Claude-built Super Mario 64 GBA demake with bit-identical physics
Nervous_Cold8493 · reddit · 2026-10-19
A developer built a Super Mario 64 demake for the GBA using Claude, with Mario's movement and collision physics proven bit-identical to the original — running on a 16.8 MHz ARM7 with no FPU, featuring 4 playable levels, software 3D, and 30fps on 98% of frames.
- The author gave only high-level directives ("bit-exact first", "now optimize"); Claude ran in an agentic session with its own toolchain and headless emulator, profiling and verifying itself.
- Notable design calls: Claude declined to draw Mario's likeness but built a mannequin driven by the real animation data; it proposed ellipsoid body parts since GBA affine sprites draw ellipses, and rejected sprite atlases in favor of importing the real low-poly meshes from the user's own ROM (repo contains no Nintendo assets, MIT licensed).
Build with make fetch && make demo for mGBA; make demo-check re-verifies physics. Limits: untested on real hardware, no enemies/objects, flat colors.
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