The shoulder buttons are grooved and hold your fingers well. The Z-button is also grooved and has surface area for your finger to press down on it without difficulty. I have no issues with the force of the rumble.

ModRetro evoked the original N64 design closely, unlike the 8bitdo 64 Controller which uses a PlayStation-style shape. While the extra long trident handles are appreciated, the more angular look to the Pro Controller makes it look a little less friendly than slightly curvier original Nintendo 64 controller.

The Directional pad does not have a good feel, even before trying a game. There is not much pivot to the pad but at least it will not register opposite directionals. The pad has a relatively loud snap to it when pressed. This feels about as bad as the stock Chromatic D-pads. While the majority of N64 games only use the thumbstick, several notable games support the D-pad as the primary control option. Kirby 64 and Resident Evil 2 are the best examples where you should expect precision from the D-pad. Shooters like Doom 64 and Quake 64 also make game-important use of the D-pad. Hopefully there will be an option to replace the D-pad with one with a better pivot as there was with the Chromatic, but for a controller with a $90 price tag more attention should have been taken with this component.

The thumbstick is the same Gamecube-style thumbstick seen on most other modern N64 controller solutions. It is shorter than the original which requires one to retrain oneself for fine controls. Mario takes less pressure of the thumb to go from a crawl to a sprint with the shorter stick in Super Mario 64. Skid boost with MK64 requires some adjustments when wiggling the stick. There have been reports from other people of the stick's shaft showing wear from being struck against the gate after only days of play(ing too much Mario Party). The 8bitdo 64 Controller stick has a metal ring around its shaft to prevent this. Unlike the 8bitdo 64 Controller there is no button press on the thumbstick (which is useless anyway on an N64 but might be useful as a generic controller). 

The original N64 thumstick used a pair of optical encoder wheels like a ball mouse. The wheels have many more spokes compared to the typical late 90's ball mouse but the gears which move those wheels only go so far. As the stick wore down due to plastic components grinding against each other replacements began to popup. At first these were just Gamecube-style thumbsticks, which use  potentiometer resistance (via a resistive strip) to register changes in the stick's position. These can wear down over time and were generally "just OK for causals" compared to the original N64 stick. They may have offered smoother travel but the travel distance was shorter and the range often veered quite a bit from a fresh stock stick. The Brawler 64 and the Hyperkin Captain use this style of thumbstick.

More recently hall effect joystick replacements have been offered. 8bitdo's 64 Controller, both in Bluetooth and 2.4G editions use them as well as its Mod Kit for original N64 Controllers. Hall effect  sticks adjust a magnet's proximity to a charged plate and measure the voltage differences from the plate. These joysticks eliminate the wear of a resistive-strip joystick because the hall effect sensors do not make contact with the magnets whose resistance they are measuring. Modern hall effect sensors are much more sensitive than the resistive strips, the technology has come down significantly in cost and they are increasingly being used in thumbsticks in newer joysticks. The Hyperkin Captain+ also comes with a hall effect joystick.

The ModRetro Pro Controller uses a TMR (Tunnel magnetoresistance) thumbstick. TMR is based on a similar principle to the hall effect, it uses magnets to cause a change in measured voltage. With TMR there are two magnets separated by a thin barrier. Electrons flow through this barrier as waves (as if through a tunnel), and as the magnets are moved the spin polarization of the electrons changes and this spin is measured as a change in voltage This is very new technology for a joystick and is more sensitive than a regular hall effect sensor. Issues which were not fully solved with hall effect, such as defining the joystick's dead-zone, are not an issue with the more sensitive sensors of a TMR joystick. Some may consider it overkill for a controller designed around technology that is far less sensitive. The stick's range benchmarked excellently in the range controller tests but the benchmarks cannot account for the shorter travel distance of the modern sticks compared to the original N64 thumbsticks.

