Melee Is 100% Decompiled, and AI Finished the Last Stretch

2026-09-09 · News and analysis

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Super Smash Bros. Melee is now 100.00% decompiled. The project started in July 2020 and just crossed the line, which makes it a little over six years of work on 3.88 MB of compiled code.

The headline everywhere else is that AI finished it. That is true, and it is a real story. OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra on September 3, and the doldecomp team used it to close out the remaining work within days. One contributor credits Claude on the project as well.

The angle nobody is covering is the one that matters here. A completed matching decompilation means a native ARM64 build of Melee is now possible. That is a different thing from emulation, and for handheld owners it is the whole point.

The Short Version

• Status: Super Smash Bros. Melee is 100.00% decompiled
• Duration: July 2020 to September 2026, just over six years
• Size: 3.88 MB of code and 1.21 MB of data
• What it means: the C source compiles to a binary byte-for-byte identical to Nintendo's original main.dol
• AI's role: large language models accelerated the project throughout, and GPT-6 Astra closed the final stretch
• Already demonstrated: Astra produced a macOS build running at 120fps with higher resolution and upscalable textures, in roughly six hours of automated iteration
• What you still need: your own copy of the game, for art and music
• What does not exist yet: a finished PC port, an ARM64 build, or any release date

What "Matching Decompilation" Actually Means

This phrase gets thrown around and it is worth being precise, because the distinction is the entire achievement.

Anybody can run a disassembler over a game binary and get something back. What you get is technically correct and completely unreadable, full of machine-generated variable names and control flow that no human wrote.

A matching decompilation is much harder. The goal is to write C source code that, when compiled with the original compiler and the original settings, produces a binary that is byte-for-byte identical to the game Nintendo shipped. Not functionally equivalent. Identical.

That constraint is what makes it slow. You cannot write clean, obvious code and call it done. You have to write the code the original developers wrote, in the order they wrote it, structured the way their compiler expected, because any deviation changes the output bytes. Contributors spend hours on a single function, nudging the source until the compiler emits exactly the right instructions.

Melee is 3.88 MB of that. Six years is not slow for the task. It is fast.

The payoff is that once you have matching source, you genuinely understand the program. You can recompile it for a different processor. You can change the resolution, the frame rate, the controls. It stops being a binary you emulate and becomes a program you build. Our decompilation and recompilation explainer covers the full picture.

The Handheld Angle Everybody Else Is Missing

Here is why this belongs on a handheld site.

Right now, playing Melee on an Android handheld means Dolphin. Dolphin is excellent software and it does a genuinely remarkable job, but it is doing an enormous amount of work. It is translating PowerPC instructions into ARM instructions, emulating the GameCube's Flipper GPU, and reproducing hardware timing, all in real time, on a battery-powered device. Our GameCube emulation guide covers what that costs you.

A native port skips all of it. The game is compiled directly for the processor in your handheld. There is no translation layer, no GPU emulation, no timing reproduction. It just runs.

That difference is not small. It is the same argument our recompiled games on Android guide makes for N64 and Xbox 360 titles, where native ports run on hardware that could never emulate the originals acceptably. Melee is the first GameCube game where that argument becomes concrete for a title people actually play competitively.

It has already been demonstrated in one direction. Astra produced a macOS build hitting 120fps with higher resolution and upscalable textures. macOS on Apple Silicon is ARM64. The same architecture is in every Android handheld on this site.

That does not mean an Android build exists. Nobody has made one. It means the hard blocker, the part that took six years, is gone, and what remains is porting work.

What This Would Unlock

If an ARM64 build materialises, the practical changes for handheld players:

• Higher and cleaner resolutions without the performance cliff emulation imposes
• Frame rates above 60, which the macOS build already demonstrates at 120fps
• Much better battery life, because you are not burning cycles on translation
• Playable Melee on weaker hardware than Dolphin currently requires
• Texture packs and mods built into the game rather than layered over an emulator
• Rollback netplay possibilities, though Slippi is a mature ecosystem built around a specific setup and nothing about that transfers automatically

Worth tempering all of it. There is no port. The team has said porting means dealing with bugs and other issues, and no date has been announced. Melee is also an unusually timing-sensitive game with a competitive community that cares about frame-exact behaviour, so "it runs" and "it runs correctly enough for tournament play" are very different bars.

The Bigger Thing: What Astra Did to the Timeline

Our recompiled games list has a section called "Why So Few Games?" and the answer has always been the same. Matching decompilation is years of unglamorous human labour, done by small volunteer teams, on projects that mostly do not finish.

That constraint just moved.

Be careful about how far to take this. Melee had six years of human groundwork before any model touched the hard parts. The team had already built the tooling, established the conventions, and matched the overwhelming majority of the code. Astra closed a final stretch on a project that was already nearly done. One data point is not a trend, and "AI decompiled Melee" is not what happened.

But the marginal cost of that final stretch clearly fell, and the last 10% of a matching decomp is historically where projects stall out forever. If a second project lands the same way in the next few months, the honest answer to "why so few games" changes, and we will need to rewrite that section.

