Snowboard Kids 2 is Recompiled | Chris' BlogSnowboard Kids 2 is Recompiled<br>21 Jun, 2026<br>TL;DR: Snowboard Kids 2: Recompiled is available for Linux, Mac and Windows.<br>Following the completion of the Snowboard Kids 2 decompilation, I’ve been focused1 on getting the recompilation into a good state. Now that the worst bugs have been squashed, I’m pleased to announce the public release of Snowboard Kids 2: Recompiled. This recomp is only possible thanks to support from the N64 Recomp Community. I’m particularly grateful to sonicdcer and Darío for their help bootstrapping the project, fixing bugs, and patiently explaining things to me. The artwork was contributed by Snowboard Kids Discord members Moz and Jellsoup.<br>Snowboard Kids 2 launcher. Artwork by Moz and Jellsoup.

A recompilation, as the name suggests, translates the original N64 game binary into native code for modern platforms before the game is run, rather than relying on an emulator to interpret the original system at runtime. This has a number of benefits:<br>High frame rate support : the recompilation can run at 60 frames per second by leveraging RT64’s frame interpolation technology.<br>Widescreen and ultrawide support : by tweaking the camera, most 3D scenes can be extended to 16:9 and wider aspect ratios without requiring major game changes. HUD elements have also been updated to take advantage of the additional space.<br>Mod support : N64ModernRuntime and the recompilation tooling make it easier to modify and extend the game.<br>Screenshot of the recompilation in action. Note the widescreen view and HUD. As for the placement, I’m just sandbagging to get better items, I swear 🙃.

The recompilation process<br>The recompilation landscape has changed drastically over the last couple of years. The release of N64: Recompiled in 2024 is what originally motivated me to start the Snowboard Kids 2 decompilation, particularly after listening to this excellent interview with Darío and Wiseguy.<br>I’ve long been enamoured with Snowboard Kids 2 and wanted to give it the sort of enhancements enjoyed by more famous games such as Mario 64 and Zelda. For a long time, the technical challenges seemed insurmountable. But these new developments appeared to finally put my rather niche ambition within reach.<br>The way N64: Recompiled accomplishes this is itself quite interesting. Rather than trying to run the decompiled code through a modern compiler, fix the compiler flags, and map old concepts onto a modern PC architecture (i.e. a source port), N64: Recompiled works at the instruction level. It takes the MIPS instructions from the original game binary and translates them into C code that can be compiled for modern platforms.<br>For example, an instruction like this:<br>1addiu $r4, $r4, 0x20

might be recompiled into something like this:<br>1ctx->r4 = ADD32(ctx->r4, 0x20);

The resulting code is not pretty, but operating on the assembly directly bypasses the need for a full decompilation. Indeed, work started on the recompilation while the Snowboard Kids 2 decompilation was only about 75% complete.<br>The generated C code, along with any additional patches, is linked together with a runtime and the resulting binary is what constitutes the recompiled game.2<br>The runtime acts as an interface between the native code and the N64 environment it still expects to exist. While functions are compiled natively, they still try to build things like F3DEX2 display lists and submit them to the N64 graphics pipeline. A suitable runtime is needed to take those calls and translate them into Direct3D, Vulkan, Metal, and so on.<br>This is usually N64 Modern Runtime, though the iceberg of supporting libraries runs deep. Packages such as ultramodern, librecomp and RT64 all play a role.<br>Overview of the recompilation stack. Note that mods and patches are different beasts, with mods being dynamically compiled on game start rather than going through the static flow above.

The runtime can also be an avenue for enhancements. For example, RT64 interpolates between the draw calls emitted by the game for a given matrix to create new frames, allowing frame rates far in excess of what the original game could have handled. This approach neatly sidesteps the problem of side effects: the game is unaware of the new frames, so its internal logic and subsequent behaviour are unaltered. Looking further ahead, new runtime features such as ray tracing could potentially be added and then used by existing games that already run on that runtime.<br>How much work is required?<br>N64: Recompiled certainly lowered the barrier for recompilations, but that does not make it easy. My first attempt in 2024 failed because the decompilation was still too immature. To recompile the game, you need to know what is code and what is data. You need to understand which functions are game functions and which ones are part of the N64 standard library. You need to identify places where the generated code needs special handling. And when something breaks, you are unlikely...