With the purchase of the Pro controller came a pair of extra controller gates. These were packed loose in the shipping box of my M64 and Pro Controller, I suspect they were something that was overlooked when the original packaging was finalized and future controllers will come with the extra gates in the controller box. The gate offers a circular shape and a square shape. The Pro Controller is held together by 11 screws of varying length, 2 more than an original controller but unlike that controller, there are no recessed screws that are annoying to get to. ModRetro used tri-wing-head screws for some odd reason when Nintendo used Phillips-head screws for the original controllers. ModRetro used tri-wings for the Chromatic, so people cannot complain they were not warned. iFixit posted a disassembly guide. It definitely looks easier than opening the 8bitdo 64 controller, no spudgers required.

The Nintendo 64 Switch Controller is an example of a modern wireless controller which does everything right. It has a thumbstick that looks, feels and travels like the original. The thumbstick is constructed similarly to the original but moves potentiometer wheels instead of optical ones. The bowl is lubricated which should extend the life of the stick. The D-pad has a proper pivot. The 8bitdo 64 Controller also has a good-feeling D-pad. Both the 8bitdo and Switch controllers have the extra buttons (menu and screenshot) to interact with the A3D's features (except the 2.4g version which works via its controller port dongle with both A3D and M64). Due to the good stick replica, the Switch Controller is typically the wireless controller I reach for. The Switch Controller can be paired with the BlueRetro 64 adapter, the ModRetro Pro Controller cannot.

Most modern wireless N64 controllers have built-in Rumble Pak support. ModRetro Pro Controller, the Nintendo Switch 64 Controller and the 8bitdo 64 Controller all have it built in. The only wireless controller option which can support original Controller Paks are controllers like the Brawler64, which do not have built-in rumble. Those controllers have a box with the expansion port in their wireless adapter to plug in a Controller Pak.

The button response of the ModRetro Pro Controller has a definitive snap, moreso than any other controller I have. The 8bitdo 64 Controller, Switch 64 Controller and original N64 Controller have progressively less snap to them. They are all responsive.

I tried the regular Captain controller at PAX East 2026 (which was connected to an M64) and was not impressed with the plastics quality or the button response. The button response felt stiff. I did not think the Captain+ would offer much better despite its hall effect joystick so I passed on it. (I have too many N64 controllers already). The Captain+'s cable connector was so loose from the factory that it could easily be pulled out of the port, so Hyperkin is including adapters in every box for a tighter fit.

The Pro Controller cable for plugging the controller into an N64 is a generous 10' long and braided, a mark of quality. You can use it as a jump rope. It is detachable but getting it back into the original box is challenging. The genie will not go back into the lamp without a fight. While it will connect to an original controller port it will not charge the controller through that port as that puts rather a lot of stress on the N64's power supply, especially when you have multiple controllers connected.

I was able to pair the ModRetro Pro Controller to my Windows PC. It took a little longer for the controller to become recognized after it deactivates from lack of use than I anticipated. The controller cannot currently be used with a PC via a wired USB cable connection. The controller will work with A3D in games but not in the menu at this time and will not pair via Bluetooth. Rumble is not working properly with the A3D at this time, nor is the A3D's Virtual Controller Pak.

There is a battery pack for a pair of regular AAs underneath the mold inside the box, which an included card informs you. The controller comes with the rechargeable battery pack attached but there is a plastic tab keeping the contacts from mating, so you should not get a controller completely drained out of the box.

Despite what is printed on the box, as shipped and with the current firmware (v0.12.0) there is no Controller Pak functionality enabled with the Pro Controller. This is a serious issue because more N64 games save with the Controller Pak than with cartridge memory (although most of the best N64 games use SRAM, EEPROM or Flash Memory and some support both) Some games will allow saves to Controller Paks in ports 2-4 but this was the exception, not the norm.

Bluetooth controllers are not known for their spectacular latency performance. ModRetro promises to support a new Bluetooth standard, Bluetooth SCI (shorter connection intervals) which promises to reduce the connection interval from 7.5 milliseconds to 375 microseconds. This is close to 125Hz, which is the polling rate that modern Bluetooth controllers are limited. The SCI standard would allow a 2,000Hz polling rate, far more suitable for modern gaming. The standard, encompassed within Bluetooth v6.2, has yet to be released, so the support is not in the M64 yet.

