Wolfenstein 64

Wolfenstein 64 is a homebrew port of the classic Id Software game Wolfenstein 64 for the PC. It was ported to the Nintendo 64 twice, first by Jnmartin84 on 26 Nov 2013 and again ten years later by 9nova on 23 Oct 2023.

You can download the ROMs for the shareware versions from the download page by using the password williamblazkowicz. To get the full versions using the 2023 versions, you’ll need to compile it yourself after buying the game and using the game files (instructions below).

Background

Here is what I know about the development history of each of the Wolfenstein 64 ports.

2013 version

I couldn’t find much information about the 2013 version of Wolfenstein 64, apart that it was made by Jnmartin84. He’s also worked on the N64 port of PC DOOM so I have no reason to doubt that he’s the author of this game.

2023 version

Since I couldn’t find it anywhere else, I’ve done a little weekend project to port SDL wolfenstein just to show off how far libdragon has come. It’s amazing how easy it was to get it working over a couple days with just software rendering and the RSP mixer.

9_nova

This version of the game was released by 9_nova was released on 23 October 2023. However when I wanted to reach out for comment about a month later he’d since deleted all his accounts. It’s suspected that it’s related to some drama happening at the time, but that’s unconfirmed.

Luckily, I managed to get a fork of it so it’s still accessible though my Gitlab.

Full versions

All the versions downloadable here are the shareware version of PC Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny. If you want to play the full versions (all 6 episodes) of either game, you need to follow the instructions in the repository’s readme. Thankfully, I was able to get a fork of the project and you can find it here.

Here’s a basic rundown:

• Purchase the full version (GOG, Steam, Humble)
• Clone the repository from here
• Copy the files from your purchased version of W64 or SoD to the data folder
• Compile the ROM using Libdragon (unstable branch)

Wolfenstein 64 style and gameplay

If you’ve played the original PC game, you know what to expect from this. You are an escaped prisoner from a WWII fortress and you need to escape the stonghold and hunt down Adolf Hitler.

It’s the quintessential FPS game, often considered to be the one that defined the genre. You move through a flat map, and navigate through a series of maze-like levels, defeat enemies, and reach the exit to progress to the next level.

There are three guns that you can use against six common enemies. There are 9 levels (and one bonus level) with one special boss for each of the six episodes. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from a port of this game.

Differences

There are a few differences between the two versions of Wolfenstein 64.

2013 version

• Graphically more zoomed out and the GUI has a bezel.
• No audio.
• Low framerate.
• Clunky controls, no strafing
• Crashes/restarts on a whim

2023 version

• Zoomed in, without a bezel giving a more fullscreen point of view.
• Full audio.
• High framerate.
• More fluid controls with strafing
• More stable

Review and conclusion

I remember playing the 2013 version when it came out and was impressed to see that someone managed to make it run on the N64 since (back then) there weren’t many ports that weren’t 2D games from the 80’s.

However even back then I had trouble getting it to run and had it crashing all the time on my N64 so I never got that far. Even the little bit I did manage to play was all very stuttery and the key mapping was extremely unintuitive so I spent most of my time opening the menu and getting lost within it.

On the other hand, the 2023 game is excellent. It runs as smooth as butter, the game doesn’t crash, the audio feels authentic and the controller mappings match other games from the N64. I really have no complaints about it other than the disappearance of the author which removed all references to his projects.

Definitely give it a try when you have a chance, even if you can only mess around with the shareware version.