Super Metroid's 3DS port reaches about 60 fps on the original 3DS, even with 3D on

The native Super Metroid port for modded 3DS consoles now runs its measured rooms at 59 to 60 fps on the Old 3DS and 2DS, and has since added modern controls and an automatic bomb jump.

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The native 3DS port of Super Metroid by tinaut1986, who also made a 3DS port of Metroid: Zero Mission, now runs close to full speed on the original hardware. Version 0.5.0, released on 8 October, says the rooms its developer measured run at about 59 to 60 fps on the Old 3DS and 2DS, "also with the 3D slider up". In the Reddit post for that release, the developer says version 0.3.0 ran at around 45 to 57 fps in the same rooms, with heavy rooms dropping to the mid-40s in 3D. The New 3DS holds 60.

One stretch still falls short. The opening Ceres escape and the Ridley fight there can dip to around 40 to 50 fps on the older consoles with 3D on, which the developer lists as the next job.

Built on a C rewrite

The port is based on snesrev's C reimplementation of the game and an earlier 3DS port by CharlesAverill. It gives each background layer its own depth for the stereoscopic screen, and a widescreen mode fills the 400x240 top screen while keeping enemies and shots active in the extra margins. The touch screen carries the status, a zoomable map with an item tracker, unlimited save states, softcore RetroAchievements and an updater that installs new versions from the console.

Releases have kept coming since 0.5.0. Version 0.6.0 on 10 October added a modern control scheme, in which L aims and R with a face button fires missiles, super missiles or the grapple. Version 0.6.2 on 11 October made Samus run only while B is held and added an automatic bomb jump while the bomb button is held in morph ball. Version 0.6.3 later that day writes saves in the background so a save station no longer stalls the game, and a 0.6.4 beta followed on 12 October with internal changes only. The ROM is not included: the port accepts only a Japan or USA copy, checked by hash, and rejects PAL and patched files.

Sources

Image: tinaut1986 / sm-3ds

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