There is built-in functionality to recalibrate the thumbstick and change its sensitivity level. I cannot think that recalibration is something that will be often done. Changing the sensitivity may be more popular and the controller offers four options other than the default. Personally I think the default sensitivity is as good as it gets, as one goes down the options the stick becomes less sensitive.

Courtesy of ModRetro's Media Kit

M64 External Impressions

For both the M64 Pro Controller and Console's outer box, you cannot reclose the it fully once the tab is pulled off. Both boxes are high quality but the outer box color scheme may be too garish for some tastes. The color indicator on the controller box is just a white square, my controller was the AMD Red one, so it felt a little concerning that I did not get the color I ordered until I opened the box. I got the right color fortunately. The console's outer box has no color indicator. Scanners and barcodes are used these days to tell shippers what gets shipped where.

Both console and controller have a QR code imprinted on the inner box telling you to update your console and controller immediately. Their inner black boxes feel premium and remind me of Analogue's boxes. 

The console is wrapped inside the inner box with a plastic bag. There are vents on the top and the bottom of the console and while the FPGA has a heatsink there is no cooling fan. My AMD Red console comes with a rich crimson hue and matches the plastic on the Pro Controller. The combination of matte and glossy plastic finish is a striking design detail. Matte plastic can look cheap and glossy plastic attracts fingerprints, the use of both was a welcome idea. Fingerprints were soon visible when using this device. A micro-fiber cloth is best to remove fingerprints from glossy plastic.

The N64 was released in multiple frosted plastic variants during its life but the standard model was always black. The M64 has only variant designs, no fully opaque plastic shells are available. Analogue sold frosted plastic A3D versions only as limited editions and charged $30 more for them. Its standard versions are black and white.

Symmetry is something often desired in a console design, even if not always achievable. The N64 did an excellent job with symmetry when looked head-on or down. The A3D does this very well, but the M64 is less successful due to the height of the menu dial.

Courtesy of ModRetro's Media Kit

The gray eject button was intended to evoke the Nintendo Famicom, the Super Famicom and the Super Nintendo. All these consoles had an eject lever but the N64 did not use one. I would suggest using caution with the eject button, as the cartridge landing on glossy plastic may leave unsightly marks over time. The eject button mechanism is very robust, the plastic housing for it is pretty-hefty. Ejecting a running cartridge does not leave unsightly glitched graphics or ear-piercing sound as if the game has crashed, the screen immediately turns to black.

The front has the standard four wired controller ports and the Power LED in the middle of them. The ports have a ring of four LEDs. The LED for the port lights up when a controller is assigned to that port, wired (white) or wireless (purple). The port which is trying to pair will show the LEDs circle around.

There are two buttons on the top, the power and menu buttons. The power button is a simple momentary switch. It does not have a latch like the original button to let you know it is depressed or the spring action of the A3D's power button. The menu button is a rotary dial with a push down button, which replaced the reset button found on the original N64 and the A3D. Unfortunately there are no Arkanoid or Tempest-style games for the N64 which could make use of a rotary knob, even if it could be used for control in games.

To access the menu with the dial while a game is running you must hold down the button, a quick press will not work. Navigating the menu with a dial is not as easy as a controller D-pad or Analog stick. If you need to pair a wireless controller for the first time and have no wired controller handy you are going to have to use that dial. Unlike the A3D there is no pairing button, all pairing must be done through the menu. 

On the back of the console there is one USB Type-C power port, the HDMI port, two USB Type-C ports and a microSD card slot. Inside the slot an unbranded 16GB card is preinstalled. There is no data on the card as the console is shipped from the factory. The microSD card slot can be used for firmware updates at this time. I imagine it will be used for Virtual Controller Paks when that feature is available. The power USB Type-C port, in addition to being used to power the console, can also be used to update the console via a connection to a PC. The two side-by-side USB Type-C ports can only be used for charging at this time. They will probably be made available for wired controllers later.

The power brick which comes with the console has interchangeable power plugs and four come in the box: Type A (North America/Japan), Type C (Europe), Type G (UK/Ireland), Type I (Australia/China). (The Analogue Nt Mini and Nt Mini Noir also came with these back in the day.) The power supply has the exact same ratings as the A3D supply and as I already had the A3D supply plugged in, I have just used that one. A braided USB Type C to C cable is in the box but it can only be used for power only, not data transfer.

