Mario Kart Wii 3DS

A native Nintendo 3DS port of Mario Kart Wii: dudewhat's original port, continued by MiniBandit, with Epic's Redux merged in as the game.

This repository contains no Nintendo game files. It builds an installable CIA on your own computer from your own Mario Kart Wii disc.

It isn't an emulator. The game runs natively on the 3DS: kart physics come from Kinoko, a recreation of Mario Kart Wii's physics, and rendering, audio and menus are written for the 3DS hardware.

Features

• Grand Prix in 50cc, 100cc, 150cc and Mirror, with cup progression, unlocks, award ceremonies and the staff credits
• Time Trials with saved records, solo and team VS, Balloon Battle and Coin Runners on all ten arenas
• All characters and vehicles, including the unlockables and your own 3DS Miis as drivers
• Four licenses with saved identities, rules, records and settings
• Two-screen menus, race results and maps, with the Wii's materials, animations, particles and audio restored
• Dynamic shadows and notification LED effects, set per license
• Distance-based opponent detail, for demanding courses

See CHANGELOG.md for the full list. Online play is not included yet.

What you need

• Mario Kart Wii (USA), game ID RMCE01, dumped as .iso or .wbfs. Convert RVZ or NKit dumps to ISO in Dolphin first.
• About 30 GB of free space and an internet connection

The following dependencies are only needed if you DON'T want to use Docker to build:

• devkitPro with the 3DS tools (3ds-dev)
• Python 3.11–3.14 and Node.js LTS (Python 3.15 is not supported yet)
• Git
• A C++ compiler for your computer, for two small helper programs:
  • macOS: Xcode command line tools (xcode-select --install)
  • Windows: winget install MartinStorsjo.LLVM-MinGW.UCRT, then open a new window
  • Linux: g++ or clang++ from your package manager

Building

macOS: double-click Build MKW CIA.command, drag your disc image into the window and press Return.

Windows: double-click Build MKW CIA.bat, drag your disc image into the window and press Enter.

Linux (Intel or AMD computers only, including Chromebooks with Linux turned on): install Python, Node.js, Git and g++ with your package manager, then devkitPro. On Debian, Ubuntu and ChromeOS, devkitPro's package manager is installed with its own script first:

wget https://apt.devkitpro.org/install-devkitpro-pacman
chmod +x ./install-devkitpro-pacman
sudo ./install-devkitpro-pacman
sudo dkp-pacman -S 3ds-dev

Then open a new terminal, go into the builder folder (cd to where you unzipped it) and run bash "Build MKW CIA.command". Type or paste the path to your disc image when asked.

This version needs a new build. Its converted game files changed, so build it in a new, empty folder (not your old builder folder).

The first build takes a few hours. Your CIA is saved to build/release/mkw-3ds.cia and the game files to build/release/sd-card/3ds. If a build stops partway, run it again: finished steps are skipped. If it fails, share build-cia-log.txt when asking for help.

Mii faces: license portraits and Mii drivers use the 3DS's Mii resource. The game asks your console for its own copy. If yours doesn't show them, put your console's CFL_Res.dat beside the builder before building.

Docker (suitable for any OS)

You can also generate your .cia file using Docker Engine (Linux only) or Docker Desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux):

• Put your .iso or .wbfs file inside the mkw-rom folder
• Open a terminal window inside the project's root and run the following command:

  docker compose run --build --rm builder bash /workspace/build-mkw-cia-docker.sh
  

• Every dependency will be downloaded and installed and the build script will start automatically
• If the build stops partway, run the above command again
• After the script is done running and you have copied over important files (i.e. the build/release/sd-card/3ds folder and the .cia file), you can:
  • Remove containers/images/networks/volumes associated with this project:

    docker compose down --rmi all -v
    

  • Delete the whole project folder
• If you want to reclaim a little more space, you can also erase your Docker build cache:

  docker builder prune
  

• If you no longer need Docker, you can uninstall it as well

Installing

You need a 3DS with custom firmware (3ds.hacks.guide).

1. Copy build/release/sd-card/3ds to the root of your SD card (about 3 GB; the game reads its files from here).
2. Install mkw-3ds.cia with FBI. It's small, because the game files are on the card.
3. For sound, run DSP1 once to dump your sound firmware.

Performance varies by console and course: New 3DS aims for 60 FPS and runs in the 40–60 range.

To keep the game files inside the CIA instead, build with --embed-assets (several GB, and some consoles fail to install CIAs that large).

Please don't share your built files: they contain Nintendo's game files. Share this builder instead.

Quick updates (no rebuilding)

Once you've built this version and copied the SD folder, updates are a small update CIA (about 3 MB, no game files) installed in one of these ways:

FBI: Remote Install → Scan QR Code
Universal-Updater: Settings → Add store → scan this, then install Mario Kart Wii 3DS (update)
Manually: download MKW-3DS-Update.cia from the latest release and install it with FBI

An update is not the game: without a build from your own disc it can't run. If an update ever needs newer game files, the game says so on start-up: download the latest builder, build again and copy the SD folder again.

Controls

Button	Action
Circle Pad	Steer and choose the direction of an item throw
A	Accelerate
B	Brake / reverse
R	Hop and drift; trick off a ramp
Y / D-pad Up	Trick / bike wheelie
X / ZL	Look behind
L	Use item
D-pad / ZR	Boost panel trick
START	Pause
SELECT	Toggle the speedometer
Touch screen	Menus: tap a button. Races: switch the lower-screen map view

Dynamic shadows and LED options are in License Settings.

Contributing

Bug reports and suggestions go in Issues. Please say which console and version you used, the mode and course, and the steps to reproduce. Keep game assets, saves and system files out of pull requests.

Credits

• dudewhat: the original Mario Kart Wii 3DS port
• MiniBandit: the continuation and the builder
• Epic (Epic0522): Redux, the game and interface this project now uses
• DarthMDev: Old 3DS drawing performance fix, race sound fixes and menu cadence
• Codiak540: Old 3DS performance testing and optimisation research
• janedoemk3ds: Old 3DS performance research with Codiak540
• vabold / Kinoko: Mario Kart Wii physics
• noclip.website: BRRES model parsing
• LagoLunatic / gclib: disc and texture utilities
• devkitPro, libctru and Citro3D: Nintendo 3DS development and graphics libraries
• CFL contributors: native Mii rendering

See NOTICE for licence details.