Pilotwings 64 Gets BIG Upgrade on Switch! | Graphics Comparison

Pilotwings 64 getrs a 60fps bump on Nintendo Switch...but it also exposes a small issue. Take a look in our graphics comparison versus the Nintendo 64 original!
Note: N64 recorded on original hardware via the EON HDMI adapter.
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Video by: Andre / andresegers
Thumbnail by: Tom / ragintombo
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[@shawnregina9110]

Pilotwings has a banger of a soundtrack and was one of their first “laid back” games. One of my personal favourites. I’m so happy it’s getting the upgrade it is.

[@Spladoinkal]

Yeah, Dan Hess made some incredible music! He "Hangs around" the Pilotwings 64 covers on youtube as well so sometimes you'll run into him. Seems like an awesome dude.

[@BigBrotherGnE]

If Pilotwings can run at higher frames and resolution, then is it possible for Goldeneye 007 to get the same treatment?

[@ShanGamer1981]

Think its a high chance

[@Khentendo1337]

it already does and probably will

[@mr.whimsic6902]

pilotwings is running at 60fps because the original game could run at that framerate. Goldeneye is likely capped to 30 at most

[@reinierlara5421]

Yes

[@mageius]

I don't speedrun Goldeneye but that's both a blessing and a curse if it happens for them. As some of the lag is good for a few things but I do know they tried to reduce the lag a lot. So it might end up being good for them as well.

[@meikaishi]

I think a lot of people here are missing the part where he mentioned that the game was always able to run at 60fps and was just limited by the hardware, don't expect games hard capped at 30fps to be suddenly running at 60fps on the switch

[@Howwy191]

It does give hope that goldeneye will have its framerate fixed and capped to 30fps which the game was always supposed to run at but averaged 12fps instead. Or then again the intro sequence was 60fps also so maybe goldeneye could go that far too, either way 30 or 60 is still a massive improvement over 12.

[@DxMxC]

Pretty much it was always a 60 FPS game, but the N64 couldn't run it that fast and the NSO emulator can.

[@Yolo_Swaggins]

Given the fact theres already codes to modify the games to run at 60fps on native hardware and emulators i don't think it's gonna be long before people get what they want.

[@Yolo_Swaggins]

Forgot to mention too that all these games have been decompiled already too so now Nintendo can use the work of reverse engineers to basically make these games remastered like the PC port that runs native on PC hardware. Wouldn't be hard at all to just edit a couple of values and recompile the game.

[@minignoux4566]

@@Yolo_Swaggins they have the source already, they made the game, the only eye they keep on reverse engineering projectbis their legal team's

[@ryanpyle9822]

Pilotwings 64 is such an awesome game. The N64 had such a good launch, a revolutionary masterpiece and a solid relaxing game is all you need. Quality over quantity.

[@lucasguilhermea]

Indeed. Relaxing game with such good mecanics for its time.

[@Wobble2007]

Such a shame we don't have a proper Pilot Wings game on the NSW, It's great that there is a decent emulated version of the masterpiece N64 game, but there are just no modern games like Pilot Wings, not a really polished and highly replayable full-fat game like Pilot Wings 64 anyway, that super relaxing MIDI soundtrack and stupidly moreish gameplay, Nintendo is just sitting on one of their best IPs, instead of Mario 600 or Zelda 601 (don't get me wrong, I'm the biggest Zelda and Mario nut), maybe we could get Pilot Wings 3 (or whatever it will be called, Pilot Wings DX).

[@drlight6677]

I spent hours and hours and hours around 20 years ago getting a perfect 100 on every test just to get that sunset ending lol, the shutterbug test of the whale and cruise ship was an absolute nightmare!

[@Rys0nSparkle]

The comparison video is really really good!!! That must have taken a lot of effort to match to trailer footage that closely, but it’s so worth it!!!!

[@GameXplain]

haha it was a bit tricky! Especially that darn jetpack cave! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@uncledot1868]

That is a major improvement over the original that really makes me want to play it. I just wish N64 games were available for purchase individually on the Switch, instead of being exclusive to a subscription service that I do not want.

