In the last few years, video game reverse engineering has come a long way. Indeed, with games like Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Minish Cap getting decompiled, and approximately half the SNES library getting disassembled, it’s clear the community knows the inner workings of their games far better than ever before.
And now, it seems the same thing has happened to the original Banjo-Kazooie as well. Yep, as announced by the community, the game has now been entirely decompiled, with the source available to check out online.
Here’s the post about it from Bring Back Banjo:
Banjo Kazooie decompilation project has hit 100% 🚨
This means we will very soon see native ports to PC and people will be able to essentially create a Render 96 style remake pic.twitter.com/xeOxrNPS9v
— Bring Back Banjo (@BringBackBanjoK) August 29, 2024
As well as a link to the full decomp project on GitLab:
Banjo-Kazooie Decompilation Project (GitLab)
But what does this mean for the community? How will this decomp help Banjo-Kazooie fans going forward?
Well, there are a number of possible ways. Firstly, it means it’s far easier to port the game to PC now.
This in turn means a 60FPS, full HD version will be possible to release for the platform, with support for all the latest technology under the sun. So, if you want to run it on computer, or add various fancy texture packs or what not, that should all be possible in due time.
More importantly though, is its effect on the modding community. Put simply, decomps and ports are a godsend for modders and hackers.
Since now, they have an easy way to edit the game’s source code without needing to mess around with assembly hacks or reverse engineering. It’s not necessary for everything (Super Mario World runs fine without most hacks using decomp), but it’s certainly useful for many communities, as shown by the rapid advancements the Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time communities have made since their games were decompiled in this way.
And it’s something Banjo in particular needs right now. Yes, there are some very impressive projects going around in that community, as shown by Mark Kurko’s mods and what not…
But there are also numerous limitations holding the community back too. Indeed, as Mark Kurko said in our interview with him back in November 2019, the Banjo-Kazooie community has been held back by various issues, including:
- How challenging it is to get world doors working (hence why many hacks don’t use them)
- How prone the game is to crashing with map edits
- Event setups for collectables being hard coded, and difficult to edit
- Tools being poorly maintained
- And in another conversation, how hard it is to add entirely new actors (enemies, NPCs, etc) to the game
So, if the decomp gets enough support, and a PC port potentially gets made, these issues could become a thing of the past. Editing Banjo could be as simple as editing Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time, with all the customisation abilities those games bring.
Regardless, the project is done and dusted, and Banjo-Kazooie is now 100% decompiled. Check it out if you’re a Banjo-Kazooie fan, or looking to get started with mods for that series!
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