Super Monkey Ball Deluxe - Static Recompilation

Super Monkey Ball Deluxe — Static Recompilation

From the creator of the Burnout 2 recompilation.

An unofficial native version of the original Xbox game for Windows, built around accurate gameplay, the original presentation, and higher refresh rates.

0.1.0 is the first public development release. Bugs, slowdowns, and stops in untested game modes are still possible. Linux and macOS are planned targets; the current game build requires Windows x64.

This fan project is independent of SEGA. You must provide your own US Xbox game disc image. Original game files are not distributed here.

AI disclosure

OpenAI Codex has assisted with development and research. Changes are checked using native diagnostics, scripted gameplay, and rendering comparisons. Those checks establish specific results, rather than complete game compatibility.

Screenshots

Mode Select	Stage Select	Gameplay

Current status

What works

• Startup, opening movies, and the main menus.
• Story Mode gameplay, including reaching GOAL on 1-1 SIMPLE and continuing to 1-2 DIAMOND.
• Practice Mode, including AIAI on World 2, stage 3 COMPOSITION.
• Keyboard and gamepad input, pause/resume, and native audio playback.
• Creating and reopening game saves.
• Saved display, refresh-rate, audio, game-file, and keyboard/controller bindings.
• Original 4:3, widescreen 16:9, and ultrawide 21:9 options; 1×–4× internal resolution, FXAA/MSAA, and anisotropic filtering. These options apply while playing.
• Fresh scene rendering above 60 Hz, with the original rule and input timing preserved.
• Frame captures, offline rendering replay, and CPU/GPU performance reports.

What still needs work

• Testing every stage, game mode, and progression path. Party games have not been fully validated.
• Remaining original native Xbox services.
• Wider visual, audio, and gameplay comparisons against the original Xbox release.
• Sustained 360 Hz performance. Selecting a refresh rate does not guarantee the hardware can reach it.
• Native Linux and macOS implementation and hardware validation.

Getting started

Windows x64

You need a Direct3D 11-capable graphics card and an XISO image of the US Xbox release of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. A full raw-disc dump must first be converted to XISO. The executable is checked against the supported-target registry.

Download the 0.1.0 Windows installer · Release notes and SHA-256 checksum

1. Run the installer and select your US Xbox XISO image.
2. Choose an installation folder. You can keep a copy of the image with the game and create a desktop shortcut.
3. Choose Install. The progress panel shows verification, extraction, and copying as they happen.
4. Choose Play game, or launch it later from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.

The installer supplies the compiled game and runtime libraries. It checks your image and prepares the game files automatically. If you leave the image in its original location, keep it available while playing. The default installation is in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Super Monkey Ball Deluxe.

Building from source

Install these build prerequisites:

• Visual Studio 2026 C++ build tools and the Windows SDK, including MASM.
• LLVM 22.1 or newer, including clang-cl, LLD, and llvm-lib.
• CMake 4.2 or newer, Git, PowerShell 7 or newer, and JDK 21 or newer.
• Ninja; the build script can use the copy included with Visual Studio.

Clone the repository, then run from its folder in PowerShell:

git clone https://github.com/timftw21/smbd-recompilation.git
cd smbd-recompilation
.\tools\Build.ps1 -Disc 'C:\Games\Super Monkey Ball Deluxe (USA).xiso.iso' -AllowPartial -Workers 3
.\Play.cmd

Replace the example disc path with your own. The first build downloads pinned dependencies, prepares the disc, runs offline analysis, and compiles the game. Python is not required. Unsupported paths stop with an error.

In Game Files, select your disc image and the prepared data/local/default.xbe, validate the files, then choose Play game. Keep the source folder, build output, and disc image available. See BUILDING.txt for the build stages and developer commands.

Linux and macOS

These remain development targets, not supported installation options. The intended graphics backends are DXVK Native/Vulkan on Linux and DXMT/Metal on macOS, without Wine. The current CMake game-batch build explicitly requires Windows x64; no native Linux or Mac gameplay result is claimed.

Game settings

Press F1 or Esc, or the gamepad Back button, to open settings. Preferences save automatically.

• Game Files: Select and validate the XISO and executable.
• General: Choose a refresh limit or Unlimited, and toggle the frame-rate display. V-sync can impose an additional limit.
• Audio: Adjust master volume, mute, or mute when the window loses focus.
• Graphics: Set aspect ratio, fullscreen, and V-sync.
• Enhancements: Choose 1×–4× internal resolution, FXAA or supported MSAA levels, and anisotropic filtering up to 16×. Resolution, antialiasing, filtering, and aspect ratio apply immediately.
• Controls: Rebind keyboard keys, controller buttons, and stick directions, clear bindings, or restore the defaults.
• Diagnostics: Capture a frame or record a slowdown.

Higher rendering rates produce new scene updates. Game rules and input retain their original 60 Hz clock; audio keeps its own sample clock and movies retain their source cadence.

Controls

Connected gamepads use the left stick for stage tilt, A to confirm, B to go back, and Start to pause.

Action	Keyboard
Tilt the stage	W / A / S / D
Navigate menus	Arrow keys
Confirm / A	Space
Back / B	Left Shift
Start / Pause	Enter
Open settings	F1 / Esc
Capture a frame	F8
Start / save performance recording	F9

Change game bindings in Controls. Movement keys apply full tilt. Short taps allow finer control. Game input is held neutral while settings are open.

Saves and updates

Game saves and the local storage identity are in data/user inside your installation or source folder. Back up that entire folder, including storage.key. Preferences and control bindings are in data/local/settings.cfg.

For installed builds, close the game and run the newer installer using the same installation folder. Updates preserve saves and preferences. Uninstall through Windows Installed apps; saved games, preferences, and your original source image are kept. An image copied into the installation folder is removed during uninstall.

For source builds, close the game, update the source, preserve your data and build folders, rebuild, then launch Play.cmd again. When moving the project or disc image, update the paths in Game Files.

Development and credits

Game code is translated ahead of time into native C++23. Xbox services use native implementations; the game does not run a CPU interpreter. Extraction, analysis, rendering inspection, and diagnostics share the project's native core.

• Burnout 2 recompilation: reusable extraction, CPU, and recompilation foundations.
• SDL3: windows, controllers, and audio.
• Dear ImGui: settings and diagnostic controls.
• Zydis and Ghidra: offline instruction analysis and generation.
• Direct3D 11 / HLSL: the current Windows renderer.
• XboxDev, xemu, and Cxbx-Reloaded: documented system and graphics behavior used as research references.

See DESIGN.txt, the research notes, and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt for requirements, evidence, and dependency notices. Disc images, extracted game assets, generated game sources, saves, and local diagnostics are intentionally excluded from this repository.