Analog 3D Review: Is This the Best Way to Play N64 Games in 4K?

Unboxing a long-awaited piece of gaming hardware is always an experience filled with anticipation, skepticism, and a little bit of hope that...

Unboxing a long-awaited piece of gaming hardware is always an experience filled with anticipation, skepticism, and a little bit of hope that the final product will not only live up to the hype but also justify the price and the many months (sometimes years) of waiting, and when it comes to the Analog 3D—a $250 FPGA-powered console that finally delivers Nintendo 64 gameplay in modern 4K—those emotions are amplified, especially for anyone who pre-ordered, waited through delay after delay, and watched reviewers get their hands on a unit before the earliest paying customers even got a shipping notification, which leads to the natural, slightly jealous question: is the Analog 3D really worth the wait, and more importantly, is it good enough to replace your original N64 with an upscaler?

First out the gate, the Analog 3D feels like a paid product, shipping with all the essentials: the console itself, a sturdy HDMI cable, a USB-C power cable, the correct power adapter (which you should absolutely use instead of plugging it straight into your TV’s USB slot), and even a couple of cartridge cleaners—a thoughtful inclusion for anyone dusting off old carts—and it’s clear the design team put effort into making sure you have everything you need to get up and running, from the four controller ports on the front (which support any N64 accessory) to the spring-loaded power switch that feels satisfyingly modern compared to the original’s.

The back of the console is loaded with connectivity, including a USB-C port for power, USB-A ports for accessories, an HDMI 2.0 port supporting 4K at 60Hz, and an SD card slot (for which you’ll need fingernails to remove the included 16GB card, which the system requires to run), while the bottom sports a giant rubber foot to keep it firmly planted, and the sides are refreshingly minimalist—no Sega CD expansion options here, and no expansion port, so forget about connecting a 64DD or Doctor V64, at least for now, unless a future firmware update pulls off a miracle.

You can opt for the optional 8BitDo wireless controller (which, branding aside, feels like any modern gamepad), but the original N64 controllers still hold a special place in my heart, even if the colored face buttons have been replaced by all-black ones that don’t match what’s shown in most games; still, the wireless controller offers a few conveniences, like a quick-access menu button and the ability to power on the system by holding Start, though muscle memory from the old controller design might have you fumbling for the Z trigger in the wrong spot.

Booting up the Analog 3D for the first time lands you in a basic—but functional—menu, where you’re immediately prompted to accept a EULA (because even retro gaming needs legal protection these days), and while you probably won’t read it, you’ll appreciate that once you plug in a game, the system recognizes it, displays a crisp graphical label, and even offers some information—though many of the features promised on Analog’s website, like playtime tracking or date added, aren’t implemented yet.

Navigating the system and game options is straightforward: you can choose your output resolution (1080p or 4K, at either 60 or 50Hz), and the system supports HDR (though, in my experience, it’s not as bright as SDR and lacks any real customization, making it more of a curiosity than a must-have), and while there’s no analog DAC support for CRTs (and probably never will be), the visuals on modern displays are sharp, with customizable scanlines and CRT emulation options—though you’ll need to set these up on a game-by-game basis for now, as global settings aren’t yet functional.

Game compatibility is impressive; the Analog 3D handled every official N64 cartridge I threw at it, and even the Everdrive 64 (for homebrew and mods) works—though you might need to downgrade your Everdrive OS for perfect compatibility, and some early revisions won’t boot at all, but with a bit of tinkering (and the right OS version), you can play everything from retail classics to English-translated Japan-only RPGs, and even unreleased prototypes, all with solid performance and save management via the SD card.

The system’s real magic lies in its visual options: toggling DBlur, anti-aliasing, and 32-bit color can make games like Star Fox 64 and Perfect Dark look genuinely better than ever, and the various overclocking and enhancement modes (Auto, Enhanced, Enhanced Plus, Unleashed) give you granular control over performance, sometimes doubling frame rates or smoothing out slowdowns that plagued the original hardware—but you’ll want to stick to Auto or Force Original Hardware for games that are speed-sensitive, or you might find Batman Beyond and similar titles running hilariously fast.

Despite all the advancements, some old flaws remain: the Analog 3D’s lack of deinterlacing options means games that used interlaced video modes (especially those that took advantage of the expansion pack) display visible combing artifacts, and there’s currently no way to fix this, which, for me, is the biggest barrier to making the system my daily driver. While scanlines look fantastic and take advantage of the 4K output, you can’t adjust brightness when they’re enabled, and the raw pixel mode is great for those who prefer a cleaner look, but it’s still a bit of a letdown that the console can’t scale games more intelligently to fit modern displays without introducing some blur or odd aspect ratios.

Audio is faithfully reproduced, with only a few minor quirks in obscure wrestling games (shoutout to Digital Foundry for the deep dive), and multiplayer works perfectly, supporting up to four players and even expansion pack-enabled modes. Region-free gaming is supported for Japanese and European titles, and the system is great enough to handle hacks, mods, and even games that were never released outside Japan, giving you a broader library than most original consoles ever could.

In the end, the Analog 3D is a remarkable feat of engineering and a joy for anyone looking to take a memory down the golden era of the Nintendo 64—warts and all—but it’s not quite perfect yet; the lack of deinterlacing, some unfinished menu options, and a handful of small quirks mean it can’t fully replace an original N64 with a quality upscaler just yet. Still, if Analog delivers on promised firmware updates and fixes some of these remaining issues, this system could easily become the gold standard for playing N64 games, both for casual fans and hardcore collectors, making it a worthy investment—provided you’re willing to sit this one out just a little bit longer for perfection.

What do you think about this new game? Have you pre-ordered yours as yet? The Analog 3D, or are you waiting to see if the next round of updates explores these lingering issues? You may have felt that it’s an exciting time to be a retro gamer fan, and I’m ready to see how this and future FPGA consoles continue to push the game forward. Thanks for reading, and may your next session be foggy, nostalgic, and fun.