Human-Made Decomp and Recomp Directory Aims to Highlight Community Coding Work

Reverse-engineering projects have become one of the most important ways that classic games continue to evolve long after their original hardware has faded from everyday use. Decompilations, recompilations, and clean-room reimplementations can open paths to native PC play, modern display support, frame-rate options, modding tools, online features, quality-of-life upgrades, and accessibility improvements. They also tend to be difficult, time-consuming technical efforts built through the work of dedicated communities.

A new community directory, assembled by an X user named Funky90sLion, is intended to make those human-led projects easier to find. The living document collects decomp and recomp efforts that its curator identifies as human-made, while drawing a line between those projects and the growing volume of AI-assisted or AI-generated ports appearing online.

The directory is not simply a list of old games that can be played on PC. Its stated purpose is to spotlight the people and teams doing the painstaking engineering work behind these projects, particularly as modern tools make it easier for less-tested releases to circulate quickly. Funky90sLion plans to continue updating the resource as new work appears and to contact project creators where possible to verify technical details behind each entry.

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Why decomps and recomps matter to preservation communities

Although the terms are often used together, decompilation and recompilation describe related but different approaches. A decompilation generally involves recreating a game's original source code in a human-readable form by studying its compiled program. This can be a major undertaking, especially for games built for older consoles and their highly specialized hardware.

For useful background on this topic, read AI-Coded Game Mashup Mods Go Viral, but Playability Remains a Major Question.

A recompilation, or recomp, commonly takes a compiled game and translates or rebuilds it so it can run natively on different hardware or operating systems. The exact techniques vary by project. In practice, recomp projects can allow an older console release to run on a modern Windows PC with fewer of the limitations associated with original hardware.

There are also ports, engine recreations, and reimplementations. Some projects rebuild a game or engine from scratch; others use reverse-engineered research to make a native version possible. The results can be transformative. The best-known examples have helped establish an ecosystem where older games gain widescreen support, uncapped performance, controller improvements, custom levels, randomizers, multiplayer modes, restoration patches, and extensive mod support.

That work is why a directory with clear project attribution may be valuable. A download page or social-media post does not always make the development history of a port immediately obvious. The new list is designed as a filtering tool for players who want to identify work associated with established human contributors and development communities.

A response to a flood of untested projects

Funky90sLion frames the directory as a response to a changing environment around reverse-engineering projects. The curator points to the early 2020s as a period when major decompilation work showed what native versions of classic games could achieve. The appeal was obvious: beloved titles could run on PC while gaining modern performance options and an expanding universe of fan-made enhancements.

The concern now is that AI tools have made it easier for people with little programming experience to publish ports that may not have received meaningful testing. In the curator's view, this has created a wave of broken or unstable projects that can be confused with more carefully developed community work. The problem is not only technical quality. It is also visibility, as fast-moving uploads can crowd out the people who spent years documenting, reverse-engineering, debugging, and maintaining their releases.

The directory's methodology will necessarily remain a work in progress. Its curator has acknowledged that mistakes can happen and has invited corrections if an AI project is included in error. That open approach matters for a list dealing with a fast-moving technical scene, where projects can change maintainers, fork into several versions, or adopt different tools over time.

Major decomp ports already included

The current collection spans Nintendo, Sega, PlayStation, Xbox, mobile, and PC-adjacent game history. Among the listed decomp-based ports and reimplementations are several recognizable names:

• SMW, described as a reimplementation of Super Mario World.
• SM64 Port, a PC port built from the Super Mario 64 decompilation.
• sm64coopdx, a PC version based on the same work with online co-op for as many as 16 players.
• Sm64Plus, a fork of sm64-port focused on customization and quality-of-life options.
• SA2, a decompilation and port of Sonic Advance 2.
• AstroCore, a PC port of Super Mario Galaxy from LumaWorkshop.
• Cut-the-Rope-DX, an enhanced decomp project for Cut the Rope.
• Zelda3, a reimplementation of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
• DuskLight, a PC port of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
• OpenGOAL, an all-in-one PC launcher covering the Jak trilogy.
• Perfect_Dark, a PC port of Perfect Dark that remains in progress.

That selection demonstrates the broad appeal of this kind of development. It is not restricted to a single console era or publisher. The listed projects include 16-bit platformers, Nintendo 64 landmarks, handheld games, GameCube and PlayStation-era releases, mobile titles, and later console games.

Decompilation work covers Sonic, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and more

The document also recognizes the underlying decompilation projects that often make later ports and mods possible. The foundational SM64 Decomp and MK64 Decomp projects cover Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64, originally released in 1996 and 1997 respectively.

Sonic-related technical work features heavily. The list includes RSonic3D-Decompilation for Retro-Sonic 3D: Sky Worlds, plus projects covering multiple versions of the Retro Engine: RSDKv2, RSDKv3, RSDKv4, and RSDKv5. Those engines are associated with games and releases including Sonic CD, Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic Mania, and Sonic Origins. Script decompilations for the relevant Sonic releases are also included, alongside a separate Sonic Mania decompilation project with versions ranging from pre-Plus to Plus.

Other entries reflect the diversity of games attracting reverse-engineering attention. These include work related to Perfect Dark, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, Pokémon Emerald, Digimon Digital Card Battle, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Legend of Mana, and Digimon World. The Lom-decomp entry is described as matching Legend of Mana, with the North American PlayStation version complete and Japanese support still in progress.

Recomp projects bring more console games to PC

On the recompilation side, the document highlights a mixture of released and ongoing efforts. MarathonRecomp is listed as a recompilation of the Xbox 360 version of Sonic the Hedgehog from 2006. The directory also includes Sonic Unleashed, described as a project maintained by experienced modders from the Hedgehog Engine community.

Nintendo 64 is particularly well represented. DK64 Rekongpiled targets Donkey Kong 64, while BanjoRecomp focuses on the original Banjo-Kazooie. Zelda64Recomp covers The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and the Bomberman entries include BM64Recomp for Bomberman 64 and BMHeroRecomp for Bomberman Hero. Goemon64Recomp is an unofficial PC port of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon produced through static recompilation.

Elsewhere, ReBlue is listed as a PC port of Blue Dragon, and doaxbv-re is a native Windows port of the original Xbox version of Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, built through static recompilation.

The in-progress recompilation section currently names MediEvilRecomp for the US PlayStation version of MediEvil, SymphonyRecomp for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and KirbyWiiRecomp for Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

A useful reference, not a final verdict

The list should be viewed as a community reference rather than an immutable certification program. Reverse-engineering projects are complex, collaborative, and frequently revised. A directory can help provide context, but individual users still need to understand what a particular project is, who maintains it, what files it requires, and whether it is stable enough for their needs.

Still, the project addresses a clear need. In a hobby space where search results can become crowded by incomplete builds and vague claims, a maintained catalogue of human-led work offers a practical starting point. It also gives deserved attention to the developers whose technical research has enabled some of the most exciting ways to revisit classic games on modern systems.

As Funky90sLion continues to add entries and seek details from creators, the directory could become a valuable record of the people preserving, rebuilding, and expanding game history one project at a time.