[@knuclear200x]

Imagine paying 50$ for modded roms

[@thetonberryslair]

@@knuclear200x imagine still complaining about it

[@knuclear200x]

@@thetonberryslair but you just did

[@thetonberryslair]

@@knuclear200x I mean about the subscription

[@knuclear200x]

@@thetonberryslair you just did

[@TomAnderson7]

So much nostalgia. I’m in EU and I imported a US N64 with Pilotwings 64 before it released over here. The thing felt like I had a real flight simulator at my home. The graphics was the best I had seen at the time. Everything else in my daily life was a bore, I just wanted to go home and play. Good times ❤

[@NaikoArt]

is good that they're improving their emulation, but it would be nice if that updates previous games as well

[@DANCERcow]

Honestly some games just don't need that much graphical improvement lol

[@LuigiBlood]

They didn't really improve emulation much, pretty sure Pilotwings 64 would have ran that way even on the first version of the emulator.

[@Raichu_Zed]

@@LuigiBlood it runs at 30fps on Mupen 64 without manually adding hacks to get rid of the limit. But adding features from a 20 year old emulator is not exactly impressive.

[@knuclear200x]

Imagine paying 50$ for modded roms

[@spike5499]

@@Raichu_Zed is it a feature from a 20 year old emulator when it runs at twice the frame rate?

[@Monafide3305]

Very excited to boot this one up, it's one of very few N64 hits I haven't checked out yet. I really enjoyed the Pilotwings game on 3DS.

[@noahdean9685]

I just hope Pokemon stadium runs good I would really love to see how remake of those two games for the switch or a completely new Pokemon stadium game with every single pokémon you can choose one even customize your own Pokemon trainer and meet Pokemon characters from the shows like block Misty nurse Joy Jesse,James and Meowth!

[@JCity17]

Pilotwings 64 is slept on. It is honestly a great game and I’m happy it is getting an upgrade treatment.

[@CommanderZaktan]

So what you're saying is, Banjo Tooie might get better frame rate?

[@GameXplain]

God let's hope so

[@M64bros]

@@GameXplain same here!

[@yaboiangeloYT]

Hope we get banjo-tooie in 60fps

[@knuclear200x]

Imagine paying 50$ for modded roms

[@Rapboy89]

While that would be great, I'll wish good luck to those who try to do the second Canary Mary race if it's 60 fps. The button input lag is what makes it easier on the N64 compared to the Xbox Live Arcade/Rare Replay version.

[@Light23K]

This game used to bring me so much enjoyment whenever I got the time because most of my time was on super mario64.

[@alvstar84]

Really couldn’t wait for this to come, it was the first N64 game I played as Mario wasn’t available in the shop I bought my N64 from but I’m glad because I might have always overlooked Pilotwings but I really loved it and really enjoyed the 3DS game too.

[@svenkamog2232]

Brilliant comparison video, more like this one please 😃

[@abysstoid1503]

Anyone notice that the texture scaling on some objects is messed up? On n64 textures are stretched across a polygons surface. While on switch textures are repeated and tiled in a noticeable grid like pattern.

[@GameXplain]

hmm do you have an example? I haven't noticed anything out of place yet

[@whiskasje]

N64 games finally looks like they did in the magazines back in the day.

[@masteroflight7296]

so it seems like the original game was built to run at 60fps but the hardware couldnt run that 60fps so it cut it in half

[@alanamadorrosas4025]

Im glad they upgraded this game, I think this is the game I spent most of my time with as a child, specially because my dad was a pilot and it also was my dream.

[@Markde9876]

Talking about the milliseconds is oddly specific, @gamexplain!

[@mattimusprimal637]

This is giving me hope that Golden Eye 64 will have improvements too on NSO!

[@eljoagames]

Looks like Wii Sports/Resorts is a reimagination of Pilotwings64

[@alfredc.7777]

My Dad’s fav game back in the day! Can’t wait to show him this again!