There is no HDMI cable included. While HDMI cables are as common as dirt and most people do not need yet one more cable to add, in this case there should have been a high quality cable included. There can be problems using wireless controllers with cables not certified for 4K due to RF interference being emitted from lower quality cables. People who grab a random cable and experience issues might blame the console or controller where the fault lies elsewhere.

There is no obvious need to get inside the M64 at present unless you spill something in it. The M64 FPGA has a heatsink on it but no fan. There is a 4-pin header near the heatsink which can power a fan. A modder was already able to attach a fan to the side of the heatsink and he claims it significantly helps keep the temperatures in check. The shell is held together by 4.5mm gamebit screws like the original N64. There is an iFixit guide to open it. Note that the bottom base has thermal pads stuck on it. There is no internal battery in the M64, unlike A3D, so if it ever supports date and time it will have to keep time updated via Wi-Fi or you will have to enter the date and time if you cut the power (I assume sleep mode will keep the date and time).

The system is passively cooled and the vents are on the top and bottom, not unlike the original N64. The N64 is more raised up against the surface it sits on by its feet than the M64, giving air more room to circulate. Some enterprising fellow 3D printed a standoff to raise the system's height. By contrast, the A3D has a fan and vents out to the sides. Tests have shown the M64 runs significantly hotter than A3D, especially when overclocked. When not overclocked my system does not get especially warm to the touch but when it is on, things can get a little uncomfortable next to the skin.

Powering On and Updating Firmware

When you turn on your M64 you are greeted with its logo and some messages: "Welcome to M64", "Please turn off any eco-mode on your TV", "Update your console for the best experience" and so on. After looking at the menu options for a minute or two I decided to update immediately to the latest firmware. The main power LED stays on dimly even when the system is powered off. My Super Mario 64 cartridge booted in 10 seconds on M64 but the title screen had almost disappeared by the time an image appeared on the screen. The same cartridge took 16 seconds to boot on A3D but the slower boot time allowed the monitor to become active before the title screen appeared.

I downloaded the M64.BIN file from the ModRetro site and used the microSD card update method. The Update experience shows a ring as a progress indicator on the screen. The light strip in front of the console also lights up in a unique way. Updating the console to 1.24.3 from the microSD card took 4:40. The last time I updated my A3D's firmware it took 1:10, but that was not a major update.

Wi-Fi has a consent popup which sends diagnostic information to the ModRetro servers, including individually identifiable console information. Each console has a unique serial number. You cannot opt-out except by not using or disabling Wi-Fi. Do people need yet another company knowing what they are doing with their device? LG's TVs already watches what you view when connected, is that not enough? Will ModRetro's AI learn anything when I try to beat Star Fox 64 on the Hard Path except how to fail? Wi-Fi is not an upgrade option for me. Wi-Fi has no other purpose at this time but in future it has been advertised to deliver "in-game notifications."

Then I tried updating to 1.24.4 from the wired connection and the online updater and it took far, far longer. The online updater, which requires Chrome or other Chromium-based browser (pretty much everything popular except Safari and Firefox), applies four updates and shows a progress bar. The page warns that the tab should remain focused to avoid slowdowns but I felt like if I did not regularly shift my eyes to that tab monopolizing one of my screens, the update would never finish! I will not use anything than an SD card method to update firmware again with this console, the amount of time it took was an absurdly long 35 minutes. My experience was not unique. I have my doubts that a wireless upgrade option is likely to be faster than a wired one.

The M64 Update BIN file is only 7.32MB, so it should not take so long to update the firmware running this console, especially for a comparatively minor update. I have read other people complain of a long update time with the Wi-Fi method, so I have another reason to avoid that.

Unlike the console, there does not seem to be a way to update the Pro Controller except though the ModRetro Online Updater through their site. Updating the controller firmware took about 2 minutes with the online update tool. That is the only method available to update its firmware. For updating the Pro Controller, my PC would recognize the controller only if I had unplugged the M64 so the controller would not pair with it.

