MegaMan X - Recomp NX now runs full speed on stock clocks

The Switch port MegaMan X - Recomp NX now runs at full speed at the stock CPU clock, according to developer Thorhax’s thread on GBAtemp. The post says widescreen, Zero and co-op, and the X2 and X3 weapons all work, and overclocking is no longer needed.

Why should a hobbyist care? Full speed at default clocks means you don’t have to push the hardware past its settings to get a playable game. That’s the difference between a tech demo and something you can actually sit down with.

The update also makes a few concrete changes. With 16:9 and Zero, a frame now takes about 12 ms at 1020 MHz, down from over 17 ms in 1.0.1. Background tiles inside the original 4:3 area go through a fast path, and identical pixels reuse their colour. Lines the widescreen renderer draws itself are no longer drawn a second time by the native PPU.

There’s also a bug fix. With widescreen, an enemy could stay invisible while still attacking if you moved faster than the game expected, like with Zero’s dash. The missile mech at the start of Highway was one example. Enemies now spawn once their graphics are loaded. Save-state and rewind thumbnails show the widescreen picture too.

Thorhax says the output is pixel-identical to the previous renderer. He checked it frame by frame over a scripted Highway run, played as X and as Zero. Honestly, that’s the part I like. Speed-ups that change the picture are how ports quietly rot. Checking every frame against the old renderer is boring work, and it’s the kind that keeps people trusting a port.

To try it, grab the build from the MegaMan X - Recomp NX releases page. The thread doesn’t include install steps. One reply already asks how to get 16:9 working, and no answer shows up in the thread. Expect more of that question. Thorhax also links Patreon and Ko-fi for support.