Super Mario 64 Splitscreen Multiplayer -normal ... May 2026

Last weekend, my friends and I played through 30 stars in one sitting using Normal Splitscreen. Here’s how it went:

Verdict: It’s not polished like Mario Kart, but it’s a magical, rough-around-the-edges experience that feels like playing a lost Nintendo 64 prototype.

This is where "Normal" co-op dies. In the splitscreen mod, Stars are not instanced per player. There is only one Star. If Player 1 collects the 8 Red Coins, that star disappears for Player 2. This forces genuine competition. You aren't cooperating; you're racing.

The ultimate troll: Wait at the Star spawn in Whomp’s Fortress. Let Player 2 do all the platforming to reach the cage. Right as they break the cage, triple jump and grab the Star. Their screen will show Mario grabbing nothing. The scream you hear from your couch is the entire point of this mod.

The “Normal” version of the mod (most famously from the SM64 Co-op Deluxe or Splitscreen Mod Pack) refers to the standard splitscreen layout where each player gets their own camera and independent movement within the same shared game world. Unlike “Co-op” where players are forced to stay on the same screen, “Normal” splitscreen gives each player full freedom.

Key Features of the Normal Splitscreen Build: Super Mario 64 Splitscreen Multiplayer -Normal ...

The game code identifies the protagonist via a single pointer: gMarioState. The splitscreen hack essentially clones this state. The result?

Most YouTube tutorials show the "normal" splitscreen mod where players are invincible to each other, share lives, and have a unified HUD. That is boring. The "-Normal" search is a niche indicator that you want the dev build or the glitch-enabled version.

In the abnormal build:

Playlist creators use "-Normal" to differentiate from the polished, "party mode" splitscreen found in the newer Render96 builds. If you want raw, unfiltered, 1996-engine-struggling-to-render-two-face-textures multiplayer, you skip "Normal."

Requirements:

Step-by-step:

When people hear “Super Mario 64 multiplayer,” they usually think of two things:

“Normal” splitscreen means something different: full cooperative or competitive exploration of the original campaign. Same castle. Same 120 stars. But now Player 2 (or 3, or 4) has their own Mario, their own camera, and their own slice of the screen.

No lag switching. No turn-based waiting. Just pure, unadulterated 3D platforming chaos.

Custom levels like “Peach’s Courtyard Arena” or “Bob-omb Blast Field” let players fight using: