Ultra Street Fighter Android received an experimental native implementation based on the Xbox 360 version of Ultra Street Fighter IV. Developer BelmanteGu publicly presented the project on September 28, 2026, with the game recompiled for ARM64 and running on a Galaxy S23 with an Adreno 740 at 60 FPS. The work uses ReXGlue to recompile the executable and a custom Vulkan renderer, therefore it does not execute the Xenon CPU or Xenos GPU via emulation during the native path.

The project is still in development and does not offer a ready-to-download public APK. Even so, the repository already documents menus, cutscenes, character selection, battles, and touchscreen controls working on Android. In addition, the same code also runs on Windows and macOS.

Ultra Street Fighter Android uses static recompilation

The technical foundation starts in the file Default.xex of the Xbox 360 edition. The official repository of Ultra Street Fighter IV Recompiled explains that ReXGlue ahead-of-time transforms PowerPC code into C++. Afterwards, the project compiles this output for the ARM64 architecture used by modern smartphones.

Consequently, the phone does not need to continuously interpret the Xbox 360 CPU instructions. The runtime replaces system calls related to files, threads, memory, audio, and input. This approach follows the same line as Rayman Origins Recompiled on Android, whose infrastructure served as the basis for the new work.

Ultra Street Fighter IV Recompiled running natively on the Galaxy S23, with touchscreen controls. Image: BelmanteGu / official project.

Vulkan renderer replaces Xenos GPU emulation

The advancement is not limited to the CPU. The developer created a Vulkan renderer that intercepts the game's Direct3D calls and draws the result directly through a modern graphics API. The original shaders undergo ahead-of-time conversion with XenosRecomp, HLSL, and SPIR-V.

Thus, render targets, resolves, depth, Scaleform, and the system of predicated tiling of the Xbox 360 are handled by the port's renderer. The documentation explicitly states that this path does not emulate the Xenos GPU. On the other hand, the project still maintains work in progress to fix geometry details and some effects.

This distinction is important. Ultra Street Fighter Android it is not running the Windows version inside a layer like Winlator, nor is it streaming or an independent commercial mobile version. It is the Xbox 360 edition ahead-of-time recompiled into native code and accompanied by a new graphics infrastructure.

Options screen of the Android implementation. The app has its own launcher and supports touch and physical controllers. Image: BelmanteGu / official project.

Galaxy S23 reaches 60 FPS in developer test

The documented test uses a Galaxy S23 with an Adreno 740 GPU. According to the author, the game reached 60 FPS on this device. The repository documentation also records 60 FPS on Windows with a laptop RTX 3050.

However, the result should not be generalized to any phone. The developer tested directly on the Galaxy S23 and states that he still needs to expand testing. In later comments, he recommended waiting for more optimizations when asked about more modest devices.

The Android path requires ARM64, Vulkan 1.1 or higher and descriptor indexing. The build configuration uses Android API 29, equivalent to Android 10, as the minimum technical platform for the current build. Furthermore, the project does not depend on shaderInt64.

The author also implemented specific fixes for Adreno. One of them alters the window surface to avoid issues with the alpha channel used by the game. Another converts 16-bit vertex formats on the CPU that the GPU does not support directly. The pipeline cache is saved to disk, while video playback received an optimization that, according to the repository, made decoding about 20 times faster.

27 of the 29 scenarios already pass without visual glitches

The developer automated fights in all 29 stages available in the game's selection. In the documented battery, 27 finished with no identified visual glitches. The other two still show for a few frames a seam linked to the tile system used in rendering.

Menus, videos, character selection, and fights in Arcade, Versus, Challenge, and Training are already working. The renderer also features animated characters, shadows, bloom, motion blur, and a complete HUD. Therefore, the project has moved past the phase of just booting the executable and already demonstrates a large portion of the real experience.

Technical comparison of the renderer on Windows during development, including the native Vulkan path and the Xbox 360 graphical reference. Image: BelmanteGu / official project.

Android has touchscreen controls and gamepad support

On mobile, the project uses an SDL3 application with its own launcher. The interface allows importing game files, launching execution, and configuring the renderer. On-screen controls offer six attack buttons, while physical controllers are also supported.

This point brings the project closer to an actual mobile port, rather than a simple technical demo compiled for ARM64. The developer also created options for opacity and size of the touchscreen controls, as well as functions for backup and restoration of save files.

The work expands on a recent trend of native ports for smartphones. On Allves Games, we also showed Resident Evil 4 decompiled for Android, although that project starts from the GameCube version and uses a different infrastructure.

There is no public APK of the port yet

Although the repository documents the first working APK on the Galaxy S23, the developer himself clarified on September 28 that he has not yet published this file for download. The intention is to release a version when the port is more tested and optimized.

In addition, the personal build requires the files from a legitimate copy of the Xbox 360 version. The repository does not include commercial code, converted shaders, or game assets. The documentation also warns that an APK generated during the process may carry shaders derived from the user's copy and therefore must not be redistributed.

This limitation makes the situation different from a public release ready for installation. Currently, anyone reproducing the project needs to prepare the compilation environment and provide their own game data. Therefore, there is no App Store, Google Play, TestFlight, or official sideload package available at this time.

Why the project is relevant

Ultra Street Fighter Android demonstrates that the recompilation infrastructure used in Xbox 360 games is also advancing for 3D titles and mobile devices. The author himself states that he created the project to study and document how to build a reusable native renderer for 3D console games.

The current result does not yet equate to a final version. However, there is a concrete technical delta: the entire executable has already been recompiled, the Vulkan renderer renders full fights, all 29 stages have undergone automated testing, and an ARM64 build already runs at 60 FPS on the Galaxy S23 used by the developer.

Sources: Ultra Street Fighter IV Recompiled — official repository; Android documentation; gallery and tests of the 29 scenarios; developer announcement on r/decomps.