# Boulder Dash: an NES disassembly and C/SDL2 port

> Boulder Dash reconstructs an annotated disassembly of the USA NES game and translates its routines into a native C11 and SDL2 port. A local ROM supplies game data and generated assembly; recording tools capture original RAM changes and hardware accesses for routine-by-routine comparison with the C implementation.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: Game
- Category: Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-08
- Original resource: <https://github.com/Kryyto/boulder-dash-nes-decomp>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/Kryyto/boulder-dash-nes-decomp/blob/206dcca9f1f2a6aae550b28e397cc43e478e48c8/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/boulder-dash-nes-decomp-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/boulder-dash-nes-decomp-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/boulder-dash-nes-decomp-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** A legally owned Boulder Dash USA NES ROM; other releases and modified ROMs are unsupported.
- **Prerequisites:** CMake 3.20 or later, a C11 compiler, SDL2, Python 3, and cc65 for the disassembly build.
- **Testing evidence:** The author reports that approximately 144,000 recorded calls matched on the author's machine.
- **License:** MIT license.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/Kryyto/boulder-dash-nes-decomp/blob/206dcca9f1f2a6aae550b28e397cc43e478e48c8/README.md>
2. <https://github.com/Kryyto/boulder-dash-nes-decomp/blob/206dcca9f1f2a6aae550b28e397cc43e478e48c8/port/README.md>

## More in Games

- [BrawlerPad: an Apple-platform port of Super Smash Bros. 64](https://awesomerea.org/resources/brawlerpad-smash-64-apple-port-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Budokai Tenkaichi 3: a native PC port built on a matching decompilation](https://awesomerea.org/resources/tenkaichi3-pc-port-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Burnout 3 for PlayStation 5: a port of Takedawn](https://awesomerea.org/resources/ps5-burnout-3-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Caesar II: a portable build of recovered game source](https://awesomerea.org/resources/caesar-ii-port-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Calico: Atari Jaguar DOOM port with renderer reverse engineering](https://awesomerea.org/resources/calico-doom-case/index.md) · Case study
- [CannonBall: rewriting the OutRun arcade engine in C++](https://awesomerea.org/resources/cannonball-outrun-case/index.md) · Case study

## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.