Emulators Are Over: Recompiled Games Feel Like Cheating?

This is a somewhat risky post, as this area in gaming concerns me, and I’ll contradict myself multiple times in this opinion. Still, we need to pay attention to this influx of decompiles/recompiles. It’s not that new, but gaining traction, and my thoughts are very, very mixed, though it’s mostly a negative one.

Because you asked (I know you didn’t), I think the way decompiling of games is/will destroy the gaming industry if people branch out to modern titles. I don’t have a deep insight, but it concerns me that modern games are being rewritten and being shared willy-nilly to play on PC or even within the browser. I saw COD was playable in a browser!

It’s interesting, I’ll give it that, but the whole AI debate about creativity is a sensitive one. First-hand, AI was a catalyst for ending my freelance writing days, and I know a lot of artists who have been directly affected by AI being abused to monetise and get likes/shares. Wherever you stand, hold that thought and save it for Reddit.

I Play Steam Games On Handhelds, Not Retro Ones

For now, I’m looking at gaming specifically. As you know(?) I regularly play my games on a retro handheld – mostly the Retroid Pocket Nova, and occasionally the AYN Thor. The games I am playing are Steam games, played through DroidDeck and GameNative, as well as ScummVM from my GOG library. That’s predominantly what I play rather than retro games.

That said, I have a reasonably large retro collection (physical), and it is actually a pain in the arse to set up the Dreamcast to the TV, then swap over to the PS2, etc. There is no debate: whether you own the game or not doesn’t mean you own the rights, and having these backup copies that everyone talks about nudge, nudge, wink, wink doesn’t mean you are actually allowed to back them up onto a different platform. I wonder how many people have actually done this, as backing up one takes an age in itself.

Nintendo will argue that, and that’s why they’re charging memberships to play their back catalogues as they’re still being redeveloped/remastered. I’ve said it multiple times: if I want to play Switch games, I play them on my Switch 2. I personally don’t like the remasters and have the originals. The only reason I keep my membership is so the kids can play Animal Crossing and get updates.

That said, I have a good-looking friend with a hugely popular gaming website that has a handful of 20-year-old retro games they play on handheld, though emphasis on handful. I have loads of games on the shelves that I never play. The retro ones on my Nova/Thor are tiny: Shenmue, Jet Set Radio Future and a few others. The rest are Steam and Android titles.

Finding Recompa: JSRF Natively On Android

Yesterday I stumbled upon something called Recompa. It’s an Android app that lets you download recompiled code and play your games natively on Android. That doesn’t mean using an emulator or setting up complex configurations, but as if the game was exclusively for Android.

Bearing in mind this was for an old game (Jet Set Radio Future), though it doesn’t actually make it ok – this was for educational purposes – I linked up my digital version of the game to Recompa and started it up. Immediately, the visuals were incredibly sharp; there were no delays through the legal screens, and it handled beautifully.

I tried to repeat this using an XBOX emulator you may have seen doing the rounds – HakuX. It loaded ok with the music, but no screens. Works out I needed a Turnip driver. I updated this and immediately noted the visuals weren’t as good as Recompa. It was noticeable. Three minutes into it, it crashed via the emulator.

Jumping back to the Recompa version, I played around a bit and admired how modern it felt, as if it were Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. Getting ready to exit the game, there was a menu option that then took me to any map in the game instantly. So, while this is a game I bought on release for my medium-sized bungalow, the original XBOX, it was now something I could pick up and play in every sense: reduced loading times, revisiting favourite locations on command, and being able to carry it in my pocket without getting the XBOX out and hijacking the family TV.

So Is This Piracy Or Preservation? 

I think this is a really interesting development, as you’ll no longer be relying on emulators and can jump straight into your old games without faffing about. The number of games listed is limited, and more importantly, you have to have the original files to play them – you’re just gaining access to the recompiled code with added bells and whistles.

There are comments on some of the other titles about compatibility issues and crashes, but this game in particular worked 100%. Besides, I don’t own any of the other games listed, and as for PC ports, I play these all through DroidDeck/GameNative, and if they don’t work, I’ll do it through Moonlight from my laptop.

I haven’t changed my stance, as I’m mindful that people are ripping modern titles and effectively undoing the gaming industry. Then again, Rockstar has fast-tracked that by making their upcoming indie game physical only and the standard addition being £70 (sorry folks, I don’t operate in dollars, but you can work it out). These games are too expensive, but that doesn’t mean you should go and rip them elsewhere. That, I’ll disagree with you on.

However, for older games you own (bearing in mind they might end up being remastered and released again), you may find it on Recompa, or there’s another one called Quiver Launcher. I downloaded it to see what it was like, and genuinely have uninstalled it just as fast. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s not for me. As long as I can play Jet Set Radio Future the way I have been (and maybe even Jade Empire in the future?), then it’s pretty cool. Otherwise, support the industry and see if you can get them on Steam or GOG first.