Free Riders Recompiled Brings Xbox 360 Sonic Free Riders to Windows, Linux and Android
An unofficial static recompilation of Xbox 360 Sonic Free Riders for Windows, Linux and Android. You still need your own USA/Europe disc.
Free Riders Recompiled is an unofficial port of the Xbox 360 version of Sonic Free Riders for Windows, Linux and Android. It’s built through static recompilation, so the game’s PowerPC code gets translated to C++ and runs on a native runtime that stands in for the console’s kernel, graphics, audio, input and Kinect. The project is by YuutaTsubasa and has 68 stars on GitHub.
The repo ships no game assets. You need your own legally acquired USA/Europe disc, and the launcher installs the game data from your disc image. The project calls itself a work in progress. The boot, the menus, Free Race from start to results, and Grand Prix up to the first race all work. Many other parts are untested, and the game may stop or misbehave.
Controllers and keyboards work without Kinect. Buttons stand in for the voice commands, and the pad drives the body moves a race reads, like leaning and jumping. On Windows, Xbox 360 Kinect has been tested through races. Kinect v2 is marked experimental and still needs hardware validation. Webcam motion input works for Player 1 on Windows, and custom VRM avatars are available as an experimental option. Android has been tested on Pocket S2 Pro and AYN Thor. The latest Android 10+ build finished a race on Thor at about 23-24 FPS, with race time matching real time. The project says that doesn’t mean 60 FPS on other devices, and intro movies still play slowly.
How to try it:
- Get your own USA/Europe disc image of Sonic Free Riders.
- Download a prebuilt release from the Releases page. Linux and Android builds come with the shader pack.
- Run the launcher and point it at your disc image so it can install the game data.
- Pick English or Traditional Chinese in the launcher, then set up your controller or keyboard. On Android, use the touch controls or tilt steering. Android 9 and Android 10+ builds are separate.
Watch whether Kinect v2 gets proper hardware testing, since that’s the part of the list still on the experimental label.
