Unofficial Android port lets you play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on mobile

It's now possible for Nintendo gamers to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on their phones. The port of this classic console game is the first to hit mobile. It's an unofficial port which lets fans go on adventures in Hyrule from their pocket.

Developer mamcjr releases BOTWRecompAndroid for Android 11+ devices

However, there are hardware requirements that must be met in order for this port to work as intended. Now fans have the opportunity to see how modern Android devices hold up when playing the 2017 open-world game.

A dev going by the handle of mamcjr is responsible for the unofficial BOTWRecompAndroid port. It's an unofficial port of the Nintendo Switch version of the game. The open-source LAS Recomp tool is used to accomplish this. The port takes the Switch game architecture and makes it usable on a normal mobile CPU.

In order to play this port, you will need to have an Android 11 (or later) device. You'll also need a 64-bit ARM CPU. And you will need graphics that support Vulkan in order for it to render the game properly.

Those restrictions eliminate a lot of older devices. That's so it has access to the low-level things it needs.

This port supports both using touch and connecting gamepads. It also has gyro aim, just like the original. There's also a 60 FPS mode available.

But maintaining a consistent frame rate is highly dependent on the individual smartphone. You will need to supply the Switch game data yourself since this port doesn't come with the copyrighted game files.

This is an interesting experiment in what modern Android phones are capable of handling. Especially for something so complex like a console game. This port gives us a way to play it on current Android devices at no extra cost.

And, it's important to note this is an unofficial experiment. It's not a commercial endeavor.

Source: IXBT