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Video game decompilations have been all the rage these past couple of years, and out of all the retro consoles, the Nintendo 64 has seen its fair share of titles getting decompilation projects, like Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Perfect Dark, with the first two having proper PC ports alongside a wide variety of Quality of Life improvements, as well as unofficial ports to other systems thanks to the decompilation project. Today, another popular title from the Nintendo 64's library joins the list of fully completed decompiled projects.

Paper Mario (N64) has reached a full 1:1 decompilation, matching with each and every one of its functions 100% with those from the original game. While the developers themselves might not be interested in a PC port for the title, other people might take on the endeavour and attempt porting it to other systems, so a PC port might be in the upcoming future.

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Certainly, the amount of titles getting decompilations is increasing day by day, and for the Nintendo 64, the list of titles that are nearing completion is getting bigger and bigger, with other popular titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (70+%), Banjo Kazooie (90+), Goldeneye 007 (50+%), and many others, currently being worked on extensively to get them up to 100% matching functions between the decompilation and the original game. Not only that, but games from other consoles have also seen some decompilation projects, like the Super Nintendo with titles like Super Metroid and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

The future for decompilation projects is looking brighter and brighter each day, with more titles appearing as time goes on.
Which title would you like to see getting a proper decompilation project?

Source

 

[raxadian]

Not in their best state though. Paper Mario n64 is fine but TTYD just looks worse than the OG for me

Only 30 frames in the remake, some stuff was uncensored and some stuff was censored. There is a mod that uncensores the Gamecube version so I think I may play that instead.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Not in their best state though. Paper Mario n64 is fine but TTYD just looks worse than the OG for me

It's basically the original with much crisper textures, better lighting and some extra effects. What's wrong with that?

 

[NyaakoXD]

It's basically the original with much crisper textures, better lighting and some extra effects. What's wrong with that?

To add to this, there's plenty of QoL improvements, too.

• New warp pipe room for better backtracking.
• New partner ring to switch partners quickly instead of opening up the pause menu and navigating through.
• 2 new secret bosses.
• A new "Try Again" option after getting a Game Over, so you can get back into the fight instead of reloading a save.
• At the start of the game, Mario can carry up to 15 items instead of 10.
• Mario can go up to 9999 coins instead of 999. Especially considering how easy it is to get coins in the Remake.
• A Battle Master Toad who lets you practice and understand timings better for Mario's and partners' attacks. Even Stylish timings.
• A few more save points and a new shop.
• Hint system in case you forgot where to go next.
• And perhaps a few more I missed out on...

 

[The Real Jdbye]

To add to this, there's plenty of QoL improvements, too.

• New warp pipe room for better backtracking.
• New partner ring to switch partners quickly instead of opening up the pause menu and navigating through.
• 2 new secret bosses.
• A new "Try Again" option after getting a Game Over, so you can get back into the fight instead of reloading a save.
• At the start of the game, Mario can carry up to 15 items instead of 10.
• Mario can go up to 9999 coins instead of 999. Especially considering how easy it is to get coins in the Remake.
• A Battle Master Toad who lets you practice and understand timings better for Mario's and partners' attacks. Even Stylish timings.
• A few more save points and a new shop.
• Hint system in case you forgot where to go next.
• And perhaps a few more I missed out on...

Weren't there warp pipes in the original? I could've sworn there were, I guess it really has been a while...
The partner ring isn't perfect, I agree with what some others said that it should've been a radial menu (press direction to select), it just takes too long to scroll through when you have most/all of the partners unlocked. But it sure is an improvement over using the menu, especially now that I have Mowz unlocked and need to switch back and forth a lot to check for things I missed.
There are 2 new bosses in total, right? I know of 2 but one of them is hardly secret though since you get an email about it after chapter 5.
Not sure I'm personally a fan of them making the game easier by making it possible to restart from the beginning of a battle, that said I haven't gotten a game over yet and don't plan to so I guess it doesn't affect me anyways. If given the option, I would load from a save because it's what I'm used to, but if I was a first timer to the game, I might go the easy route.
I was happy to have more inventory space but sad that the pouch from Pit of 100 Trials only increased it by 5, instead of doubling it like it used to. That makes it a lot less rewarding to go through the Pit. In the end you get the same max inventory capacity anyway so I don't feel like there was any point to increasing the starting capacity when you don't actually need that capacity until much later on (when healing items actually start to matter). Outside of the Pit, I haven't used a single healing item and I'm currently on the Excess Express. Just been relying on leveling up to heal, as I usually do in Paper Mario.
There's a couple new shops actually, the one in Boggly Woods and the one in Pirate's Grotto. I don't think the latter's really needed since Keelhaul Key already has another shop accessible from the beginning. The other shop in Boggly Woods isn't accessible until much later, so it's a good place to put one.
All in all, I appreciate the QoL improvements but wouldn't say they're game changing. I would enjoy the game just as much without them (apart from maybe the warp pipes, they don't save that much time, but they sure save a lot of annoyances thanks to not having to fight weak enemies who give no rewards over and over while running back and forth between different regions solving people's troubles)

 

[64bitmodels]

It's basically the original with much crisper textures, better lighting and some extra effects. What's wrong with that?

the textures aren't crisper if anything they've lost a whole lot of detail and become flat colors. Everything in the original had darker tones and more harsh edges which just looks better
The lighting feels gaudy, and overly reflective for a game whose artstyle is supposed to be a paper book. Everything's too shiny and lit.
don't know anything about the extra effects, don't care either.

