[Release] Zelda: The Minish Cap running natively on Switch — 16:9 widescreen, DS-style dual screen with touch panel, Flip Grip portrait mode, RetroAchievements (no ROM included)

[u/Alexgg1014]

Native port (not an emulator) of the Minish Cap decompilation, built for the Switch. You need your own dump of the USA cartridge; nothing copyrighted is included.

What it adds over the GBA original:

• 16:9 widescreen (284×160) — the camera actually shows more of the room, at 60 fps on stock clocks

• Dual-screen layout like the DS Zeldas: map, dungeon floors, quest guide and an items screen on a second panel

• Touch: drag an item onto A / B / X / Y / ZL / ZR to equip it, tap the map, etc.

• Flip Grip / portrait mode for playing vertically

• RetroAchievements

• Quality of life: 360° stick movement, spin attack by rotating the stick + B, one-button roll attack, Pegasus dash that turns with the stick, optional Hero Mode — every one of them toggleable

• Scanline / LCD-grid filters (GPU, zero cost), in-app updater

GitHub (downloads, install guide, source): https://github.com/Alexgg1014/The-Legend-of-Zelda-The-Minish-Cap-Alek-s-Ultimate-NX-Edition

Support thread on GBAtemp: https://gbatemp.net/threads/683892/

Credits: zeldaret decomp, Project Picori (999sian), HayatoG and EstebanPdN's ports it builds on. Bug reports welcome — the game writes crash logs to /switch/tmc/crashlogs/ that make them easy to fix.

[u/Weigh13]

What do you mean dual screen? Are you attaching second screen?

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/Weigh13]

U could use the Flip Grip so u can play like a Ds game with the Map/Items/Mision

[u/Structure-These]

Thanks! Is there a master list of these sort of ports anywhere? I haven’t been catching up but need to do it. Cool to see these in hos vs having to dual boot Linux or whatever

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/Structure-These]

I this link could help u https://github.com/robzilla10001/SwitchPorts

[u/flaviometal]

Could you take a look at a bug I found? In the Temple of Droplets, the sunlight isn't appearing in the room, making the puzzle impossible to complete. I've tried on 1.43 and 1.45. Thanks!

EDIT: Thanks! I've seen you already made it!

Fixed

• Temple of Droplets: the sunbeam is back. The temple's light manager was reading its data at the wrong offset on 64-bit, so the beam never rendered in any room and the light-gated ice puzzles ran on a zero flag. Thanks u/digdat0 for the report and the save. If you're already inside the temple, the light on the ice appears once you've opened the corresponding hole above it, as in the original.

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/flaviometal]

Im two steps ahead😂 nah im joking thx for the feedback!

[u/AGTS10k]

Integer scaling option? Scaling 160p to 720p or 1080p using nearest-neighbor would produce mixels (pixels of uneven sizes) and cause shimmering while scrolling

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/AGTS10k]

Docked will get 5X/6X (1440×960 at 1080p) next, Thx for the Idea :)

[u/AGTS10k → u/Alexgg1014]

The best would be to use the largest possible scale factor before spilling out of the screen area, and fill the black bars with more game content - like you did with extending the 3:2 AR to 16:9

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/AGTS10k]

Yeah, that's exactly where I want to take it. Integer scaling is already in there (SETTINGS → DISPLAY → SCREEN SCALE, FIT/2X/3X/4X), so the next step is making the widescreen view go up to 320 columns whenever an integer scale is on. That way 4X fills the full 1280 on handheld and 6X fills 1920 docked, and the only bars left are the 40/60 px top and bottom. Those I'm leaving alone, the game is built around 160 lines everywhere (camera, HUD, text box, room sizes) and stretching that vertically would be a whole different project.

The catch is FPS. 320 columns is more to render every frame than the current 284, and one of my goals for this port is that everything runs at 60 without overclocking. So no promises, but I'll give it a try and if it holds on stock clocks it ships.

[u/AGTS10k → u/Alexgg1014]

That's great, looking forward to that!