Unlike with Analogue products, there is no easy ability to downgrade the firmware of a ModRetro product. This applied to the Chromatic and it applies to the M64. If the firmware breaks something you liked (Chromatic RGB video output on launch firmware was changed to YUV 4:2:2 in a firmware update), you are stuck with it.

Menus and Navigation

The M64 pairs with the 8bitdo 64 Controller (no Rumble Pak support yet) but not Nintendo 64 Switch controller or the 8bitdo 8BitDo Mod Kit for Original N64 Controller.  The Nintendo 64 Switch will work with the controller port via a Bluetooth adapter, I used the BlueRetro 64 adapter. (It has a neat feature in that it can switch between Controller Pak and Rumble Pak by pressing the Home button on the controller.) Bluetooth controllers can power on the console on but seemingly not wired ones.

The menu has five tabs: Display, Controllers, System, Experimental and About. Navigating across the tabs is done with a controller's L and R buttons, but it would be nice to be able to use Z for L because most games tend to be played with the thumbstick. Any of the four controllers may operate the menu. 

The controller button hotkey to bring up the menu is Start + Z, just like on A3D. The M64 brings up the menu on the combo press, A3D requires it to be held for one second. The 8bitdo 64 Controller's menu button works to bring up the M64's menu (Bluetooth only). The menu knob is fully functional for navigating the menu options, even if it not as convenient to use as a controller is. Pressing the menu button selects options and a second press brings you back up a level. The icons on the bottom of the screen change to tell you how the menu button or the controller buttons will work for each option depending on what is being used at the time.

M64 Super Mario 64

A3D Super Mario 64

Display

As of the first firmware updates ModRetro does not skimp on the video settings. It supports 4K, 1080p and 720p at 50 or 60Hz. A3D does not support 720p but many 720p TVs will show 1080p. Integer+ and Stretch modes are available for adjusting for overscan. Three profiles are available, Clean, Scanlines and CRT. If none of these suit you there is a Custom profile option which brings you to a submenu.

There are settings for scanlines (vertical) and aperture grill (horizontal). Bloom is adjustable as is sharpness. By default the video looks a bit fuzzy as a real unmodded N64 might look upscaled to an LCD. The sharpness can be increased and Gamma can be set to Tube or Modern. There is an Advanced Experimental Sub-submenu you can access for even more refinement. There are so many options and such detail that you can get some very weird results that reflect no display which has ever been invented. 

M64 Scanline Alignment

A3D Scanline Alignment

Unfortunately scanlines is where the video settings fall apart because they are not properly aligned to the pixels regardless of settings. The above screenshots from the EverDrive X7 64's menu show this at its worst. This takes down aperture grill down too because the illusion of a CRT-like image is broken with misaligned pixels. Without custom adjustment the CRT mode looks more like gridlines. Gridlines are appropriate to simulate a low resolution LCD display, not a CRT. Some the screenshots peppered in this blog post show how scanlines can make significant improvements to the graphical experience. Analogue only offers integer and integer+ scaling with scanline modes, which seems to bypass the issue of misaligned scanlines to pixels. Fill only works its clean output. The "clean" and even the "sharp" approach can still show very soft and muddy textures. (It can be confusing at times which console I am discussing when they use identical terms to describe their video modes.)

M64 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

A3D The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

In the Video Experimental menu other options can be set which may improve video quality. Deblur can be turned off although increasing the sharpness seems to have the same effect. Bilinear filtering can soften the picture. Force dithering can be helpful to smooth out areas like on the F-Zero tracks with integer scaling. Turning off the noise filter can get rid of that static with Star Fox's title screen.

I made a Google Album with more game screenshots (captured in 1080p, I do not own a 4K card), and the file names of the screenshots will indicate some of the various display settings applied (including the screenshots embedded in this post.) You will have to right click on the image and "Save image as..." to see its true filename.

Controllers

This tab shows which controllers are active and lets you pair controllers. The details screen will show the controller's manufacturer, its serial number and firmware version, which is very helpful. Only the Pro Controller can show the battery charge status on the menu controller option screen. You can forget an individual controller here.

System

System is where Wi-Fi is enabled and disabled.

