Many years ago, Nintendo did something very unlike themselves: they entered into a partnership with Sega and Namco to create an arcade platform called Triforce. It was built upon Nintendo’s GameCube board, tweaked to become a full-fledged arcade machine that could run games from all three companies. While the collaboration produced several arcade-only experiences, many of those titles remained locked away in arcades, never making their way onto home consoles or even PCs. But that’s changing real soon.
Dolphin, an emulator for Wii and GameCube, just got an update that allows it to run Triforce arcade games. So, all those games stuck in arcade boxes, like Mario Kart Arcade, are going to be playable at home.
Truforce Platforms And Its Big Games
The Triforce platform’s most famous release is arguably F-Zero AX, a high-speed arcade racer that later saw elements adapted into F-Zero GX on the GameCube. But beyond that headline title, several games never received proper home ports.
Games like Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 that were popular back then never saw screen time on home consoles. Both of these games were built on the engine of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! yet introduced new tracks, a revised handling model, and even crossover characters like Pac-Man and a Tamagotchi.
For many years, if you wanted to play these games, you needed a functioning arcade cabinet, something that became increasingly hard to track down as time passed. But with this new update, you can easily enjoy Triforce games in the comfort of your home. If you are a retro-head, this is the perfect time to try some classics from the Triforce era.
With this update, arcade exclusives that once felt like lost pieces of Nintendo history are now significantly more accessible. For longtime fans who only read about these machines in magazines or saw them referenced in passing, it marks the first real opportunity to experience these unique Mario Kart entries without stepping into an arcade.
As Dolphin continues refining support, preservationists and racing fans alike now have a new way to explore a fascinating chapter in Nintendo’s arcade experiments.
