Super Mario Galaxy PC Port in Development by Luma's Workshop, All Human-Coded

Super Mario Galaxy is getting an unofficial native PC port, marking a shift from the emulation-based methods PC players have relied on since 2016. The Luma's Workshop decompilation team has completed a 100% decompilation of the Nintendo Wii classic and announced work on a playable port for PC.

The port, codenamed AstroCore, was showcased running smoothly at 60 FPS in a video released by the team. Luma's Workshop emphasized that the project is "100% coded by humans," a deliberate point of distinction in a landscape where some recent game decompilations have drawn criticism for incorporating generative AI code.

Game decompilation has become a prominent part of PC gaming in recent years, enabling developers to create native ports of titles that never officially reached the platform. These ports offer advantages over emulation, including better performance and enhanced compatibility. However, the rise of AI-assisted coding has created tension within communities focused on game preservation and decompilation work.

The Luma's Workshop team confirmed that the AstroCore port will not feature any in-game assets, a deliberate design choice that aligns with how recent PC recompilations have maintained legal viability. "Once they are out, these projects will be live for a long time," according to reporting on the project's approach. The team anticipates releasing the port soon, though no specific release date has been announced.

Beyond the first game, Luma's Workshop has plans to tackle Super Mario Galaxy 2. The team stated it will begin work on decompiling and porting the sequel after cleanup work on AstroCore is complete, suggesting players may eventually have access to both games as native PC ports.

PC players already have access to numerous unofficial ports of classic games through similar decompilation projects, including Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Mario Kart 64, among others.