I wonder why would performance be a concern though - it's an old 2D game, why would it be hard to render at a slightly larger res?

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/AGTS10k]

Because under the hood it's still the GBA game. It's the decomp running on a software emulation of the GBA's video hardware, so every frame the CPU composites 4 background layers, sprites, windows and blending on a single core. The original renderer did that per pixel, so wider screen = more pixels through every layer, and it actually dropped to ~54 fps at stock clocks. I ended up rewriting the renderer to work per tile and now widescreen holds 60 without overclocking. The other issue is the game only loads map tiles for the 240px it expects to show, so the extra columns need to be fed by the port or you get garbage at the edges. That's why dual screen + widescreen together is still on the list.

[u/0WT4DELF]

Can you play vertically docked on a monitor or a TV?

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/0WT4DELF]

Ofc ;)

[u/0WT4DELF → u/Alexgg1014]

Nice!

[u/flaviometal]

u/Alexgg1014 , New found bug: on the same dungeon (Temple of Droplets), when you open the boss door, game crashes.

Thanks!

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/flaviometal]

Thx for the feedback! I will fix it soon

[u/tbar44]

Are Retroachievments softcore only all the time or only when unlocking offline?

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/tbar44]

Softcore all the time, not just offline. Hardcore on RetroAchievements means no save states, no cheats and a verified emulator; this is a native port (decompiled source, not an emulator), with QoL toggles and a second screen, so it can't honestly claim hardcore. Every unlock is softcore, online or offline; offline ones are queued and sent as softcore when you reconnect.

[u/blaze20511]

Looks neat

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/blaze20511]

[u/iota_4]

🤩

[u/PortraitPractice]

This looks awesome! Did you flip controls for playing vertically too?

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/PortraitPractice]

Thx for ur comment, and no need. With the Flip Grip the Joy-Cons sit upright on the sides of the grip, only the screen turns, so the controls are just normal. Same thing if you use a Pro Controller with the console propped vertically.

[u/PortraitPractice → u/Alexgg1014]

Oh right, gotcha. I was wondering if it could be played vertical on a lite but I think I’d need shoulder buttons anyway 

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/PortraitPractice]

On a Lite it works fine actually. Prop it vertically and pair a Pro Controller or any Bluetooth pad, the Lite supports them, and the touch panel still works on its screen. Or just skip the vertical thing: NORMAL mode plays full screen in 16:9 widescreen, and the map/items panel pops up as an overlay with the minus button whenever you need it. That's probably the better fit for a Lite.

[u/Squee3ds → u/Alexgg1014]

Reminds me I need to get a flip grip. I like the big screen little screen setup. But some games are better with screens how they're supposed to be. I've been playing a lot of ds and 3ds on my switch.

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/Squee3ds]

Yeah, me too😅 recently i only use my switch to play 3DS/DS Games and thats why I started to do this stuff. I love to play with the game on top, panel below with the map, dungeon floors, items and quest guide, like a properDS Zeldas but on one screen. Flip is the same idea turned sideways for the grip.
Also I had other two more project public (A Link to The Past and Link's Awakening DX HD Updated) And i working on Twilight Princess ;P

[u/TeleTubby_666]

Do you think you will port it to the 3DS someday?

[u/Alexgg1014 → u/TeleTubby_666]

I based this on Eteban port from 3Ds (https://github.com/EstebanPdN/zelda-tmc-3ds)

[u/Ghennon → u/TeleTubby_666]

I think this is actually a port of the DS port, so you can play it on a 3DS already

[u/ryza-shinra → u/[deleted]]

It exists already on android with dual screen

[u/hobbykitjr → u/ryza-shinra]

... So which is the best version to play on a steam deck...

Android, switch or 3ds? Or is there another option?

[u/ryza-shinra → u/hobbykitjr]

On steam deck? I would just emulate the original version.

[u/hobbykitjr → u/ryza-shinra]

but i want the dual screen (map/inventory), touch screen, enhanced controls, QoL stuff too

[u/ryza-shinra → u/hobbykitjr]

Ah then I have no idea