Nintendo source code for Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and many more allegedly leaked

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Source code for a vast number of classic Nintendo games on the N64 and NES has seemingly been leaked online by anonymous posters.

Fans have already been digging into the alleged "Gigaleak" of source code for games including the likes of Mario 64, Mario Kart, Star Fox 1 and 2, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Yoshi's Island (to name a few). So far, a veritable trove of what is said to be unused assets including levels, sprites, and character designs, has surfaced.

The alleged leaked code is currently flooding social media since it first came to light. Some concept features as yet unseen in Nintendo's classic games have reportedly been unearthed from the leak, and those reading into the code have seemingly discovered unreleased game prototypes such as a scrapped Zelda 2 remake. As VGC reports, the leak seems to include plans for a Pokemon MMO in the early 2000s for the Game Boy Advance, said to be based on Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen.

MARIO 64 SOURCE JUST LEAKEDTHERE’S AN OFFICIAL LUIGI MODEL pic.twitter.com/EfkfETKY0CJuly 25, 2020

One other feature that's doing the rounds also includes the likes of a model of Luigi in Super Mario 64, which can be used as a mod to add to the 20-year-old game. You can even see the model in action in a recent YouTube video, which shows the green plumber running and jumping in and around Peach's Castle.

The supposed leaks certainly pull up some very interesting content that could have been in these classic games, and as Polygon reports, some notable people have been joining the conversation so far, including Star Fox developer Dylan Cuthbert, who provides a fair bit of legitimacy to the leak by revealing that hackers have leaked an old tool of his.

Wtf - I haven’t seen this tool I made for StarFox 2 for almost 30 years, I wrote it in early c++ to teach myself the language more than anything else. Where the hell have hackers got all this obscure data from????!! https://t.co/9kN9UoQPMSJuly 24, 2020

It's not known how legitimate this source code, all though the evidence points to it being fairly solid, and it's also worth noting that we don't know how this code was obtained by the anonymous leaker. As with anything that appears online in this way, it's best to maintain some skepticism.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.