Golden Balloon NX v1.2.1-nx1

Golden Balloon NX v1.2.1-nx1

This update focuses on save support, stability, and Nintendo Switch performance.

Highlights

💾 Save & configuration fixes

• Fixed save data handling on Nintendo Switch.
• Adventure progress can now be stored correctly on the SD card.
• Configuration/settings persistence has also been improved.
• Save data and configuration are stored under:
  sdmc:/switch/goldenballoon/

If you are upgrading from the previous release, you can keep your existing save/ folder and mdkr64.ini and simply replace goldenballoon.nro.

⚡ Major Switch performance improvements

• Removed a redundant offscreen framebuffer path from normal Switch gameplay.
• Removed an unnecessary full-screen framebuffer blit that was still being performed even when the game was already rendering at native Switch resolution.
• Switch now reports the actual effective 1x render scale to the OpenGL backend instead of retaining Golden Balloon's desktop-oriented 2x supersampling setting.
• Disabled an unused framebuffer-memory compatibility path by default on Switch.
• Added GCC Link-Time Optimization (LTO) for the Switch build.
• Improved performance and frame consistency, especially in heavier areas such as the Adventure Mode hub worlds.
• These optimizations do not reduce the normal 1280×720 output resolution.

🔊 Audio

• Includes the Switch-specific audio buffering improvements designed to reduce underruns and crackling.
• The game's original audio synthesis rate, music timing, and pitch remain unchanged.

Installation

Copy:

goldenballoon.nro

to:

sdmc:/switch/goldenballoon/

A legally dumped Diddy Kong Racing US 1.1 ROM is required:

baserom.us.v80.z64

Place it in the same Golden Balloon folder.

No ROM, copyrighted game assets, or Nintendo/Rare game data are included with this release.

Notes

Golden Balloon NX is still under active development. Further Switch-specific CPU/GPU optimizations and presentation improvements are being investigated.

Thanks to everyone testing the port and reporting issues! ❤️

Golden Balloon NX v1.2.0-nx1

First Nintendo Switch release of Golden Balloon NX.

Native ARM64 gameplay, SDL2/Mesa rendering, controller support, saving, mods, and Switch-specific audio buffering are functional.

Requires a legally dumped Diddy Kong Racing US 1.1 ROM.
No game data is included.