With the upcoming June 5 release of the Switch 2, nostalgia for past Nintendo consoles, particularly the GameCube, has resurged. Though many fans, including myself, yearn for titles like Skies of Arcadia, modders are stepping in to fill the void.

Recently, modders have announced they’ve nearly completed the decompilation of Mario Party 4, the first GameCube game to achieve such a milestone after an 18-month project. This effort opens the door for fan-made native PC adaptations, moving beyond mere emulation, which simulates software on incompatible platforms.

While emulation mimics original game hardware, decompilation refers to breaking down the original game code to develop a version suitable for modern PC systems. The modding community has already shown success in decompiling other classic Nintendo titles such as Banjo-Kazooie and Paper Mario.

This progress could lead to entirely new features, including online play, which would revitalize these nostalgic classics for a new audience. It’s an exciting time for GameCube fans as communities collaborate to bridge the gap between past and present in gaming experiences.

“As a tech journalist, I like to think of it as the compiler making judicious use of square bracketed ellipses as it gives the CPU the real tea.”

• [Unknown Source] (translated: As a technology writer, I consider it analogous to how compilers condense information for efficiency.)