5 Multiplayer Romhacks You Should Play Using N64 Rollback
Cultural osmosis has catapulted this system's biggest games into everyone’s consciousness— let me expand yours once more with a selection of romhacks that expand on what the console is know for.
If you’re looking for the best Co-op games for Rollback, I’ve written about my favorites here!
12 Co-op Games for the N64 to Play using Rollback
Want to face off against your buddies with some hidden gems? I gotchu!
10 Great Versus-Multiplayer Games to Play on N64 Rollback
1. Smash Remix
The first Smash 64 ROM hack I ever played simply added a timer to stock battles and let you play on Final Destination. At the time, that felt like peak gaming—what more could you possibly want? Little did I know, the answer to that question would eventually be over 20 brand-new characters, pages upon pages of new stages, and mechanics from modern Smash titles fully back-ported and made completely togglable.
Even if you aren’t interested in getting sweaty or competitive and just want to experience all the new content, so much of this game feels incredibly fresh. The roster leans heavily into the N64 era with amazing deep cuts, featuring characters like Marina from Mischief Makers, Goemon from Mystic Ninja, and Crash Bandicoot. If you want modern air dodging or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate-style ledge trumping, you can turn it on. If you want to play on Spiral Mountain from Banjo-Kazooie but prefer the balanced layout of Battlefield, every single stage has alternate layouts optimized for competitive play.
Honestly, I kind of think N64 Rollback netcode was built specifically for Smash Remix, and the rest of the system’s library just reaped the benefits. The Remix community immediately gained the most from it, given that it’s primarily a 1v1 game when played competitively, and their scene was hurting the most for a stable online experience (with the possible exception of Project M). If you’re interested in diving into that scene, I’d highly recommend hopping into some local matches with a buddy or joining the Smash Remix Discord to find people to practice and learn with!
2. Mario Kart 64: Amped Up
The Mario Kart scene has always boasted a pretty robust modding community, but historically on the N64, you’d need about seven different patched ROMs just to stay entertained for an hour—with each one only offering a handful of changes. On top of that, quality was completely all over the place; some mods targeted real console hardware while others were built specifically for emulators. It all culminated in a very disjointed experience for the player.
Then came the Amped Up series by mod author Litronom. It’s a massive, iterative project that brings entirely new tracks, fresh racers, and plenty of unique gameplay modes to the table. While Amped Up 3 is the latest major release, the author also drops excellent seasonal updates that provide Halloween and Christmas-themed character and course redesigns. They’ve even figured out how to make true 3D racer models work within the Mario Kart 64 engine, making the entire Amped Up series feel like a genuine, official sequel to the original game.
If you finish that and still find yourself craving more Mario Kart 64 content, I highly recommend checking out OverKart 64. It packs 24 brand-new tracks, all brilliantly riffing on classic Mario Kart concepts or other beloved Nintendo properties. It’s absolutely worth a look if you just can’t get enough of this engine!
3. Super Mario 64: Splitscreen
Famous for being a game you could play either once or ten thousand times, Super Mario 64 has always been one of the ultimate single-player experiences on the system. However, thanks to Kaze “King of the Konsole” Emanuar’s split-screen mod, you and a buddy can now explore Peach’s Castle together. You can take things slow at the pace of Koopa the Quick, or sweat it out like speedrunners trying to absolute crush a 16-star run in 14:35!
Compared to some of the massive overhauls on this list, it might not be the fanciest hack mechanically, but sometimes you just want to experience something you already love with a friend. I recently played through Majora’s Mask 3D with my partner side by side the whole time, and it was an absolute blast—though it made me realize what a shame it is that you can’t just share the same game world. This mod actually lets you do that. You can split up objectives, pool your efforts, and always see each other’s perspective on the shared screen.
It also appears possible for creators to port the foundation of this split-screen hack into other custom Mario 64 ROM hacks, though I don’t know the exact technical ins and outs of how that works. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on and searching around for yourself as time goes by. Given how passionate the community is, more and more cooperative projects will surely keep coming out!
4. Custom Mario Party boards made with Party Planner
Believe it or not, a web-based map editor for the Mario Party games is one of the oldest N64 modding tools I’ve come across! The workflow is straightforward: you upload a large image file, map out the paths players can take, and assign specific values to all the spaces. A lot of the best custom boards use gorgeous 3D renderings that account for perspective and verticality, perfectly matching the aesthetic of the original games. That said, you can also find plenty of interesting amateur maps alongside some genuinely clever meme boards.
If you want to dive into the community, Mario Party Legacy hosts the absolute biggest repository of custom boards available.
However, if you’d rather hop right in with a pre-made curation instead of hunting for individual files, Mario Party 3: Star Struck is a fantastic choice. Curated by Ok Impala!, Star Struck functions as a “Best Of” collection featuring six entirely distinct maps:
Star Summit: A beautiful board based on the iconic location from Paper Mario.
Animal Crossing: A cozy map where you get to run around a custom island.
Paradise Isles: A faithful recreation of the board from Super Mario Party.
Rainbow Boulevard: A vibrant stage heavily inspired by Rainbow Road.
Towering Treetop: A clever translation of the classic Mario Party 6 level.
TRG Land: A surprisingly high-quality meme board that is a blast to play.
5. GoldenEye X
Everyone talks about how based GoldenEye was, but it was Perfect Dark that truly perfected the FPS formula on the N64. I’m not just trying to be controversial here—mod author Wreck Seven has actually ported a massive chunk of GoldenEye directly into Perfect Dark’s engine, taking full advantage of the system’s quality-of-life upgrades. We’re talking proper reload animations, more realistic enemy behavior, a better UI, and so much more.
The multiplayer side of things is incredibly robust. It features all the classic maps from both games, plus a few brand-new arenas crafted by the mod author. The character roster is just as expansive, offering a mix of classic faces from both titles alongside original creations. You can get way more granular with the game modes and how they function, and the engine’s fantastic bot support works flawlessly here, too.
And how could I forget the co-op? Nine of the original missions have been fully updated with new areas and fresh gameplay elements. Best of all, you can bring a buddy along for the entire ride.