decompilation

AppWizard
June 24, 2025
Over two weeks after the launch of the Switch 2 and the latest Mario Kart installment, a fan-made port of Mario Kart 64, called SpaghettiKart, has been released for PC. This port was created by fans who reverse-engineered the original game, ensuring it does not use any code from the Nintendo 64 version to avoid legal issues. SpaghettiKart is available for download on GitHub and is still a work-in-progress, with some features not yet fully supported and a rare crash issue for a small number of users. The project follows the decompilation of the classic game and is part of a trend of retro titles being ported by fans.
AppWizard
June 24, 2025
UltraHLE enabled players to run commercial Nintendo 64 games at playable frame rates on Windows 9x. The Harbour Masters collective has developed SpaghettiKart, an unofficial PC port of Mario Kart 64, by decompiling and recompiling the original game code for contemporary platforms, including Windows, Linux (Ubuntu 22), and Nintendo Switch. Players must provide their own Mario Kart 64 ROM and use "Spaghettify.exe" to load the game. SpaghettiKart currently supports only the US version and offers three rendering APIs: DirectX 11 for Windows, Metal for macOS, and OpenGL for other platforms. The port allows for custom assets and mods, although it is still in development and may have occasional crashes. Mario Kart 64 is the second-best-selling title for the Nintendo 64, with nearly 9.87 million copies sold globally. SpaghettiKart utilizes Libultraship, a library that reimplements Nintendo 64 SDK functions on modern machines.
BetaBeacon
May 20, 2025
- The classic game "3D Pinball Space Cadet" from Windows XP has been ported to Android devices for free. - Developer Kyle Sylvertre brought the nostalgic game to Android using a GitHub decompilation of the original game by k4zmu2a. - The game is available on the Google Play Store for fans to enjoy, but users may need to scroll down or use a provided link to find the free version.
AppWizard
May 14, 2025
The gaming community has seen a rise in reverse-engineering source code from retro console games, particularly from the Nintendo 64 era and earlier, leading to native PC ports. The decompilation of Mario Party 4 is nearly complete, making it the first fully decompiled GameCube title, which will facilitate unofficial PC ports. A port of Mario Party 4 with online multiplayer is in development. Other GameCube titles like Super Smash Bros. Melee and Metroid Prime are also being targeted for decompilation. An unofficial PC port of the Xbox 360 game Sonic Unleashed has been completed. Previous titles such as Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time have received PC ports with enhanced features. Modders are experimenting with advanced technologies like ray tracing for classic games. A modding tool has improved the recompilation process, but technical challenges remain. Nintendo has not taken legal action against these decompilation efforts, and modders use clean room tactics to avoid legal issues, requiring ownership of the original game for PC ports.
BetaBeacon
May 13, 2025
The decompilation of Mario Party 4 for the Nintendo GameCube has been successfully completed, resulting in a nearly perfect replication of the game's source code. This is the first GameCube game to be decompiled, with plans to decompile other Mario Party games and potentially combine all boards into a single game or add online multiplayer in the future.
BetaBeacon
May 5, 2025
The N64: Recompiled tool has been updated by Wiseguy, making it easier to create native ports of N64 games. The latest update improves the renderer, allowing N64 games to run at full speed with 4K texture packs even on older hardware. Mod-supporting ports of various games are coming soon, with the ability for modders to change virtually anything in the game. Currently, Zelda 64: Recompiled supports Majora's Mask, with Ocarina of Time on the way. Other recomps for games like Kirby 64, Quest 64, and Banjo-Kazooie are also in progress.
AppWizard
March 8, 2025
XenonRecomp is a project focused on preserving Xbox 360 games by transforming them into native x86 software, enhancing their graphical fidelity. The Xbox Series X currently supports only 632 out of 2,155 Xbox 360 titles through emulation. XenonRecomp faces challenges such as understanding system architecture, supporting PowerPC instructions, and addressing the lack of MMIO support. Developers must also obtain assets from legal copies of the original games. The game Sonic Unleashed has been successfully ported using this method, with enhancements demonstrated by Modern Vintage Gamer.
AppWizard
March 2, 2025
Sonic Unleashed has been ported to PC as Unleashed Recompiled, nearly sixteen years after its original release in November 2008. This port was developed by fans using XenonRecomp and XenosRecomp tools to convert PowerPC code and Xenos shaders into x86 PC-compatible C++ and HLSL code. This breakthrough allows for the possibility of recompiling any Xbox 360 title for native PC play, including those not supported by Xbox Backward Compatibility. Players must have legally obtained copies of the original Xbox 360 titles to use this port. Unleashed Recompiled features advanced graphics and gameplay modifications through tools like HedgeModManager, making the PC platform a more customizable option for playing Xbox 360 games.
AppWizard
September 2, 2024
Fans have successfully decompiled the classic Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie, enabling an anticipated PC port. This process involved translating the original game's code into the 'C' programming language, allowing it to run on modern hardware without emulation. Originally released in 1997 by Rare, Banjo-Kazooie is known for its 3D platforming and whimsical charm. Players will need a copy or ROM of the original game to use the decompiled code, which does not include the original art and music. The decompilation allows for potential enhancements such as widescreen support, 4K resolution, uncapped frame rates, and community-created mods. Banjo-Kazooie has previously been ported to Xbox and is part of Nintendo's Nintendo 64 library for the Switch.
Search