DecompHub

How to find a decompilation of your favorite game

By DecompHub · Updated · English

Write down your game’s exact title, original platform and, if relevant, regional release. That small amount of context prevents a search for one game from turning into a list of sequels, remakes and unrelated tools.

Search in widening circles

  1. Search DecompHub for the full title, then try an abbreviation or regional name.
  2. Search GitHub repositories for the title with decompilation, then separately with disassembly, reimplementation and recompilation.
  3. Look through the relevant platform community. zeldaret, pret and doldecomp are useful starting points for their respective projects, not exhaustive catalogues of every game.
  4. Follow official documentation to ports, progress reports and successor repositories.

Use the GitHub search guide when broad searches produce too much noise. Try platform names separately rather than requiring every keyword in one query.

Identify what you found

A matching decompilation reconstructs code for a particular build. A disassembly works at the assembly level. A reimplementation aims at compatible behavior. A port adapts software for another platform, and may build on an earlier reconstruction. A remake can reproduce the idea of a game without reconstructing its original program.

These distinctions matter when your goal is playing rather than reading code. For example, finding Super Mario 64’s decompilation does not by itself identify the native port or release you should use. Follow the documented relationship, not a guessed repository name.

Check the evidence before sharing a result

Verify the target, supported version and official repository URL. Open any linked progress report and note its scope. Check build instructions, releases and original-data requirements separately; a source repository is not necessarily a ready-to-run distribution.

If no clear result exists, keep that uncertainty. A dead link may indicate a move, while an empty search may reflect different naming or genuinely missing work. Neither proves that a game has never been researched.

Found a relevant project missing from the directory? Submit the official URL. For an immediately useful shortlist, explore selected game projects or the N64 directory.