[@Rhidalgo789]

Were the Ocarina of Time issues with the fog and reflections ever fixed?

[@blacksunshine7485]

I was REALLY getting down to that Bobby Rush esq funk. Diggin it

[@dman_games]

I miss virtual console tbh, plus still no GC games. Wii U even had DS games.

[@knuclear200x]

Yeah the Switch has nothing

[@RavenGamingOverLord]

I would love to see GameCube games on NSO

[@RavenGamingOverLord]

@Lucas The Phantom Thief Well I don’t missed it too much, I think that would be awesome either way and I don’t care if those games are too big for it to handle

[@lpnp9477]

They're more likely to resell you GameCube games for $60 than put them on nso or vc

[@starman5901]

Don't think ds games would run well on swith , wii u was fine because u had two screens unlike switch

[@riftshredder5438]

I have waited so long for this game to finally come to new hardware, for 26 years all I could do was just play it on the N64 itself, or emulate it on my PC

[@TIDbitRETRO]

Pilotwings got shafted having to be the only other launch game for the N64 against Mario 64 and now it’s trailer also got buried getting released on the same day as the Mario movie’s. Lol

[@GameXplain]

Oh my god you're right! It's not fair! 😭

[@Wobble2007]

I can't believe Nintendo hasn't made a new Pilotwings game yet, there are no other games like it anymore, we had Sky Odysee on PS2 and Pilot Academy on PSP, both awsome arcade flight games somewhat similar to PW, I loved the little 3DS PW game, but that was so bite size, I want a full-fat PW game for the NSW (cancling the amazing looking Factor 5 Pilot Wings game was a crime, it was basicly finished!, Perhaps bring that out from the Nintendo HQ basment and release it), also I'd love to see a Mario Kart & Pilot Wings collaboration game, that would be fun.

[@bbworks159]

Looks better overall, but something looks off about the water when running at a higher resolution.

[@ChristianAVS]

Loved Pilotwings 64 so this is great

[@MrMartellSincere]

Looks beautiful ❤️

[@tommyhallows]

Really good game. I did not know it existed on N64. I enjoyed playing it on SNES so had I know over 20 years ago I would have got it.

[@KetwunsGamingPad]

It’s impressive how much detail had been restored alongside the smoother framerate

[@NeoSamus]

I think the reason it is am to get to 60 fps is because the frame rate is unlocked since the original version. In the original if you fly out to the open ocean the frame rate will hit 60 fps.

[@shanandersson1779]

Is pilotwings remastered in high definition quality?

[@ryancurtis5425]

I bought the N64 verision back in 2014(?) and the Nintendo Switch version definitely looks more crisp by comparison! It kind of reminds me of Wild Wheels/Buzzing Cars.

[@GadiX26]

Looks sick

[@daniellikahong]

Just bought this game in 2022 in a thrift store for 5 bucks for only the cartridge! What a steal!

[@johnplatz3503]

GameXplain, I was hoping you could answer my question about the Expansion Pack being purchased more than once.

[@see.eye.2361]

If you do than it just adds to your existing time

[@johnplatz3503]

@@see.eye.2361 I just want to know if I can get it more than once.

[@see.eye.2361]

@@johnplatz3503 besides automatic renewal you could purchase codes online or buy them in stores, it’ll stack with your existing subscription if you already have it or buy more than one.

[@johnplatz3503]

@@see.eye.2361 What's automatic renewal?

[@That-No-Moon]

All I remember of this game was that I rented it from Blockbuster and that it greatly frustrated me, but then I was 8 or 9 at the time.

[@mrblags1]

I want a physical game of this.

[@michaelzouzoukov6936]

Hope for a wave race 64 redux too...