The Controller Plug & Play option permits controllers to be added, removed or swapped during gameplay. Some games will not recognize a controller inserted after booting, like F-Zero. This option can get around that issue, but it will always show four controllers plugged in. If you want computer opponents in Mario Party, you will have to turn this feature off.

Reset Core is used as the equivalent of pressing the reset button on an original N64 or A3D. I simply did not realize what this option did until after my first day with M64. Using a flashcart without a functioning reset is not a fun experience. A FAQ question and answer would have been nice, I looked on the ModRetro support pages and just did not see the answer. "Reset Game" would have been a more intuitive name for this option. Using flash carts without a functioning reset is a tedious affair when testing multiple games.

LED Brightness will affect the cartridge label light and the controller port lights, you can turn them off completely if you find the lights too bright or annoying. The power LED will always stay dimly lit.

The Forget All Controllers and Erase Console Data provide warnings before you activate these options.

Experimental

Overclocking is optional, but if you want to turn it on you have four options, Super, Ultra, Extreme & Insane. Overclocking can overcome some of those low FPS issues reported in the compatibility list. Like all other settings on M64, overclocking is not settable on a per-game basis so games that do not respond well to overclocking will need to have this setting adjusted before or at the beginning of playing them. A3D's Library allows for per-game settings. MK64 plays too fast in 4-player mode but playing Perfect Dark at default speed is something I suspect most people would not want to do these days. Some games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will not see much benefit from overclocking unless one is in a processing-heavy situation. I would like a little more description of what the overclocking options do like Analogue provides for its system. This video concludes that A3D runs slightly faster overall in overclocking than M64 but this other video implies there is no clear winner. Synthetic benchmarks from ModRetro would put their console ahead of Analogue's in almost every category but they are hardly an unbiased source.

Allow Wireless Rumble should be turned off when running Blast Corps and Killer Instinct Gold (rev. 0 & 1 but not need for 2) because Blast Corps will not progress beyond the title screen when a Rumble Pak is installed and Killer Instinct Gold will not even show the N64 logo if a Rumble Pak is in any port. They were released well before the Rumble Pak was and do not know what to make of it. A normal wired controller can bypass this by removing the Rumble Pak. When using the Pro Controller on an original N64, these games will be unplayable as there is no way to turn off the built-in Rumble Pak.

About

On this menu you can see your console's serial number, firmware version and can update either via Wi-Fi or SD Card.

M64 Resident Evil 2

A3D Resident Evil 2

Compatibility

ModRetro maintains a compatibility list identifying issues, but the list is limited to U.S. games (Analogue has no such thing on its website). Currently 274/294 report no issues. Commendably ModRetro reports that Donkey Kong misses the vine swing in Donkey Kong 64, a litmus test for accurate timing. I did not experience crashes with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron but I only played one mission. I experienced two with Resident Evil 2. Some of the N64's best games are among the 20 "in progress", including F-Zero X and Jet Force Gemini. None have crashing issues on A3D.

The M64's N64 FPGA Core is based off the MiSTer core. This core was developed in large measure by Robert Peip, a.k.a. FPGAZumSpass. The value of his work with getting MiSTer FPGA cores into shape cannot be understated. He made the PSX and GBA cores and contributed save states to the GB and NES cores. Compromises had to be made to fit the N64 Core onto MiSTer's DE-10 Nano, the core on that platform will never be truly accurate. MiSTer is not particularly well suited to interacting over a cartridge bus.

Peripheral support is pretty solid. I tried a Controller Pak, a Rumble Pak, a Transfer Pak. I lent my VRU/VDUs (Hey You Pikachu!) to a friend so I could not test that but the compatibility page says "in progress", so I would not think the experience would be any good at this time. I tried the Densha de Go Train Controller and the Tsuricon Fishing Rod Controller. All those things worked fine but I do not suggest opening the menu with the Train Controller as it will confuse the menu. The controller does this to the flash cart menus but not A3D, which only recognizes input from port 1 in its menus. Pokemon Stadium 2 was able to transfer data from a Pokemon Blue and Silver cartridge and run the games through the Stadium 2 Game Boy emulator. 