It is also worth knowing that the rest of the retro software world has drawn the opposite conclusion. mGBA closes AI-generated pull requests on sight, SDL banned them in April 2026, and QEMU declines them on licensing grounds. Those projects are not being reactionary. A matching decomp gets checked by a compiler, so a wrong answer costs nothing, while emulator code has no such test and a plausible but wrong patch can hide for years. We cover that split in AI finished the Melee decomp, the emulators on your handheld ban it.

There is also a version of this that is less exciting than it sounds. A model that can grind through matching decompilation is doing exactly the kind of work that made these projects a labour of love. Some of what made the decomp scene interesting was that finishing one meant something. That is a genuine thing people in the community are working through right now, and it is not our place to tell them how to feel about it.

What This Is Not

Some clear boundaries, because this is Nintendo IP and the distinctions matter.

Decompiled source code is not a ROM. The doldecomp repository contains C code that reproduces the game's logic. It does not contain the game's art, music, textures, or audio. Those assets are still Nintendo's and they are not in there.

A future port will need your own copy. This follows the same pattern as every recompilation project we cover, including the Donkey Kong 64 PC port. You supply the game files from a copy you legally own, and the port supplies the executable. There is no version of this where you get Melee for free.

No PC port exists today. What exists is source code that compiles to a matching binary, plus one demonstration build on macOS. Anyone offering you a downloadable Melee PC port right now is not offering you what this article is about.

The legal position is unsettled. Recompilation projects sit in a grey area that has so far avoided direct litigation, partly because clean decompiled source is not a straightforward copyright infringement and partly because the projects require you to own the game. Nintendo has been aggressive about takedowns in other areas. We are not going to predict what happens here. Our emulation legal status guide and ROMs and legality cover the general ground.

Where GameCube Recompilation Stands

Melee is not the first GameCube decomp, and it helps to see the shape of the category.

GameCube was the newer frontier here. Dusk, the Twilight Princess port, arrived in May 2026 and was the first major decomp-based PC port of a GameCube title. Melee joining the completed list this fast afterwards suggests the GameCube generation is opening up properly. Our N64 recompiled games list covers the more mature side of this.

How to Play Melee on a Handheld Today

While the port does not exist, the answer is unchanged. Dolphin, on hardware with enough chip behind it.

Melee is one of the friendlier GameCube titles to emulate. It runs at full speed on Snapdragon 865 class hardware and above, with occasional dips in four-player matches carrying heavy effects. Our best handhelds for GameCube emulation guide ranks the field, and the Dolphin Android setup guide covers configuration.

If you want the best current GameCube experience on a handheld, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 class devices handle it comfortably at upscaled resolutions.

Note that competitive Melee via Slippi still requires a PC. That has not changed and a native port would not automatically change it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean that Melee is 100% decompiled?

It means the community has written C source code that compiles to a binary byte-for-byte identical to the main.dol file Nintendo shipped on the GameCube disc. Every function in the game now exists as readable, modifiable source. The project began in July 2020 and covers 3.88 MB of code.

Did AI decompile Melee?

No, but AI finished it. The project ran for six years on human effort, with large language models accelerating the work in its later stages. OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra, released on September 3, 2026, was used to close out the final stretch. The groundwork, tooling and the vast majority of matched code came first.

Can I download a Melee PC port right now?

No. What exists is source code plus one demonstration build compiled for macOS. The team has not released a port and has said porting means working through bugs, with no date announced. Anything advertised as a finished Melee PC port today is not this project.

Will I need to own Melee to play a future port?

Yes. The decompiled source contains the game's logic, not its art, music or textures. Any port will require game files from a copy you legally own, following the same pattern as the Donkey Kong 64 PC port and other recompilation projects.

Does this mean Melee will run natively on Android handhelds?

It becomes possible, which it was not before. A matching decompilation can be recompiled for ARM64, the architecture in every Android handheld. Astra has already demonstrated a macOS build, and macOS on Apple Silicon is ARM64. But no Android build exists and nobody has announced one.

How would a native port compare to Dolphin?

A native port removes the translation and hardware emulation Dolphin performs in real time, so it should run faster, cooler and on weaker hardware, with higher resolutions and frame rates available. The macOS demonstration hit 120fps with upscaled textures. Dolphin remains the only option until a port ships.

Is decompiling a game legal?

Decompilation projects occupy a legal grey area that has so far avoided direct litigation. The source code is not the game, it contains no Nintendo assets, and ports require you to supply your own game files. That said, nothing here is settled law and Nintendo has been active about takedowns in adjacent areas.

What is the difference between decompilation and recompilation?

Decompilation turns a game's machine code back into readable source, which is what happened to Melee. Recompilation takes an original binary and mechanically translates it to run on a new processor without producing readable source first. Decompilation is far more work and gives you far more control.

Related Reading

• AI Finished the Melee Decomp. The Emulators on Your Handheld Ban It.
• Retro Game Decompilation and Recompilation, Explained
• Every Recompiled Game So Far
• Recompiled Games on Android: Why Architecture Matters
• N64 Recompiled Games List
• Best Handhelds for GameCube Emulation
• GameCube and Wii Emulation on Handhelds
• Best GameCube Games on a Handheld
• Dolphin Android Setup Guide
• Emulation Legal Status in 2026

Project status reflects the doldecomp/melee effort as of September 9, 2026 and will change. No PC or ARM64 port has been released. Any future port will require game files from a copy you legally own.