It feels like they slapped a poorly thought-out path tracing + global illumination solution onto the game without any care for how that would impact the artstyle and if it's faithful or not. And these new graphics especially aren't worth it for 30fps. It's a shame that this is what we got while Mario & Luigi fans got a whole new game with a nicer artstyle

I appreciate the localization of Vivian's trans identity but that's not enough frankly.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

the textures aren't crisper if anything they've lost a whole lot of detail and become flat colors. Everything in the original had darker tones and more harsh edges which just looks better
The lighting feels gaudy, and overly reflective for a game whose artstyle is supposed to be a paper book. Everything's too shiny and lit.
don't know anything about the extra effects, don't care either.

It feels like they slapped a poorly thought-out path tracing + global illumination solution onto the game without any care for how that would impact the artstyle and if it's faithful or not. And these new graphics especially aren't worth it for 30fps. It's a shame that this is what we got while Mario & Luigi fans got a whole new game with a nicer artstyle

I appreciate the localization of Vivian's trans identity but that's not enough frankly.

I don't think you've compared them side by side. The original has flat colors everywhere and almost no shading, the remake is wayyy more colorful. I don't think it "just looks better". It looks incredibly dated and would not fly in a modern remake. Nobody but diehard fans would buy that at full price. The last thing we need from Nintendo are even more lazy ports with no improvements made *glares at Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
Sure, it had darker tones, because there wasn't any lighting. Every place looked like it was constantly overcast, no sunlight in sight. The remake is dark when it makes sense, such as inside Hooktail Castle (there it actually is darker than the original, thanks to shading). Not outside in the middle of broad daylight, like the original.
That was just the limitations of the time, you shouldn't expect a modern remake to stick to those same limitations. Frankly, I don't understand why you would prefer that, but you do you.
In fact, even the GameCube could do better. Wind Waker had nice shading. Guess they just hadn't quite figured out where they wanted to take the style of Paper Mario yet. I can to a degree understand not being a fan of the modern style of Paper Mario graphics, and wishing it was different. But the old style just looks unfinished, like a painting that's missing the final touches. I can't understand preferring that over this.

 

[64bitmodels]

I don't think you've compared them side by side. The original has flat colors everywhere and almost no shading, the remake is wayyy more colorful.

I have done comparisons. The textures have less amount of detail in the remake and look too flat and cardboard esque.

I think one of the most striking examples of this would be Petal Meadows.

Textures have harder edges and are more spotted and detailed in the original- the edge of the ground at the bottom of the screen for one looks more detailed in the original than remake. Grass looks more grassy and 2D. Even the hills in the background are more detailed. Everything looks convincingly 2D. Meanwhile in the remake it's just sort of.... flat. green. The original colors are now eye searing. Sky texture in the background's been replaced with a gradient. Gotta show off our brand new global illumination lighting system!!!

Lighting decisions are questionable- for instance, why the fuck is the floor here reflective? isn't it a wood house?

It looks so "UE5" tech demo to the point where the lack of lighting in the original Gamecube version makes more sense.

Yeah it's more "flat" but it's more convincing honestly.

I feel like the biggest kick in the nuts would be Twilight Town. That area has such a carefully crafted aesthetic in its dark visual approach and the remake just sort of... butchers it?

all this extra lighting and shading and junk ruins the perfect, black, comic book shading the original game had, or contrasts it heavily in a negative way. The lack of overcast shading and lighting really helps add to the dark and desolate atmosphere of the area but in the remake it got the vaseline treatment. It doesn't feel moody or different now

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I have done comparisons. The textures have less amount of detail in the remake and look too flat and cardboard esque.

I think one of the most striking examples of this would be Petal Meadows. View attachment 443908
Textures have harder edges and are more spotted and detailed in the original- the edge of the ground at the bottom of the screen for one looks more detailed in the original than remake. Grass looks more grassy and 2D. Even the hills in the background are more detailed. Everything looks convincingly 2D. Meanwhile in the remake it's just sort of.... flat. green. The original colors are now eye searing. Sky texture in the background's been replaced with a gradient. Gotta show off our brand new global illumination lighting system!!!

Lighting decisions are questionable- for instance, why the fuck is the floor here reflective? isn't it a wood house?
View attachment 443907
It looks so "UE5" tech demo to the point where the lack of lighting in the original Gamecube version makes more sense.
View attachment 443909
Yeah it's more "flat" but it's more convincing honestly.

