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Hacking maplestory DS

[WIP/Release] ds_mangaman - Turning the Nintendo DS into the Ultimate Vertical Book-Style Manga Reader!

Hwongfish · 2026-06-09T00:33:11+00:00

Hi everyone! I’ve always felt that the Nintendo DS is criminally underrated when it comes to being a dedicated manga-reader. Think about it: it has two screens built right into the form factor, one of them has a precise (not quite most of the time though) touchscreen, and when you rotate the console 90 degrees counter-clockwise, it perfectly mimics the ergonomics of holding a real physical tankobon (manga volume). When held vertically, the D-pad sits perfectly on the bottom, and the shoulder keys (L/R) are in the ideal position for switching chapters. Plus, the touchscreen can be used to magnify for reading the text or inspecting details. Such interactions are the ultimate form factors that modern smartphones just can't match. To prove this, I built ds_mangaman — an open-source, highly optimized homebrew manga viewer for the NDS/NDSL. Download and learn how to build in Github release: :teach::teach::teach: GitHub Repository: https://github.com/hwfish-error408/ds-mangaman :grog::grog::grog: Looking for Contributors! The compiler engine and core state machine are now fully functional and running smoothly on real hardware and emulators (like melonDS). However, I want to take this project further and could really use the community's help! I’m looking for developers, testers, and retro-enthusiasts to help with: A, Implementing a cleaner UI/Main Menu. B, Adding Bookmark support (saving states to SRAM/FAT .sav). C, Further optimizing the DMA memory copy speeds during page and chapter transitions. Feel free to download the source, check out the build pipeline, test it on your flashcarts, and open Issues or Pull Requests on the GitHub repo! Let's make the NDS the ultimate retro manga machine.

Thread starter themuddaload
Start date Apr 26, 2010
Views 17,821
Replies 83

The Catboy

GBAtemp Official Catboy™: Nnnaaaa

Member

I am Catboy 😼

Level 46

Sep 1, 2010

plasma dragon007 said:
OMG OMG OMG THERE IS A MAPLESTORY DS?!?!?!

DOWNLOADING ROM AND PATCH NAO!!!

Soooo giddy

I have been waiting for this day for-fuckin-EVAR!!!

Old news is old, this game came out months ago

Sandman00009

Well-Known Member

Member

Level 3

Sep 3, 2010

A Gay Little Cat Boy said:
plasma dragon007 said:

OMG OMG OMG THERE IS A MAPLESTORY DS?!?!?!

DOWNLOADING ROM AND PATCH NAO!!!

Soooo giddy

I have been waiting for this day for-fuckin-EVAR!!!

Click to expand...

Old news is old, this game came out months ago

Vahnyyz

Well-Known Member

Member

Level 4

Sep 22, 2010

so what's happening on the maplestory front? this game really should be fixed, has anyone tried this with the newest firmware update.

Respo

New Member

Newbie

Level 1

Oct 11, 2010

With newest Sakura FW the major freezes are gone on my M3iZero. But its still not playable because the minor freezes in menu. Additionally my game stops working when I speak to the pirate penguin in the underground tunnel in Kerning City.