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Nintendo 64 u/blastprocessing ·

Does the N64 Expansion Pak make every game look better?

I just got a Nintendo 64 and I see a lot of people saying I need to buy the red Expansion Pak. Does it actually improve the graphics for all the games, or is it only for specific ones?
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3 comments

  • u/crt_glow ·
    It only works for specific games that were programmed to use it. The Expansion Pak adds 4MB of RAM to the console (doubling it to 8MB). For the vast majority of N64 games, having it plugged in does absolutely nothing. They will look and run exactly the same as with the standard Jumper Pak.
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  • u/thirtylives ·
    Be careful turning on the 'hi-res' mode in the games that support it, though. Because the N64 is pushing more pixels without a faster processor, turning on the Expansion Pak graphics mode often makes the framerate take a massive dive. Perfect Dark in high-res mode runs incredibly slow compared to standard resolution.
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  • u/joystickjen ·
    There are only three games that actually require it to play: Donkey Kong 64, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and the single-player campaign of Perfect Dark. A few dozen other games use it to unlock higher resolution modes or better textures, like Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Turok 2.
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