Ghostship feels like a clear response to the earlier Super Mario 64 PC ports rather than a replacement of them. Those previous builds were impressive in their own right and proved that a native PC version of Super Mario 64 was not only possible but surprisingly flexible, especially once mods, widescreen support, and higher framerates entered the picture. The downside was always accessibility, getting started often meant compiling source code, dealing with dependencies, and having at least some technical confidence before Mario ever jumped for the first time.
Compared to that, Ghostship trims away a lot of that friction. The core idea is the same, a native PC port built on decompilation work, but the focus shifts toward ease of use rather than experimentation. Setup is far simpler, configuration is cleaner, and the overall experience feels more polished out of the box. Performance improvements like smooth high framerates are still there, but they’re presented as a default benefit rather than something you need to tweak and troubleshoot.
Where earlier PC ports felt like a playground for tinkerers, Ghostship feels more like a finished product aimed at players who just want to play Mario 64 comfortably on a modern PC. It doesn’t try to outdo the previous port with extreme features or radical changes, instead it refines what was already there and makes it more approachable. For many, that alone will make Ghostship the more appealing option, not because it’s flashier, but because it gets out of the way and lets the game speak for itself.
Download the latest build here, you do need to provide your own SM64 rom.