Over the last few years or so, there’s been a growing number of classic Nintendo games getting disassembled and decompiled. This is when fans reverse engineer the game to get something approximating the original source code, letting them more easily modify the game and port it to other systems.
It’s happened to Super Mario 64, it’s happened to Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and it’s happened to Star Fox 64 as well.
But now it seems it’s also happened to Mario Kart 64 too. Yep, as spotted by various folks on social media, the decompilation project for the game has now reached 100%, meaning all the code has now been decompiled and can build a copy of the ROM from the ground up.
Here’s the project page with more info:
So, what could this entail?
Well, if the other games mentioned are anything to go by, quite the revolution for the modding scene, that’s what! Now it’ll be way easier to modify the code to add new functionality to the game, since you can write it in C rather than assembly, and easily figure out what needs changing without a debugger and a lot of trial and error.
Hence major code changes should now be a lot more common in Mario Kart 64 mods. We should see more advanced custom tracks, extra items and characters and mode functionality, and all kinds of other neat stuff usually seen in the later Mario Kart games like Wii or 8.
And we may also see a PC port at some point too. This could let fans play the game in HD with redone textures, a better frame rate and other useful advancements, and would certainly make it a lot more accessible for newcomers in 2025.
So, yeah, it’s big news as far as Mario Kart 64 is concerned.
But interestingly, that’s not even the only example here.
No, Mario Party 4 is basically at the same stage too!
Yeah, just like Mario Kart 64, fans have decompiled this game in its entirety too. They’ve got code that generates a working build of the game, 100% code coverage in just about all areas, and everything else needed to say the game has been fully reverse engineered.
Here’s the repo for that project too:
So it seems like Mario Party modding might see a bit of a resurgence too. Perhaps we’ll get more custom boards and characters for the GameCube era games now, rather than just the N64 ones? Or a cleaned up, shiny version of the game for PC and other devices?
Only time will tell!
Still, what do you think? Are you excited for more Mario Kart 64 and Mario Party 4 mods and ports? What do you think these decomp projects will bring to the games in future?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below, on social media, or on our Discord server today!
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