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Super Smash Bros Melee gets fully decompiled after over six years of effort — ambitious and technically impressive project delivers GameCube classic as C code
A Super Smash Bros Melee decompilation project hit its key long-standing goal a few hours ago. Nintendo’s legendary platform fighting game, which launched on the GameCube in 2001, has now been 100% decompiled by a team of developers. This is a complex game to convert to C code, but the project code can now be compiled into a binary byte‑for‑byte identical to Nintendo’s original main.dol. The effort has taken the team six years or more to get to this stage, with OpenAI's Astra part of the effort to get it over the line. Gamers may already be excitedly anticipating Super Smash Bros Melee ports and modding tools, but these too will take time and effort.
Decompilation projects seem like the latest trend to grasp the retro gaming and development communities, but some, like this, have been in progress for a very long time. Enthusiasts are spurred on by old console hardware becoming scarce, expensive, or uneconomical to repair. Thus, they want to preserve the original game code in a manner that can be ported to modern supported systems. Demanding 100% accuracy with a complex game like this was ambitious, but now that milestone has been reached.
Preservation isn’t the only goal, or result of projects like this. Seasoned developers will now be able to pore over the game’s C code and gain insights into Melee’s engine, physics, game mechanics, and more. Armed with this knowledge, we should eventually see the modding potential of this game blossom. This has happened in the wake of previous successful decompilation projects.
If you drop in on the doldecomp/melee GitHub page, linked above, you can check over the code for yourself. There are instructions for compiling this Super Smash Bros Melee C code on various platforms, including Windows. However, please remember these aren’t ports; you will just be recreating the v1.02 US release main.dol file from the GameCube, which weighs in at 3.88MB. You'll also need the original assets (textures, audio, etc.) from the GameCube disc that you own, in order to run the game.
Some highlight that the project was finalized with thanks in part to the latest AI tech, including GPT-6 Astra. Similar tech might also be used to rapidly develop the ports and mods that the crowds are looking forward to.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
