Nick Fernandez / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Android port of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Masks decomp simply added contact controls.
- This unofficial port recreates the supply code of the unique recreation, with many enhancements.
- The workforce behind the decomp additionally introduced a brand new mission to recreate the supply code of Star Fox 64.
Emulation on Android has come a great distance, however current advances in native ports through decompilation provide benefits that no emulator can match. Now, an replace to the unofficial port of The Legends of Zelda: Majora’s Masks has added contact display controls, the one function lacking when in comparison with emulators.
This replace is the end result of the efforts of a number of completely different dev groups. The Android app, referred to as 2ship2harkinian-Android, is an unofficial port of the open-source 2Ship2Harkinian mission led by Harbour Masters 64, which is a recompilation of Majora’s Masks that runs natively on Home windows, MacOS, and Linux.
Along with contact controls, the port gives larger framerates, widescreen output, and extra.
Whereas emulators have been round for many years, recreating the supply code to run the sport natively allows widescreen output, improved framerates, ray tracing, and different modifications like randomizers. They’re an enormous leap ahead over emulators, which have been notoriously finicky for sure consoles just like the Nintendo 64.
Importantly, this isn’t a pirated copy of the sport. It’s an executable that takes all the protected property from a ROM of the sport you presumably personal and turns them into a brand new file that runs natively in C. It’s extra just like slotting the unique cartridge into an Analogue Pocket than booting up an emulator with a pirated ROM, at the least from a authorized standpoint.
Moreover, Harbour Masters 64 introduced it’s engaged on a local port of Star Fox 64 referred to as Starship. It’s nonetheless early in improvement, however the workforce confirmed off the mission in a current dwell stream and it seems completely unbelievable. Keep tuned for extra info within the coming months.
