MarioParty2Pad

Mario Party 2 running as a native arm64 iPad app through ahead-of-time static recompilation, N64ModernRuntime, and RT64's Metal renderer.

No ROM is included. The app asks you to select your own supported game on first launch, verifies it locally, and then starts automatically. The selected file is never uploaded.

Developer-preview status: the source and complete setup guide are public. A public IPA is not posted yet because the upstream Mario Party 2 decompilation currently has no redistribution license. Do not download an IPA claiming to be official unless it appears in this repository's Releases.

Install and play

You need an iPad running iPadOS 16 or later, a Mac or Windows PC, an Apple ID, and your own legally acquired unmodified Mario Party 2 USA ROM. The ROM may be a raw .z64 file or a .zip containing that file.

1. When an authorized unsigned preview IPA is available in this repository's Releases, follow the install guide to put it on your device with AltStore Classic.
2. Open MarioParty2Pad.
3. Tap Choose ROM and select your .z64 or .zip in Files.
4. Wait a few seconds. A correct ROM is saved privately and the game starts.

That is the complete game setup. You do not rename files, create folders, extract ZIPs, use a terminal, or enable JIT.

The exact supported ROM SHA-1 is:

166eda1c05670d337e2c3f15a5db528ae1e5d6e3

Do not ask for ROMs or links to game downloads.

Controllers and multiplayer

Pair controllers in Settings → Bluetooth before opening the app. Up to four SDL-compatible Bluetooth controllers receive independent player slots in connection order. Xbox, PlayStation, Switch-compatible, and MFi controllers should use iPadOS's standard controller support.

The left stick is the N64 stick, the right stick is the C buttons, the left trigger is Z, the shoulder buttons are L/R, and the face buttons map to A/B. Open Controllers inside the app to see all four slots and live input.

Physical four-controller gameplay remains a developer-preview verification item; tested controller models and reconnect behavior will be recorded in each release.

Updating without losing data

Install a newer IPA over the existing app with the same Apple ID and AltStore. Do not delete the old app first. Deleting the app also deletes its private ROM and may delete its saves.

Apps signed with an ordinary Apple ID expire after seven days. Leave AltServer running periodically or open AltStore → My Apps → Refresh All before expiration. Refreshing the signature does not erase the imported ROM or save.

What this is

This is not streaming and it is not a conventional emulator frontend. The game's MIPS CPU code is translated ahead of time and compiled into the native app. N64ModernRuntime provides the console runtime behavior, RT64 translates the graphics workload to Metal, and SDL provides native audio and controller integration.

The current iPad build includes:

• native arm64 CPU code with no runtime CPU JIT;
• RT64 Metal rendering at a fixed 4x internal resolution;
• native audio with Mario Party 2 command-buffer lifetime fixes;
• four independent Bluetooth-controller slots;
• automatic .z64 and .zip ROM import through Files;
• exact local ROM validation before the one-shot runtime starts;
• persistent app-container ROM, settings, and EEPROM storage;
• an unsigned, ROM-free IPA packaging and audit pipeline.

See verified status and the architecture for engineering details.

Building and packaging

Maintainers should use BUILDING.md. The short version on a prepared Mac is:

PARTYPAD_GAME=marioparty2 scripts/Package-iPad-Preview.sh

The packaging script builds a device-only arm64 app without signing, removes stale signing material, embeds rights and license notices, audits the payload for game data, creates the IPA, audits it again, and writes a SHA-256 file.

Rights and licensing

Read RIGHTS_AND_LICENSES.md before sharing any build. The Mario Party 2 matching-decompilation repository currently has no license grant. A technically ROM-free package is not automatically cleared for public redistribution. Public release requires upstream permission or qualified legal review and full compliance with N64ModernRuntime's GPL-3.0 obligations.

This project is unofficial and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Hudson Soft, Konami, Apple, or the upstream projects.