Star Wars game last GameCube title cracked by Dolphin emulator
At long last, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is now bootable on computers via the GameCube emulator Dolphin.
This ability comes as of Dolphin 5.0-540. Dolphin, which has been around since 2003, is a GameCube and Wii emulator that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
According to a Dolphin blog post, The Clone Wars, which released in 2002, was tricky because it handles memory quite differently than every other GameCube game ever released. As such, Memory Management Unit Emulation in Dolphin needed a re-write.
Of course, the key question is just how well does Dolphin run The Clone Wars? The answer—at least judging by the video below—is pretty good!
The video notes that an “Emulated CPU Clock Override” allows the multiplayer portion of the game to be played with a smooth 60 frames-per-second. Without the override, the frame rate fluctuates between 20 and 60 FPS in multiplayer. It does recommend a “monster computer”, however!
Star Wars games were actually the last two titles on the Dolphin team’s checklist. Studio Factor 5 has been notable for pushing systems to their limits. Their 2003 title, Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, also utilized memory in a unique way, which made the NTSC version difficult to boot.
I haven’t tried either of these games with Dolphin before, but I’ve had success with a number of other titles. Dolphin allows you to bump up the resolution—which means playing GameCube games in native HD—and hacks can also get games to run more smoothly. For instance, Super Mario Sunshine can run at 60 FPS instead of its native 30 FPS.
Depending on your computer’s specs, I definitely recommend giving Dolphin a go. The program has really been improved a lot in recent years and the GameCube had a number of amazing games. However, note that it’s considered good form to own a physical copy of any games you run on an emulator such as Dolphin.
(H/T Eurogamer)
