Wii emulator runs Mario Galaxy in 720p

By Robert Purchese Published 6 July, 2009

HD already.

Wii and GameCube emulator Dolphin can now run Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 720p high definition.

The latest version of the program was released on Friday and has caused ripples of excitement across the internet. As Wii HD rumours continue to circulate, such a display illustrates not only what the jump to 720p would look like but also how easily it could be achieved.

There is a YouTube video of Super Mario Galaxy running in HD to watch, plus screenshots.

The Dolphin team is looking into Wii remote controller compatibility issues, incidentally.

Head over to the Dolphin website to find out much more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (53) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • JohnnyWashnGo #1 3 years ago

    How soon until the preferred platform for playing Wii games is the emulator?

  • Sir_TimAlot #2 3 years ago

    The preferred platform for playing Wii games is the Gamecube.

  • bad09 #3 3 years ago

    Hmmm, interesting.

    So, if they are on the Wii does that mean Cube emulation is actually good these days? Not tried it for a couple of years but if its up to scratch I might have another dabble, I can only play my Cube games round my girlfriends place at the mo!
    Edited by 1 at 06/07/09 @ 11:46

  • Wastelander #4 3 years ago

    Pics here!
    So you don't have to register on that site.

    Amazing the difference resolution makes.

  • Darren #5 3 years ago

    Wii with HD and AA would be nice, if only so I can finally play its games on my HDTV via component video without it looking like a LEGO game because of all the hideous jaggies. As it is I have to play Wii games on my 21" Sony CRT TV via RGB SCART in order for the games to look OK. Those scanlines are great at masking most of the jagginess.

    Anyway, the Mario Galaxy screenshots do look nice and show just how good the graphics are really, they're only let down by the Wii's sub-21st Century resolution and lack of AA support.

  • Fleisch #6 3 years ago

    thanks for the non-reg pics Wastelander

    vis-a-vis the emulation, looks laggy as hell on the youtube video, must be running sub 30fps.

  • AaronTurner #7 3 years ago

    I think that's just the video, the counter at the top says it's around 60fps most of the time.

  • ZuluHero #8 3 years ago

    must be a pain to get the wii motes and sensor bar working though? Is it worth the hassle?

  • KrissAkabusi #9 3 years ago

    Not really doing anything for me. Reckon Nintendo were right to avoid the HD route.

  • bigbadbeasty #10 3 years ago

    Looks lovely, all Nintendo need to do now is release the Wii HD (not holding my breath) ;)

  • mashk #11 3 years ago

    A 'friend' of mine would like to know if a Wiimote is required to play Mario Galaxy.

    Personally speaking, I think he's dodgy.

  • matrim83 #12 3 years ago

    Has anyone here tried this? I am quite tempted but the frame rate in that video looks quite low.

  • Aretak #13 3 years ago

    If you look at the specs of the machine it's running on in the description of the video, it goes a long way to explaining why the framerate is low. I'd guess most people with gaming set-ups here would have something significantly better.

    GameCube/Wii and PS2 emulation is really coming along nicely. I'm about 11 hours into Final Fantasy XII with PCSX2 at the moment.

  • skillian #14 3 years ago

    Framerate in the video is around 60 FPS. It says in the bar at the top of the screen.

    Wii-mote is supported but not required.
    Edited by 1 at 06/07/09 @ 13:07

  • Eraser #15 3 years ago

    a low res youtube video to show off a HD version of a game... hmmm....
    Oh and really, YouTube's HD button is far from actual HD

  • Red_Bool #16 3 years ago

    Those pictures look tremendously underwhelming. Bumping up the resolution won't increase your polygon count, so this is all a bit pointless really.

    (btw1 who cares about resolution when a game looks as good as SMG? :-) )
    (btw2 great technical feat getting this to work! Now how about a PSP version ;-) )
    Edited by 1 at 06/07/09 @ 13:25

  • skillian #17 3 years ago

    [link url=http://i39.tinypic. com/71k940.jpg
    ]http://i39.tinypic. com/71k940.jpg
    [/link]

    How can you say that is underwhelming?!

    I'm actually quite surprised at a what a big difference a resolution bump and AA has made!

  • Nikanoru #18 3 years ago

    must be a pain to get the wii motes and sensor bar working though? Is it worth the hassle?

    Wimotes use bluetooth, if your pc supports it you just download some driver for it and you're set. As for the sensor bar, it's just two infrared lights. That's all it is. You just keep your Wii running on the side to have it light up, you get one of those standalone sensor bar things, or, hell, use two candles.



