supermetroid VS sm64

Since the target is x86-x64 architecture, the original assembly language can't be run on it. You either translate it to a language that can run on it or just emulate the original architecture. What you're referring to is this project instead which is technically called disassembly.

Similar projects:

* DevilutionX: decompiled and modern version of Diablo for the PC - https://github.com/diasurgical/devilutionX

* pokered: decompiled version of Pokemon Red for the Gamboy - https://github.com/pret/pokered

* zelda1: decompiled version of Zelda for the NES - https://github.com/aldonunez/zelda1-disassembly

* supermetroid: decompiled version of Super Metroid for the SNES - https://github.com/strager/supermetroid

* VAC: decompiled version of Valve Anti Cheat (VAC) for PC - https://github.com/danielkrupinski/VAC

The SM64 is still going strong https://github.com/n64decomp/sm64

Nintendo won't allow any binaries floating around though.

Romhacks are typically modifying the compiled binary ROM image. Kaze' work is based on the painstakingly disassembled code from the n64decomp project[1]. He's working in C, modifying the game and compiling it again for the original hardware. Not sure I'd call that a "romhack".

Great videos though!

[1] https://github.com/n64decomp/sm64

A team or something reverse engineered super mario. I think that's the repo and it's mostly in C

From course_table.h and course_defines.h we can find that: COURSE_MIN == 0 and COURSE_MAX == 25 - so it looks like every secret stage is a full-fledged "course" for the purposes of counting stars, bringing us to 25 courses + castle stars (COURSE_NONE). So, the maximum possible value for starCount should be 7 * 26 = 182.

Multi-year decompilation project: https://github.com/n64decomp/sm64

The port source code of the decompilation is still up on github and Nintendo hasn't taken it down in years, cause they can't since everything has been done with legal methods

This is false, the source code never leaked; it was meticulously and painstakingly decompiled by hand.

It sounds like, rather than a ground-up rewrite, COBOL should be treated as an object-code language, and "hand-decompiled" (ala efforts like https://github.com/n64decomp/sm64) into an HLL that can, at every point, be losslessly transpiled back into the original COBOL.

I know the tooling for doing that doesn't currently exist... but paying someone to develop it would be cheaper than any one of these ground-up rewrite projects!