Super Mario 64 mods are nothing new, but a near-perfect port of the classic Nintendo 64 game into the world of fellow N64 hit Banjo-Kazooie is a new high for the community.
Trenavix, along with modders Waschpenner and Shyguyhex, has played around with tweaking other games in the past, including Banjo-Tooie and Dark Souls 3. Their Super Banjo-Kazooie 64 demo is their most impressive work yet, however. Using the SM64Paint program, which gives modders an array of tools to play around with, Trenavix took Mario’s first 3D adventure and combined it with the sounds, style and map of Banjo-Kazooie.
It’s jarring for anyone who grew up playing one or both games, but Mario surprisingly fits well into the world of Banjo-Kazooie. (It helps that all the enmies have been replaced with Goombas and Shy Guys, although ol’ lady Grunty and collectible Jiggy puzzle pieces still make some appearances.)
Banjo-Kazooie was the first game I ever played, but I grew up to vastly prefer Mario over the bear-and-bird pair, so this rom hack is essentially a dream come true. There are no plans to make Super Banjo-Kazooie 64 into anything more than a demo right now, but if the viewer interest is there, the hackers hinted that they may be open to expanding it.
The demo is now available to download; it includes 18 Jiggies and a special secret stage.