When it came to flash carts both my EverDrive 64 X7 and SummerCart64 worked almost perfectly. The NES FPGA-based emulator provided by the EverDrive did not work correctly, the graphics were all garbled (see above) and the games played like molasses. 64DD emulation provided by the SummerCart only resulted in a black screen, so I could not test the N64 Mouse. Cartridge saves on the EverDrive seemed to disappear sometimes after games were played on the M64. When a game crashes the console cannot access menu, it must power cycle.

I tested the M64 on two PC monitors and three (older) TVs. I saw no issues that I could pin on the monitor, the M64 worked on all of them. One TV had a 4K panel, another a 1080p panel and the third a 720p panel. All the displays showed ugly scaling artifacts with 720p mode (shown above) unless vertical stretch was enabled, which was especially noticeable on 2D elements like text. My capture card, a Startech USB3HDCAP, had no issue capturing 1080p video from the M64. I know some reviewers had issues with capturing video, maybe the firmware update improved things or the M64 does not work well with 4K capture cards.

M64 Perfect Dark

A3D Perfect Dark

Future Events Such as These Will Affect you in the Future

The Analogue 3D brings a lot of features to the table which the M64 does not have or only has promised and I believe should be made available:

• Library
• 8bitdo ModKit Controller Support
• Wired USB Controller Support
• Virtual Controller Pak
• Switch 64 Controller Support
• Expansion Pak Disable
• HDR
• Deinterlacing
• Save States
• Screenshots
• Upscaling

To be fair the A3D had none of these at launch nine months ago after virtual controller pak. Even then Library was not as functional then as it is today. Had the M64 released at the same time as A3D the playing field would have been on a much more equal footing. If it had been released nine months ago it would have been a unique product and reviewers would likely have been kinder to it as they were to  that A3D. But "what ifs" do not reflect reality today. Babies have been conceived would be almost ready to be delivered naturally between the dates when A3D and M64 released. It is easy to promise but it can be hard to deliver. December, when the AV adapter is to be released, should prove a most interesting month for CRT enthusiasts like myself.

The Experimental tab in the menu gives list of features "coming soon" including most of the above (see screenshot above). One of the most interesting features to come is the ability to use a Chromatic as a Transfer Pak and for Video Transfer. The first feature will be most welcome by Pokemon Stadium I & II users and hopefully can provide a more stable connection than the original Transfer Pak, which can be a bit touchy even with an original N64. The second feature will hopefully show a better image than the Chromatic presently does when connected to a PC.

Recommendation

At this time I cannot whole heartedly recommend the M64. The $40 price difference does not compensate for the lack of features provided in the console as it exists today. The M64 has potential but the A3D is a significantly more refined experience that can be enjoyed today. How long you will have to wait for M64 to gain feature parity with A3D is unknown. Maybe all those issues will be addressed but I am reviewing the M64 as of today, not eight months hence.

As for the Pro Controller it is a nice controller but not $89.99 nice. The Switch controller is a better option right now and is cheaper even if you have to buy a BlueRetro or similar adapter for it. It suffers from a lack of extra buttons and no Controller Pak support. The 8bitdo 64 Controller is $39.99 and while its layout is less than ideal it has a better D-pad. 

The M64 offers no compelling reason to pick it over A3D right now. Most of its unique features, such as the eject button, the colored plastic, the LEDs around the ports are cosmetic and not really likely to improve your gaming experience significantly. Is colored plastic worth it? Are you so offended by the monochrome A3D menus that you must have a gaudy color M64 Menu? When many of those bullet points I listed above have been addressed, crash bugs with the most popular games have been fixed and the video filters work properly, then it may shine. I think that is the consensus in the retro gaming community and unlike some people I see no reason to argue otherwise.

This is the second time ModRetro has offered a console (Chromatic) which does similar things to an Analogue console (Pocket) well after the latter's entry into the market. I said very similar things when comparing the value between the two handheld systems as I have for the N64 console systems. I would note that unlike Chromatic, which really was substantially limited by its screen, FPGA and lack of RAM, the M64 is much closer in specs to A3D and thus has significant untapped potential. Whether and how quickly that potential is realized will likely dictate whether ModRetro can truly compete in the competitive FPGA console market.