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

By Heather Wald
published

The supposed leak seemingly brings to light a vast amount of unused assets

(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. 

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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.

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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.  

Keep track of all of the latest releases from Nintendo with our list of upcoming Nintendo Switch games. 

Heather Wald
Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.