    PS: I'm sorry but these pics just make Mario Galaxy look worse.

    To make an extreme comparison, if you play a late-gen PS1 game (FFIX for example) through an emulator at 1600x1200, you're turning a once well put together set of graphics into a horrible mess of huge in-your-face polygons.

    If you take one of prettier NES games that might have looked alright and even charming on a small CRT set, and run it through an emulator on a huge LCD screen using that terrible HQxX filter, you're just looking at a completely random bunch of vector lines that seem to have no relation to each other whatsoever.

    BUT BUT BUT, IT'S SHARPER AND HD AND STUFF! Because that's what we care about apparently, not about the graphics themselves and which mode of display actually serves the game art best. No, we just want the fucking lines to look sharp on our LCD sets. Ugh.

  • #19 3 years ago

    oh look, its Mario with nicer graphics!!!

    /underwhelmed.

  • Red_Bool #20 3 years ago

    @skillian
    taste is very personal...personally I think it doesn't look any better than what I see on my TV. Actually I like the way it looks on my CRT-TV better, because it makes everything a bit more smoother and less sharp

  • Telepathic.Geometry #21 3 years ago

    I read an article somewhere that the next generation is just gonna be this gen plus an upgrade. I can really see that happening.

    A slimmer PS3 with bigger memory and whatnot;
    a 360 bundled with the natal add-on plus hard-drive as standard and higher quality cooler quieter components;
    a high definition Wii with new built-in WMP remotes as standard.

    I think this is coming. I hope so. This generation's games have served me well, and I want more.

  • UncleLou #22 3 years ago

    Are there any shots of Okami?

    BUT BUT BUT, IT'S SHARPER AND HD AND STUFF! Because that's what we care about apparently, not about the graphics themselves and which mode of display actually serves the game art best. No, we just want the fucking lines to look sharp on our LCD sets. Ugh.

    While I see where you're coming from with your argument in general, I think you're throwing out the baby with the bathwater here. SMG hardly looks so dated that bumping up the resolution makes it fall apart, visually. For me personally, being used to PC gaming mainly, the always blurry (in comparison) picture of my Wii on the tele is something that (literally) gives me a headache, as I always squint. Maybe it's also down to me being short-sighted.

    In short, I'd kill for a higher resolution.

  • Kay #23 3 years ago

    Insanely high (1080p+) resolutions would make most Wii games look a little... clinical and empty, but 720p for something like Mario Galaxy would be great - if only because 480p without AA isn't ideal on an HDTV. Not sure about going to all the hassle of installing the emulator, finding the ISO images and configuring the Wii controller just to play it that way, mind.

    Btw, youtube videos are encoded at max. 30fps, hence the slow video. Here's a download link to a high quality 4:3 video (84MB) of the emulator running it, for anyone that's interested:

    http://www.mega upload.com/?d=AOQPRRYN

  • malexous #24 3 years ago

    This was done at the end of March, if not earlier.

  • peterfll #25 3 years ago

    I'm not getting on my high horse, but I'm just wondering.... unless I actually own a copy of SMG isn't playing it via an emulator technically illegal? And even if I own a copy, it's a bit of a grey area no?

  • skillian #26 3 years ago

    unless I actually own a copy of SMG isn't playing it via an emulator technically illegal?

    Yes.

    are there any other emulators that use USB controllers?

    Use a program like X-Padder and pretty much all emulators will be compatible. Gens is an excellent Megadrive emulator, and will work fine.
    Edited by 1 at 06/07/09 @ 14:33

  • raion #27 3 years ago

    having played videogames on pc since before the first 3D games, I've had quite some experience with screen resolutions over the years. my opinion being that higher resolution does not automatically mean better graphics. in many cases it does, in many others the contrast between extreme high-end resolution and 3D models and textures that weren't meant for such resolution is jarring, actually detracting from the visual appeal. it's like in old animated shows, before cell shading, when they used 3D stuff mixed with drawn stuff, and it never quite looked righ.
    now, if higher resolution meant sharper text, I'd more than welcome it. oh, but text is one of those pesky 2D things isn't it, which would only become smaller and harder to read. oh well.
    as it is, I don't think it's worth to release a new wii just to add HD.
    *watch as my opinion changes as soon as I bring home an HD TV*

  • BM #28 3 years ago

    To be honest I can't tell the difference between the screenies and what I'm playing on my current setup. I'm playing on a 32" LCD TV with a wii connected via the component cable to an AV amp/receiver. This upscales the res to 720p, and looks damn fine too.

