TombaRecomp

About

Tomba!, known as Tombi! in Europe, is a 1997 platform-adventure game developed and published by Whoopee Camp for the PlayStation, following a feral child recovering his grandfather's bracelet from an evil race of anthropomorphic pigs. TombaRecomp statically recompiles the original PlayStation Tomba! (USA, SCUS-94236) into a native Windows/macOS/Linux executable using the PSXRecomp framework, translating the game's MIPS code ahead of time into native C and running it against a simulated PS1 (GPU, SPU, GTE, memory cards) with a real recompiled PS1 BIOS rather than high-level emulation. It's currently at v0.12.3-alpha, playable from BIOS boot through gameplay with known tracked crashes, offering both software and OpenGL renderers, supersampling/anti-aliasing, experimental 16:9 widescreen, and analog or D-pad controller modes.

How it differs from the original

Unlike playing on original hardware or through emulation, it runs the game's own code as a native recompiled program with an authentic recompiled BIOS rather than emulation shims, and adds features absent from the original release such as widescreen, supersampling, and a cache that converts and speeds up areas as players actually visit them. It requires the player's own legally obtained disc image; the repository itself contains no disc, retail BIOS, or game code.

Getting started

Download the Windows release archive and run the included launcher, which lets you pick your disc image (OpenBIOS is used automatically, with an optional real BIOS dump) and adjust renderer, widescreen, and controller settings before launching. An experimental Linux AppImage is also available, or the project can be built from source with CMake.

History

The recompilation grew out of developing the general-purpose PSXRecomp static-recompilation framework, with Tomba! serving as one of the framework's proving-ground games rather than being the project's primary goal.

Known issues & limitations

• gameplay: Game is playable from BIOS boot through gameplay but has known crashes tracked in ISSUES.md.
• widescreen: Experimental widescreen 16:9 support is opt-in; some 2D HUD/menu/FMV elements and occasional background seams can look off.
• cache: Areas visited are converted to native code over time; areas not yet visited run in slower compatibility mode.
• This is an in-development preview, not a finished port, and may have rough edges.
• Gameplay is playable, but known crashes remain.
• Widescreen is experimental; some HUD, menu, and FMV elements or background seams may look wrong, and 21:9 is not ready.
• The Linux build is experimental.

What you need to run it

Features

• Choose between a CPU software renderer and OpenGL; OpenGL is the default and falls back to software if initialization fails.
• Choose nearest or bilinear texture filtering.
• Opt in to experimental 16:9 widescreen with a wider field of view.
• CHD disc images can be mounted directly.
• Steam's `t_data_u.car` image can be selected without renaming it.
• An optional Fast Loading mod offers host-pacing and experimental emulated-CD timing choices.
• The project builds a native code cache for areas you visit and reuses it on later launches.

How to install

1. Download the Windows release ZIP and extract it.
2. Run `TombaRecomp.exe` to open the launcher.
3. Select your legally obtained game disc image in the launcher.
4. Optionally change settings, then press Launch; your choices are remembered.
5. For the Linux AppImage, download it, make it executable, and run it.

Controls

• Xbox, PlayStation, and other SDL-recognized controllers are supported; the left stick provides variable run speed and the D-pad works at the same time.

Media

Licensing & legal

• Released under the PolyForm Noncommercial license.

Credits & contributing

• Players are asked not to publicly share the file that records their session's cached game code, since it contains verbatim copyrighted material read from their own disc.

FAQ

What is TombaRecomp?

TombaRecomp is an open-source recompilation of Tomba!. The original game's compiled code translated into a native program for a new platform, usually a PC port. The original game ran on PlayStation.

Do I need the original game files to run TombaRecomp?

Yes. The project does not include the original game's assets, so you need your own copy. Requires the original Tomba! (USA, SCUS-94236) disc image to run.

How is TombaRecomp licensed?

project: PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 (project code); PCSX-Redux: MIT (OpenBIOS). The repository itself is the authoritative source.