I feel like the biggest kick in the nuts would be Twilight Town. That area has such a carefully crafted aesthetic in its dark visual approach and the remake just sort of... butchers it?
View attachment 443910
View attachment 443911

all this extra lighting and shading and junk ruins the perfect, black, comic book shading the original game had, or contrasts it heavily in a negative way. The lack of overcast shading and lighting really helps add to the dark and desolate atmosphere of the area but in the remake it got the vaseline treatment. It doesn't feel moody or different now

Either of them honestly look fine in Petal Meadows. I'm not a fan of the polka dots, but I'm not a fan of the overly shiny floor either, I mean, it's supposed to represent grass. It's the area with the simplest design, not really much they could do with it. But I am not sad to see the polka dots go, it really didn't fit the aesthetic, looks nothing like grass, and did very little to hide the fact that the grass is solid green, no texture whatsoever (well, I guess it fooled you)
The new grass at least has a grassy texture to it, even if it is subtle, it could be better, but I still prefer it. Other than the grass, it looks pretty nice on either version.
Boggly Woods looks beautiful in the remake, and it already looked good before. Rogueport itself looks much nicer with the lighting, Creepy Steeple and the forest near it look so moody. Keelhaul Key looks like a tropical paradise more so than ever. The majority of the areas were objectively improved and it feels like you cherry picked the 2 that suit your argument best and ignored all the rest.
I will actually agree with you when it comes to Twilight Town though. It looks pretty, but it doesn't fit the theme, and it actually makes the characters look out of place because they were designed for a much darker area. If you've ever experienced twilight IRL (I imagine you have) it gets pretty dark. That doesn't look like twilight, that looks like sunset. But that is made up for by how good the woods and Creepy Steeple look, IMO. Not saying it's perfect, but it's a net positive.
I figure making Twilight Town/Twilight Trail so much brighter was a choice they made despite it not fitting the theme in order to make the game more accessible to people with poor eyesight. Because it's not a choice that would make sense any other way. You know Nintendo, making their games accessible to as many people as possible is always high on their priorities. It's the kind of thing they would do.

I would appreciate a restoration mod to restore some things closer to the original look and feel. It would be nice to have options. But specifically Twilight Town could really use it.

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But, it's not a wood house. It's paper, and you know that. Styled to vaguely represent wood, which means it's supposed to still look like paper (or card stock, or whatever) more so than what it's a stand-in for. I think Nintendo have really nailed that look over the past few Paper Mario iterations, to me it feels like how Paper Mario was always meant to be, design wise it just makes sense. I know some people think it's too much though.
That being said, I feel like you've never seen real hardwood flooring. It needs to be lacquered to be durable. Which is always reflective, but not always glossy. Hardwood flooring before the industrial age would've always been glossy though, AFAIK matte lacquer is a more recent invention, so Mario Bros' house having the more shiny type seems accurate. Also, since it's made of paper so there isn't really such a thing as matte yet reflective. At least that's not something I've ever seen paper do, it's either not reflective at all or it's glossy and highly reflective. And the first option wouldn't have looked like hardwood flooring.

 

[raxadian]

Eh honesty I would have preferred if the Remake was like tge Metroid Prime one and they didn't change a thing in exchange of it running at 60 fps.

 

[RedColoredStars]

Shiny wood floors you say??? I mean, even the wood paneling in my parents home when I was a kid in the 70's was reflective. Most wood floors aren't just 2x4s laid down with no finishing. lol

https://tinyurl.com/shinywoodfloor

 

[raxadian]

Okay if I had the money I would buy this remake just to play the game in the Switch but I think they made way too many changes:

 

[ploggy]

Banjo Kazooie has got to 100%!!!

https://gitlab.com/banjo.decomp/banjo-kazooie

 

[MultiKoopa]

oh man, no pc port yet

 

[raxadian]

oh man, no pc port yet

At least this means more hacks and mods.

 

[MultiKoopa]

At least this means more hacks and mods.

but for WHAT? how would you use them?

 

[raxadian]

but for WHAT? how would you use them?

With an emulator or Nintendont on a Wii or Gamecube.

 

[MultiKoopa]

With an emulator or Nintendont on a Wii or Gamecube.

you're saying the decomp helps make mods for playing the roms on emulators?

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

Eh honesty I would have preferred if the Remake was like tge Metroid Prime one and they didn't change a thing in exchange of it running at 60 fps.

wouldn't 60fps be worse because of how bad it made the supergaurds?
it felt not difficult (as that's the intention of the move) but borderline impossible to do to the point the player isn't entirely sure if it's the game or them messing up.

 

[raxadian]

wouldn't 60fps be worse because of how bad it made the supergaurds?
it felt not difficult (as that's the intention of the move) but borderline impossible to do to the point the player isn't entirely sure if it's the game or them messing up.

How fast was the Gamecube game again?

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

How fast was the Gamecube game again?

60fps, the switch version is 30fps