Since the arrival of the Analogue 3D, more and more people have turned to the Summer Cart 64 for their N64 emulation needs. I have one, and it's fantastic, allowing me to play my favourite ROM hacks like Jiggies of Time on original hardware as well as on the 3D and the M64. The menu is pretty basic, however. It feels like you're logging on to an old Microsoft computer and lacks the sleek style of these new machines.
There seems to be a big wave of people creating nostalgic frontend launchers and GUIs at the minute. I covered Koji recently, a way of creating a better user experience on the likes of the AYN Thor, and now Retro Shelf 64 is here to save the SC64 and give it that nostalgic touch that makes us feel like we're looking through our olf gaming collection. It adds cover art and colour to the menu, giving you that same feeling of seeing all your N64 boxes neatly stored in a cube unit or on your shelf.
Credit: Retro Shelf 64
Check out the difference above. The first image is my SC64 menu as is, and the second is what Retro Shelf 64 can turn it into. You'll be able to see the front and back of the box, look at the cartridge itself, and have that nostalgic experience from the 90s/early 00s, something that a lot more people will be craving now that Sony have announced the end of physical PlayStation media. And as the SummerCart 64 has 64DD support, you can even load up 64DD games in the same way. You'll also get custom tracks for each of the available games too - how cool is that!
Retro Shelf 64 was built with the Analogue 3D and the SummerCart 64 in mind. I'll need to check it on the M64. According to the official website for the release, there are 58 games that are currently compatible, many of which can be seen in the YouTube video below. It's all the usual suspects and favourites - Banjo Kazooie, Star Fox 64, Shadows of the Empire. Essentially, if it's in our list of the best games for the console, then it'll work here.
Obviously, you'll need your own legally acquired ROMs to make this work, but the good thing is that Retro Shelf 64 doesn't modify your ROMs or the SC64 itself. It boots up when loading the cartridge, but the firmware of your SC64 remains intact. To be honest, it looks much better anyway!
Now, there's a slight catch here. You'll need to be a member of the Retro Shelf 64 Patreon to be able to use the launcher. There are three tiers:
- Agent - $3/£3.50 giving access to the launcher itself and the Discord.
- Special Agent - $7/£5.50 - Everything in Agent plus access to day-one builds and being able to vote on which games get launcher support next.
- 00 Agent - Everything in the first two tiers, as well as access to a private Discord and more voting privileges.
I have lots of subscriptions, so I guess £3.50 isn't much more. The main bonus of being subscribed is for getting regular updates; otherwise, you could cancel once and then not have access to future updates, and with only 58 games available and more on the way, you'll be missing out. There's a lot of work that's gone into this, so £3.50 for continued support doesn't seem bad at all.
I think the fact that this is tailored towards the SC64 and that it excludes some other Flash Cart users who own Everdrives is a little bittersweet, but then again, that's just the way it goes. I waited years for emulators to arrive on Apple products after watching my mates with Android phones playing GoldenEye on the bus, so these things happen!
Head to the Retro Shelf 64 Patreon for more info!
