Take this DLSS: HD Mode 7 mod makes classic SNES games look brand new

[Shawn Knight]

Through the looking glass: Classic Super Nintendo games like F-Zero and Super Mario Kart have re-entered the homes of millions thanks to the launch of the SNES Classic Edition. Now thanks to a new HD emulation mod, these games and more are looking better than Nintendo could have ever imagined.

Nintendo’s miniature console delivers a faithful reproduction of these games and others, complete with their original strengths and weaknesses.

Among them is Mode 7, a graphics mode that was used to create the illusion of three-dimensional graphics. It worked, mind you, but often resulted in chunky and pixelated backgrounds that weren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing.

Over on Reddit, user DerKoun recently shared a beta release for an HD mod for bsnes 107.1 that performs Mode 7 transformations (including HDMA) at up to four times the horizontal and vertical resolution. The mod also introduces more aggressive averaging of the integer math to make things look even better. The results are downright breathtaking.

In F-Zero, the mess of pixels outside the track now form beautiful patterns. The results are even more stunning in Pilotwings as newfound details in the distance and on the ground are visible for the first time. Super Mario Kart with the HD Mode 7 mod looks like an entirely different game.

Those interested in giving the mod a shot can download the requisite files by following the links on Reddit.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/79713-hd-mode-7-mod-makes-classic-snes-games.html

 

[OutlawCecil]

Holy crap. If you are reading this, look into this. The screenshots provided here do not do it justice. The Mario Kart specifically is a huuuuuge difference! Lots of people on the Reddit posted comparisons which are amazing. I just wish this mod was available for my phone's emulators!

 

[ZackL04]

Are the snes classics all sold out now?

I had one, but now want one again...

 

[gamerk2]

Are the snes classics all sold out now?

I had one, but now want one again...

This only applies to the BSNES emulator; the SNES classic still has original resolution internal rendering.

 

[amstech]

ZSNES folks.
Cmon now.

 

[90sNath]

ZSNES folks.
Cmon now.

Stop the ZSNES. cmon now. all it does is just upscale ONLY the y axis mind you to only the snes res 240p. this can upres both the y and x axis AND does it all the way to 960p

 

[kmo911]

Remember it not ps1 textures. snes are even lower and 16 bit textures. so upscaling it would be somehow lovely. hdmi 2.1a b ps1 are about 320x 200 dpi ppi

 

[amstech]

Stop the ZSNES. cmon now. all it does is just upscale ONLY the y axis mind you to only the snes res 240p. this can upres both the y and x axis AND does it all the way to 960p

ZSNES has high res textures, AA, texture smoothing, and other things as well, and you can run games at any resolution you choose up to 1600 X 1200.
You should see how good N64 games look on Project 64 with all their video goodies and options.

 

[gamerk2]

Stop the ZSNES. cmon now. all it does is just upscale ONLY the y axis mind you to only the snes res 240p. this can upres both the y and x axis AND does it all the way to 960p

ZSNES has high res textures, AA, texture smoothing, and other things as well, and you can run games at any resolution you choose up to 1600 X 1200.
You should see how good N64 games look on Project 64 with all their video goodies and options.

ZSNES was a good emulator for it's time, but it's long been surpassed by other emulators that handle fringe cases better and faster. I can give a small list of things ZSNES fails badly at.

While ZSNES did stay around long enough to get a HQ2X filter, it couldn't upscale Mode 7 effects beyond the SNES's internal resolution, which is what BSNES is now able to do. And don't confuse Video output with internal resolution; it's trivial to change the output resolution, but that doesn't affect the internal rendering, which is what really effects how sharp the final output is.

 

[amstech]

While ZSNES did stay around long enough to get a HQ2X filter, it couldn't upscale Mode 7 effects beyond the SNES's internal resolution, which is what BSNES is now able to do. And don't confuse Video output with internal resolution; it's trivial to change the output resolution, but that doesn't affect the internal rendering, which is what really effects how sharp the final output is.

Good to know, I haven't ran my emulators in years, thanks for sharing.