[@ShanGamer1981]

Definitely play it i skipped it when i had my n64

[@fruitsnackia2012]

actually because this is a launch title i suspect its code is very unoptimized being a early n64 game. if someone were to convert the game in to a source code the game code could be optimized to run at 60fps or at the very least close to it on hardware. because the switch is alot more powerful a simple tweak to the code to remove the frame limit is all nintendo did to make this look smoother

[@faceofbear8024]

LOOKS INCREDIBLE love me snes pilotwings

[@JoelHernandez-yl6yw]

Ah yes I remember that pimp music

[@ranchdressing1037]

rocket pack in the caves was always difficult from just the blur alone.

[@homer3189]

fun level though!

[@ranchdressing1037]

@@homer3189 yeeeeeeeea!

[@vittosphonecollection57289]

Way more detailed. Or better said. It's way more easy to see detail now (since it was always there, just not very visible thanks to the low resolution

[@SaltyToad00]

Cope.

[@vittosphonecollection57289]

@@SaltyToad00 ?

[@M64bros]

Very impressive!!!

[@M64bros]

@Lucas The Phantom Thief agreed!

[@RavenGamingOverLord]

I agree, it does look pretty good

[@RavenGamingOverLord]

@Lucas The Phantom Thief I have never played that game before, your wish might come true I guess.

[@alexmendez3681]

Has anyone noticed any issues with F Zero X? I noticed the game stops with the same 1/3 speed as in the video but I noticed I'd you play in airplane mode it goes away. Probably because the system isn't updating any online information.

[@GameXplain]

Yep, I noticed right away F-Zero GX does the same thing and mentioned it in our review. But I didn't realize Airplane mode fixed it! I'm going to look into this....thanks for the info!

[@alexmendez3681]

@@GameXplain Well. I seem to be having better results but give it a shot, maybe I’m just blind.

[@alexmendez3681]

@@GameXplain Yo. So I think I just reversed Jinxed myself. With the update of PilotWings, I'm happy to report that F-Zero X is running buttery smooth. It's awesome. I have over 300 hours into this game and I notice a difference. Super happy.

[@GameXplain]

@@alexmendez3681 oh shoot I'll have to check that out! Thanks!

[@patrickhawthorneLS]

Does anyone know if they fixed fzero yet ?

[@GameXplain]

Nope, still busted

[@baboononskates]

I’m pretty sure my years of pilotwings training would equip me for an emergency landing on a real aircraft if the situation ever arose.

[@ArcRay20]

*continues to wish we had just ever got the N64 mini so we would have already had this kind of quality*

[@Diego35HD]

Wish it was possible for games like Zelda and Mario to run at 60fps, they may be classics and whatever but they feel so bad to play it's just not apealing

[@parazels83]

The games lacks some CRT filter to look better.

[@M1XART]

Pilotwing 64 does run 60fps during actual gameplay on N64, but only when flying on front of clear sky or ocean without land. The reason Switch-version is 60fps has nothing to do with any "upgrade". -Pilotwings 64 simply does not have locked framerate on first place. For example, Goldeneye 007 also does not have locked framerate, so it should also directly run solid 60fps on system powerfull enough. So, many N64 games should actually run on solid 60fps when ported carefully.

[@fishingmule3266]

It’s important to remember that comparing them captured in HD will make the original look way crappier than it ever did. Everything looks fuzzy and gross when it’s not on a CRT.

[@jimhultqvist2539]

Damn, if they fix up Goldeneye in a similar fashion, Im buying the NSO N64 controller.

[@laser90]

3:24 last moments before disaster

[@Scrubber89]

Looks great.

[@Superdimensional]

If I had an original 64 at this point I’d just dump it, I’d never play it again after how good these ports are.

[@Under_Sky_Third_Gaia]

K tight, when goldeneye?

[@MrAsh1989]

It just looks as good as the emulators which I've been using freely for years

[@irvyne6111]

Whoa! This is the treatment all of the Switch online games should get! Imagine if they bumped the original Starfox up to 60 FPS!

[@dennisreynolds6915]

@Danhess is the goat for this soundtrack.

[@thewalliest3956]

I haven’t played it yet but I want to know if they deleted the twin towers in Little States on the Switch version.

