N64 Games Input Lag on Switch Online Reportedly Improving - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 05 February 2022 / 3,639 Views

The Nintendo 64 app available to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers had some issues at launch with input lag and graphical issues.

Update 1.2 for the N64 app that launched alongside Banjo-Kazooie coming to the app last week improved some of the graphical issues. A new report from YouTube channel Modern Vintage Gamer with some testing has has the graphics have improved and the update appears to have reduced the input lag.

"The input lag has had some work," said the YouTuber. "It's certainly not fixed, but it is better than the original release and it does show me that Nintendo is listening. Or at least reading the feedback and trying to address these things."

The amount of input lag in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has improved from five or six frames down to one or two frames. While there is still some lag it isn't nearly as bad as before.

Banjo-Kazooie didn't have any noticeable input lag, according to Modern Vintage Gamer. At least in the first two worlds.

The Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Switch Online collection launched in fall 2921 with many classic games like Super Mario 64, The legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64, and Mario Kart 64. It is part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, which also includes Sega Genesis games and the Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise DLC.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

11 Comments

Slownenberg (on 25 January 2022)

Solid update, fixing some graphical issues as well as mostly fixing input lag. Hopefully they get out one more update in the next couple months to really make everything works great. With a fixed emulator and a few more games this thing is gonna be real nice!

G2ThaUNiT (on 25 January 2022)

Great news to hear! If they keep on the improvements along with a monthly new release, I may upgrade in a few months!

JackHandy (on 25 January 2022)

This is why I only play retro games via actual carts and on CRTs. Until tech gets advanced enough to where it's 1:1 with the original experience, it's really the only way to play the game the way it was meant to be played.