    I imagine if I had a newer TV (it's a few years old now) the picture would look even better

  • videogangs #29 3 years ago

    It's nice as a tech demo, but at the end of the day making the Wii pump out a bit of AA and a slightly sharper resolution either would have a) killed the frame rate on the existing hardware or b)put the pricetag up £100 and Nintendo would be languishing in last place again.

    The blurry 480p graphics are a bit frustrating on my big ass telly, but Nintendo made a smart move tbh. Next time round I'd like to see them pump some of those ridiculous profits into a powerful machine again, without the PS3 pricetag.

  • Kentlad #30 3 years ago

    Downloaded it , installed, only ISO I had lying around was a backup of Punch-Out. Was surprised how easy it was to get the game up and running, browse to the ISO and hit play.

    Trouble is the game was laggy as hell, completely unplayable. Not sure if it was just this game or I need to tweak the vairous settings. Impressed with what is possible though.

    Will try and dig out some other games later.

  • Garulon #31 3 years ago

    "The blurry 480p graphics are a bit frustrating on my big ass telly, but Nintendo made a smart move tbh. Next time round I'd like to see them pump some of those ridiculous profits into a powerful machine again, without the PS3 pricetag. "

    But the last time they used their profits to make a powerful machine, they screwed up Big Time.

  • skillian #32 3 years ago

    Your only hope of (relatively) powerful machine is if Nintendo release two consoles next time around.

    No way are they gonna switch from their current winning strategy.

  • schnide #33 3 years ago

    Last time I commented on a Wii thread, some nutcase sent me a PM.

    ThE Wiii SUXXORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 Wiilol

  • scouserfuller9 #34 3 years ago

    All HD does is make the screen look much better. All that concerns me with games though is the gameplay is great and this is something which I believe doesn't change a game a big deal.
    Not to say I won't buy anything to make the picture better it's just something that doesn't play on my mind.

  • DivideAndCombo #35 3 years ago

    Just like any small scene... it causes ripples maybe.. but to joe average, that just looks like a low-speed, slightly shaky version of Mario Galaxy :p :p

  • sneetch #36 3 years ago

    @videogangs
    b)put the pricetag up £100 and Nintendo would be languishing in last place again.

    Ah yes, that'd be why the Xbox 360 is so much more expensive than the Wii then? :)

    They could have done it, they chose not to because they didn't think it was important yet. Their next console will more than likely be HD.

    As for this, I'd love a HD Wii for smoother and clearer graphics, I don't particularly care about poly count or "realism" but I would like it to be sharper.

    @Nikanoru
    BUT BUT BUT, IT'S SHARPER AND HD AND STUFF! Because that's what we care about apparently, not about the graphics themselves and which mode of display actually serves the game art best. No, we just want the fucking lines to look sharp on our LCD sets. Ugh.

    Well, I hardly think that looking blurry on our LCD sets is the mode of display that serves the game art best.

  • videogangs #37 3 years ago

    @sneetch

    I think what Microsoft have done there though is get in early on the hardware and take the massive losses that comes with trying to penetrate the industry in a meaningful way. I love my 360 and hats off to them, it's worked but I just can't see Nintendo ever taking that route again :-( as Garulon mentioned, their previous history of making a powerhouse machine hasn't been too good, even if the 64 was a true cult classic :-(

  • smelly #38 3 years ago

    >Amazing the difference resolution makes.

    Oh do behave. Looking at the shots - It makes little to bugger all difference. And certainly wont alter how it PLAYS..

  • smelly #39 3 years ago

    >This upscales the res to 720p, and looks damn fine too.

    Considering that's pretty much all this emulator will be doing (albeit presumably in 3d as opposed to 2d) - that's not surprising. For the most part most people couldnt tell the difference unless comparing static shots side by side.

    But considering this is illegal - isnt it a bit of a immoral thing for EG to be reporting on? What's next? Links to illegal torrents?


  • smelly #40 3 years ago

    "Well, I hardly think that looking blurry on our LCD sets is the mode of display that serves the game art best. "

    sounds to me like you have bought a shit tv..

