Unofficial PC ports of N64 games could be about to get a lot easier | VGC

A developer has created a tool that could make it much easier to create PC ports of Nintendo 64 games.

For the past few years,  numerous fan-made decompilation projects have been in the works, which attempt to reverse-engineer the code of individual N64 games and turn them into C code, which can then be compiled into playable PC versions.

However, developer Wiseguy has now created N64: Recompiled, a tool which automatically recompiles N64 binaries into C code in a fraction of the time.

As explained in a YouTube video by Nerrel, N64: Recompiled has the potential to “magically turn an N64 ROM into a runnable .exe in a matter of minutes”.

The video shows Wiseguy adding an N64 ROM to the tool, which then translates it to C code, ready for compiling, “in mere seconds”.

While emulators have allowed PC users to play N64 games for decades, the act of compiling PC ports for each game has numerous advantages, such as the ability to turn on improved frame rate, ultra-wide support, 4K resolutions and ray tracing.

As with the individual decompilation projects, players have to provide their own legally-sourced N64 ROM for these games to work – the software then takes assets from the ROM (such as character models, audio and textures) and combines them with the decompiled code to create a native PC version.

The belief is that this helps shield the projects somewhat from legal ramifications. Reverse engineering projects such as these are technically made legal because the developers involved do not use any leaked content or copyrighted assets.

As Nerrel points out, because Wiseguy’s decompiled code doesn’t use game assets either, he could supply each port pre-built, meaning players wouldn’t have to use the tool to do their own conversions and would instead just have to supply their own game ROM file.

“The automated process isn’t perfect and the recomps usually require manual fixes for things like modern hardware speeds being way faster than expected,” Nerrel says.

“But the amount of time and work needed to patch them up pales in comparison to a full decompilation and port process.”

To prove this, Wiseguy has released the first of his Recompiled ports, for The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Players can download it now and add their own N64 ROM of the game to play it on PC.

A full decompilation project for Majora’s Mask has been ongoing for a number of months at Harbour Masters, who previously released a PC port of Ocarina of Time. Harbour Masters announced in November 2023 that it had decompiled Majora’s Mask and was now working on the PC port.

Meanwhile, Wiseguy says his tool let him create a fully working PC port of Majora’s Mask in just two days.

Nerrel stresses that the tool will not make the longer, more traditional method of decompiling obsolete. “The recomp code is not readable, so having fully reverse-engineered source code is a big help for modding and patching, even when using this tool,” they point out.

“Part of the reason Majora’s Mask only took two days is that there was a decompilation to reference. But, of course, the point is that you don’t need a decompilation to create a port anymore, opening the door to the most obscure games running natively on PC.”

Wiseguy has already successfully created recompiled PC ports of N64 titles Banjo-Kazooie, Rocket: Robot on Wheels and Superman 64.