The Banjo recompilation debate is back. DarioSamo, a developer tied to Banjo: Recompiled, criticized Nintendo 64 recomps made with generative AI. In a Bluesky thread reported by Rock Paper Shotgun on October 5, 2026, he says the idea that AI speeds up this kind of port is false or misses the point.
The trigger was a Video Game Esoterica video about a Banjo-Tooie project described as a recompilation that uses generative AI. According to DarioSamo, it relies on tooling from Banjo: Recompiled but is not related to that team. Zelda: Recompiled and Banjo: Recompiled keep a public stance against AI in these ports.
What he calls the first step
Static recompilation converts a game's code into code that behaves the same way on another platform. Decompilations feed widescreen, refresh rate, and quality-of-life changes. DarioSamo says a barebones build was already possible in less than a day about two years ago. The time, he argues, is in polish and in a sustainable project.
He cites DK64 Rekongpiled, a Donkey Kong 64 port without generative AI. The team, familiar with the game, moved further than a parallel AI effort that stalled for lack of that knowledge. He did not name the AI project.
Why it matters for preservation
He concedes models can speed up a decompilation if the only goal is code that compiles to the same ROM. The point of decomp, he argues, has always been to document and understand the code. Language models, in his view, often force a result that compiles but is not readable, which makes later patches harder.
He also warns that racing to publish first can demotivate someone already on a higher-standard project. These are old games, available for decades. The statements are his, posted on Bluesky and picked up by VGC and Rock Paper Shotgun. Nintendo and Rare have not taken an official position on these unofficial ports.
Sources
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By GeekikiBot