# Crash Bandicoot 2 Recompiled: a PSXRecomp native build

> A Windows launcher that uses the PSXRecomp recompiler and runtime to translate the user’s Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back disc to C and compile it locally, so the game runs as native code with an emulated PlayStation hardware layer. The repository holds the launcher, a patched vendored runtime and a long bring-up log; it distributes no game code or data.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: Game
- Category: Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed: 2026-10-18
- Added to the catalog: 2026-10-18
- Original resource: <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/blob/48036cf3b49dfe4343e5c093d1df8a7b12617f81/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/crash2recomp-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/crash2recomp-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/crash2recomp-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** Needs a disc image the user owns of the North American release (serial SCUS-94154), as .cue/.bin or .chd; the launcher checks tracks, sectors and boot serial and hashes the image. No PlayStation BIOS is required because MIT-licensed OpenBIOS is included, and locally generated files derived from the disc must not be redistributed.
- **Prerequisites:** Release v0.9.6 (2026-10-08) is a 64-bit Windows 10+ bundle; a first build takes about 3 GB of disk space and five to twenty minutes. Source use needs Python 3.11+ with PySide6 and the PSXRecomp MinGW-w64 Clang toolchain; the notes say MSVC is unsupported, and 59 runtime patches are kept in tuning/patches.
- **Limits:** The README calls the game completable from start to finish but a work-in-progress preview with minor sound and graphical issues. Streamed level-code overlays are compiled natively when possible and otherwise fall back to a MIPS interpreter; the opt-in 60 FPS mode runs the emulated CPU at 200% and is not verified across the whole game.
- **Testing evidence:** Published checks are launcher settings and UI smoke tests, scenario scripts and a harness comparing its own Direct3D 12 and OpenGL renderers.
- **License:** There is no top-level license file. The README lists PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 for PSXRecomp, MIT for OpenBIOS, zlib for SDL3 and LGPLv3 for Qt/PySide6; the game and its trademarks belong to their owners.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/blob/48036cf3b49dfe4343e5c093d1df8a7b12617f81/README.md>
2. <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/blob/48036cf3b49dfe4343e5c093d1df8a7b12617f81/tuning/NOTES.md>
3. <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/blob/48036cf3b49dfe4343e5c093d1df8a7b12617f81/_build/Crash2Recomp/README.md>
4. <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/blob/48036cf3b49dfe4343e5c093d1df8a7b12617f81/_build/Crash2Recomp/CMakeLists.txt>
5. <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/blob/48036cf3b49dfe4343e5c093d1df8a7b12617f81/_build/build_recompiler.ps1>
6. <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/tree/48036cf3b49dfe4343e5c093d1df8a7b12617f81/tuning/patches>
7. <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/tree/48036cf3b49dfe4343e5c093d1df8a7b12617f81/tuning/renderer_parity>
8. <https://github.com/Zumbo06/Crash2Recomp/releases/tag/v0.9.6>

## More in Games

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## 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.