  • canIdoyabombsforya #41 3 years ago

    The Wii looks fine on my large screen TVs. They are good brands and upscale 480P very well. TBH the Gamecube at 576i looks better being upscaled on a decent LCD than it ever did on a CRT. So don't know what Darren is on about (yet again) forced to enjoy the Wii on a 21", smelly is probably right. Nobody ever moaned about it in reviews when coming back from E3 did they?, Nintendo have always shown the Wii on at least 32" LCDs.

    @Darren and the other moaners
    You really want to be picky ? the HDMi cable on the 360 shows jaggies on a projector>50". VGA also gives more life like colours than component.

  • Nikanoru #42 3 years ago

    Oh, and I find it kind of funny how nobody has commented on the absence of a load of visual features due to the game running on an emulator. The buggy emulation makes it look flat, bland and dull. There's no rim lighting on environments, the atmosphere of the first planet with the rabbits looks like a plain unshaded polygon, and the piranha boss looks like he's got vaseline smeared all over him.

  • bionutz #43 3 years ago

    I don't find the difference that big. I have a full hd tv setup in 47", with Wii in the wide screen mode. It looked awful until I got the right cable for Wii (so not the boxed one). The quality I have with the new cable (which I got about the same time I got Mario Galaxy) is really comparable to those HD screenshots.

  • smelly #44 3 years ago

    @Nikanoru : Didnt notice that.. Well spotted.

    But then i'm convinced that this is an emperors clothing thing anyways

    The difference between "true" 480p (i.e with component cables) and 720p isnt that noticeable, unless you analyse static screenshots and have nothing better to do with your life. Even halo 3 didnt run in "true" 720p - no-one noticed until some website told them about it

    Edited by 1 at 07/07/09 @ 01:30

  • skillian #45 3 years ago

    Why are people getting snotty? This is not a replacement for your Wii, it's just following a long tradition of trying to emulate consoles on a computer that's been happening since consoles were around. It's as much about the challenge of getting it to work as it is actually playing games.

    And of course there are bugs - most Wii games aren't even playable yet.

  • smelly #46 3 years ago

    @skillian : Who's getting snotty?

    (apart from being snotty at EG for posting a story about illegal software)

  • cawley1 #47 3 years ago

    >(apart from being snotty at EG for posting a story about illegal software)...

    My God! How many times do some people have to be told? It's not the emulator that is illegal, Dolphin is about as illegal as Microsoft Word, it's what you do with it that is illegal.

    These disc based emulators are more likely to be used legally than ones where you have to use a ROM image, at least you can put your store bought disc in the drive and off you go, no more illegal than running it on the actual machine.
    Edited by 2 at 07/07/09 @ 07:56

  • Kafeen #48 3 years ago

    "There is a YouTube video of Super Mario Galaxy running in HD"

    Unfortunatly its on YouTube so its about half the resolution of the standard Wii version.

  • Diomedes #49 3 years ago

    Its not native 720p ,only upscaled 720p so what the hell are you talking about ?

  • Walshicus #50 3 years ago

    Cool! Saves me having to give Nintendo £250 should a Wii game come out that I want to play.

  • smelly #51 3 years ago

    "Its not native 720p ,only upscaled 720p so what the hell are you talking about ? "

    Upscaling takes the 2d image and makes it higher resolution.

    If you're rendering a scene in 3d, then you can draw everything in the higher resolution.

    So the 2nd way is better way of doing it.

    But as i said before - i fail to see how having extra pixels makes the game PLAY any better - and has been pointed out, it doesnt actually even LOOK any better (thanks to missing out on some of the effects and stuff).

  • smelly #52 3 years ago

    "My God! How many times do some people have to be told? It's not the emulator that is illegal, Dolphin is about as illegal as Microsoft Word, it's what you do with it that is illegal. "


    I'm sure nintendo will disagree... Same logic - R4 carts arent illegal - it's what you do with them?

    Actually there's no point wasting my typing here is there?

    Telling a forum full of "game fans" that piracy or emulation is wrong is like trying to tell a bunch of michael jackson "fans" who are screaming and cheering with joy that they've got tickets to his memorial - that they're missing the point

  • smelly #53 3 years ago

    "but 720p for something like Mario Galaxy would be great - if only because 480p without AA isn't ideal on an HDTV."


    Since when did Mario Galaxy not have AA?

    Do you lot ALL have crap tvs or something? Seems strange to me that you all go on about hi-def being ultra important but by the sounds of things most of you have crappy cheapo tv's (or expensive crap sony ones) which cant even handle upscaling properly.