[@GameXplain]

They're still there!

[@fanciestofcats7111]

I would play so many retro games if Nintendo had a trophy system

[@silverdamascus2023]

This is how emulation should be, the code is still the same, but the emulator makes sure a bunch of improvements can be done without actually changing the ROM, or just a few changes are done, the game actually runs better than the original console. I still think that players should have the option for a "pure" experience, without all the improvements emulators do, and instead, focus on making the game as close to the original as possible, even though it will be worse.

[@mechanicalpants]

That's cool but when are they just gonna make another Pilotwings game? It's one of their best franchises and they have greatly neglected it, same as F-Zero. 🤞

[@chickenpotatoking]

1:03 “pacifically”

[@chokkymiilk]

fr

[@lpnp9477]

He is over the ocean

[@jshepard152]

This game is my entire childhood. Is there any way to play it without a Switch?

[@daniloarriagada4813]

Looks like a 90s arcade

[@CrowT]

1. "Pacifically" is not a word. 2. The game timer is not formated in milliseconds.

[@Beirdo267]

Did you use say Pacificly? 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@kamranki]

When I first saw Pilotwings on N64, I thought how blocky everything looked. And fps was so less too. Needless to say, it didn't look great back then either.

[@sdragon21]

Fingers crossed that, if Castlevania: Legacy Of Darkness makes it onto the service, it gets the same treatment, and can run at a smoother frame rate.

[@coreylouispropst]

We'd get Castlevania 64 probably.

[@ditobi]

i neeed diddy kong racing 64 on switch TwT

[@ivanramos1809]

Video should had used the handglider theme instead!

[@GameXplain]

It does at the start!

[@executer83]

Nice! Why not all N64 games like this?

[@lpnp9477]

Unfortunately many games tied their physics to the frame rate which is mind boggling for seasoned game developers to do given physics systems and 60fps games aren't new and exclusive concepts to 3d game design. Because of this, even if the framerates are uncapped many things end up breaking without extensive modification in many games. Mario 64 and Zelda OOT have 60fps mods for their PC ports but it wasn't as simple as flipping a switch. Dozens of values have to be found in memory, multiplied by the time it takes to draw one frame, then adjusted to feel the same at any frame rate. Pilotwings 64 was developed with a variable frame rate in mind so even though the n64 never really was capable of hitting 60fps in this game during normal gameplay, with better hardware 60fps is easily achievable.

[@TomAnderson7]

Because frame rate was locked at 60 fps on N64. But the console wasn’t powerful enough to run it. Only in the menus did it reach 60fps. Any other game that’s locked at 30 fps will never reach 60fps

[@JsYTA]

That's very interesting they didn't just initially reprogram the whole engine to run at 30. That lazy choice ended up paying off I guess

[@Jeremyb2023]

Hard to believe how muddy the original graphics were. Switch version looks soo much better!

[@relu419]

N64 continues better, specially with 30 FPS limitation, counter and how works overall.

[@yaboijuanito1460]

Never played this game before. But I have heard of Pilotwings 3DS. I remember seeing at Wal-Mart. I'm going to get the game ROM and play it on my Android phone with Mupen64plus FZ Pro

[@mageius]

Let's hope this is actually meant to be a thing rather than Nintendo just screwing up lol.

[@DN-zp4ok]

banger

[@thiagovidal6137]

You're giving Nintendo too much credit. Nintendo didn't do anything at all. No enhancements were made whatsoever. The thing is, the original N64 release simply had uncap framerate, which is why the menu ran at 60fps on original hardware. You would also get spikes to 60fps on N64 while looking at the sky or piloting towards the ocean where there were minimal amount of geometry to render. The switch release simply manage to automatically push closer to 60fps due to the more powerful hardware. That's all. It happened automatically. Nintendo is mot enhancing anything.

[@worthless_opinion]

Your phone can do this too for free. This is the bare minimum.

[@JohnGuyJohn]

More like this, Nintendo.

