Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Recomp v0.1.0-preview

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Recomp v0.1.0-preview

Overview

This is an experimental native Windows x64 static recompilation preview of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (USA), powered by the GBARecomp framework and featuring a modern, embedded graphical launcher powered by recomp-ui.

The original ARM7TDMI machine code is statically recompiled ahead-of-time (AOT) into native x64 execution units, with hardware emulation covering PPU, APU/Direct Sound, DMA, timers, and interrupts.

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Key Features

• Native recomp-ui GUI Launcher: Full-featured graphical frontend for file configuration, video, audio, and controller management without showing any console window.
• Strict Verification Gates: SHA-1 hash and file size validation on both ROM and GBA retail BIOS dumps.
• Input Customization:
  • Full keyboard key rebinding.
  • SDL2 GameController support with dynamic hotplugging.
  • Default layout: D-Pad for movement, Z for Attack (B), X for Jump (A), A/S for L/R abilities, Enter for Start, Backspace for Select.
• Video Presentation:
  • Integer window scaling from 1x to 6x.
  • Fullscreen and windowed modes.
  • Locked to authentic 240x160 GBA aspect ratio (no distorted wide stretching).
• Master Audio Volume: Real-time adjustable volume slider with persistence.
• Persistent Configuration: Saved in config.ini, keybinds.ini, rom.cfg, and bios.cfg. Pass --launcher at any time to reopen the GUI.
• Recompiled LLE BIOS: Faithful low-level emulation (LLE) BIOS execution path for authentic boot intro and system routines.
• SRAM Save Compatibility: Retains standard 32 KiB SRAM format (SRAM_F_V102) and maintains forward/backward compatibility with existing root-level saves and saves/aos.sav.
• Zero Toolchain Dependency: AOT recompiled player with built-in Stage-1 interpreter fallback; players do not need Visual Studio, GCC, or build tools installed.

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Supported Files & Requirements

Important

No copyrighted ROM data or BIOS dumps are included in this release. You must supply your own dumps.

File	Requirements
Game ROM	Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (USA) Game Code: A2CE Size: 8,388,608 bytes (8 MiB) SHA-1: abd71fe01ebb201bcc133074db1dd8c5253776c7
GBA BIOS	Retail GBA BIOS dump (gba_bios.bin) Size: 16,384 bytes (16 KiB) SHA-1: 300c20df6731a33952ded8c436f7f186d25d3492
Save Type	32 KiB SRAM (SRAM_F_V102)

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Quick Start

1. Download CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrowRecomp-windows-x64-v0.1.0-preview.zip.
2. Extract the archive into a folder of your choice.
3. Double-click CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrowRecomp.exe.
4. In the GUI launcher, select your USA ROM and retail GBA BIOS files.
5. Click Play to start the game.

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Verified Functionality

• BIOS boot sequence and Konami logo presentation.
• Title screen and save file management.
• Opening prologue and story cutscenes.
• Player character movement, jumping, and weapon attacks.
• Soul equipment, status screen, and inventory management.
• SRAM save writing and room/map transition updates.

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Known Limitations

• Experimental Preview: Testing has covered early-to-mid exploration, core combat, and save persistence. End-to-end full game completion is not yet guaranteed.
• Single Title Target: Specifically tuned for the USA A2CE release. European and Japanese revisions are not supported by this build.

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Legal & Third-Party Credits

• Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is a registered trademark of Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
• Game Boy Advance is a registered trademark of Nintendo Co., Ltd.
• This project is an independent clean-room static recompilation research effort and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Konami or Nintendo.
• Built upon GBARecomp (PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 / MPL-2.0 / MIT) and recomp-ui (MIT).
• Uses Dear ImGui (MIT) and SDL2 (zlib).
• Detailed attribution is provided in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md inside the release package.