[@dd50000]

this is where the gaming industry has gone

[@darkangelceresita2768]

Honestly, I'm not interested at all in the expansion because there's no option to make it look like the real thing with original resolution and a CRT filter. This looks so unappealing.

[@ThaBEN_NL]

I'm so butthurt that you can't buy these games and only play them via a subscription model.

[@lpnp9477]

You could always emulate them

[@Wobble2007]

PW 64 is supposed to be 30 FPS, it's what gives it that recognizable gameplay, @ 60 FPS it just doesn't feel like the same game tbh, if you have never played it before though you will probably be fine with it @ 60 (I prefer the way 30 FPS feels for flight, not just because it's what I'm used to, it's actually better imo), tbh I think a lot of us just love the familiar and enjoy the nostalgia when it kicks in. If you really want to enjoy PW64, play it on a nice Sony Trinny or Panasonic Quintrix CRT set in RGB with nice chunky scanlines, that the stuff.

[@shyguy85]

man its almost like emulators have always been able to do this or something because there arent limitations from the console!

[@cosmicsvids]

Original N64 was designed for crts so yeah for course it will look crap unless you compare crt footage which is impossible to get good footage due to how cameras react to crt displays.

[@wrldonwill]

Man, where the hell is Goldeneye?!

[@ShanGamer1981]

Itll come

[@ThiagoBritoAmorim]

@Lucas The Phantom Thief it was already announced. It is coming.

[@Thewolfguys.cartoons2000]

Man, do you even have frigging patience?!

[@ThiagoBritoAmorim]

@Lucas The Phantom Thief no dude, they wouldn't have announced the game if there were licensing issues, it makes no sense.

[@Link-Link]

@Lucas The Phantom Thief Listen, the game will come, no doubt, I promise you. And why is it taking so long, you ask? That's because Nintendo adds only 1 N64 game PER MONTH, and this month the spotlight was for the Pilotwings 64, next month could be Goldeneye or perhaps Pokémon Stadium or something else, we just don't know

[@10191927]

It’s so weird to know that an N64 game could’ve hit 60fps back then, the system was just too underpowered to realize it.

[@BzaafiedTheFerocious]

IIRC I remember Killer Instinct Gold being advertised as 60 FPS

[@vittosphonecollection57289]

Like Wii games being in 720p but the unit itself can't reach more than 480p (or 576p for PAL Virtual Console)

[@lpnp9477]

The system was plenty capable of 60fps. Many games ran at that frame target. Developers just chose graphical fidelity over performance which is really common even today. That's like saying Xbox 360 wasn't capable of 60fps because the vast majority of its 3D games ran at 30.

[@lakojake4215]

Still not worth a subscription fee. I'm done buying the same games from Nintendo over and over again, each generation of console. Nintendo is a greedy company.

[@ChasingDragons420]

Don't buy them then. At least they're available for those who don't own them.

[@lakojake4215]

@@ChasingDragons420 I'm already not buying them. I don't need you to tell me that. Nintendo could be like Sony and Microsoft and let people carry over their backwards compatible games. Nintendo is a greedy company.

[@rodzandz]

This is pathetic. Anyone with half a brain cell should know that you could emulate this game at 60fps and High resolution since over 20 years ago using Project64. (Along with pretty much every other game in the N64 library).

[@Rizky-Gumilar]

Really hope Nintendo will revive their forgotten ip like sin n punishment, pilotwings, waverace, 1080, custom robo, excitebike

[@Link-Link]

The NPC is at it again. Man, when are you going to update your dialogues fr, your need a patch fix Edit: my bad, I didn't read the comment, I'm just so used to see you commenting about "Nintendo dying" that I directly assumed you were talking about that lol, that's my fault

[@knuclear200x]

Yeah the Switch has nothing since they're too busy reselling old games at full price

[@Rizky-Gumilar]

@@knuclear200x people prefer ps or xbox. Nintendo is losing to sony and MS

[@v2bruh]

Wacky