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<img src="docs/images/banner.jpg" alt="NFS Most Wanted 2012 (Android version) for Nintendo Switch, an unofficial homebrew port" width="100%">

NFS Most Wanted 2012 (Android) for Nintendo Switch

An unofficial homebrew port of the Android version of Need for Speed™ Most Wanted (2012, version 1.3.128) to the Nintendo Switch.<br> The original Android game, loaded by a native Switch program. Bring your own copy, drop it into one folder, and race through Fairhaven, handheld or docked.

Install · Controls · FAQ · Troubleshooting · Changelog · How it works

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[!IMPORTANT] No game files are included, not in this repository and not in the releases. You need your own copy of the Android game: the APK and the OBB of version 1.3.128 (or one .xapk file with both). Please don't ask for them in issues, and never upload them anywhere.

This port runs the Android version only. Files from the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PS Vita, Wii U or iOS versions of Most Wanted (2012) don't work.

[!TIP] New in 0.3.1

• Effects of high-end phones: haze in the distance, wet and shiny roads, reflections on the cars, smoke, the engine's echo in tunnels, now at the recommended detail level too, at almost no cost (see it).
• Anti-aliasing (smoother edges, optional) and texture filtering (the road ahead stays sharp).
• Faster loading: the CPU runs at 1785 MHz while the game loads, as official Switch games do; the game's most frequent small calls got faster; and updates now keep the JIT cache.
• A bigger debug menu (ZL + ZR + Minus) in four pages: performance, graphics, controls & sound, and live information (temperatures, battery, loading times).
• Fixed: after a long session, cars stopped appearing in the garage and the next race stayed black.

0.3.0 brought docking and undocking while you play and the Switch's buttons in the game. All the details are in the changelog.

Screenshots

<p align="center"> <img src="docs/images/race.gif" alt="A few seconds of a race: overtaking on the way to first place" width="720"> </p> <p align="center">_{A few seconds of a race, recorded frame by frame on the port's PC test build at the Switch's handheld resolution. It shows how the game looks, not the console's frame rate.}</p> <table> <tr> <td width="50%"><img src="docs/images/screenshots/race-intro.jpg" alt="Race intro cinematic"></td> <td width="50%"><img src="docs/images/screenshots/race-city.jpg" alt="Racing through the city, with the game's steering tutorial naming the Switch"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">_{The race intro, rendered in real time}</td> <td align="center">_{Racing through Fairhaven with the controller}</td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/race-docked-1080p.jpg" alt="A race at 1920x1080, docked"></td> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/map.jpg" alt="The map with the controller highlight on an event and + for EasyDrive"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">_{Docked: the race at 1920×1080}</td> <td align="center">_{The map: every menu works with the D-pad, and + starts the next event}</td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/garage.jpg" alt="The garage"></td> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/showroom.jpg" alt="A car in the 3D showroom"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">_{The garage, with on-screen button hints}</td> <td align="center">_{The 3D car showroom}</td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/pause-menu.jpg" alt="The pause menu during a race"></td> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/phone-effects.jpg" alt="A race at detail level Medium with the phone effects: haze over the city, a wet, shiny road"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">_{The pause menu, mid-race}</td> <td align="center">_{New in 0.3.1: the effects of high-end phones (haze, wet road) at the recommended detail level}</td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/debug-menu.jpg" alt="The port's debug menu, GRAPHICS page"></td> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/debug-menu-info.jpg" alt="The port's debug menu, INFORMATION page"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">_{The debug menu (ZL + ZR + Minus), GRAPHICS page: phone effects, anti-aliasing, texture filtering}</td> <td align="center">_{Its INFORMATION page: frame rate, clocks, temperatures, battery, loading times (some only on the console)}</td> </tr> </table>

_{Captured with the port's PC test build, which runs the same game code at the Switch's resolutions (1280×720 handheld, 1920×1080 docked). The panel in the race shots is the game's own tutorial for controller steering. More pictures: the controls pages.}

Features

• The real Android game, with no phone or Android system underneath. The port loads the game's own libraries, and everything the game asks Android for (files, graphics, sound, controls) is answered by the port's own Switch code. One part does work like an emulator: the game's 32-bit ARM code goes through a CPU recompiler (Dynarmic), because Switch homebrew can only run 64-bit code (why).
• 720p in handheld mode, 1080p docked, and you can dock or undock while you play.
• The effects of high-end phones, at the cost of a mid-range one. The game gives fast phones haze in the distance, wet and shiny roads, reflections on the cars, smoke and the engine's echo in tunnels; the port turns them on at its recommended detail level, without the extra objects that make the game's High level slow. Plus optional anti-aliasing and texture filtering, which no phone had in this game.
• Switch buttons in the game. The controls pages and tutorials name the Switch's buttons instead of the MOGA gamepad the game was made for, in all 11 languages. The controls pages show the port's own drawings with the Switch's button layout: a handheld console in handheld mode, a gamepad when docked.
• Full controller support. Drive with the sticks and buttons, and play every menu with a highlight you move with the D-pad, drawn in the game's own style. The touch screen still works.
• Optional gyro steering. Tilt the console or the controller like a steering wheel.
• Easy install, no PC needed. Copy your APK and OBB (or a single .xapk) into one folder: the port sets itself up at the first start, with a progress screen.
• Forgiving. Libraries left in lib/armeabi-v7a/, an assets folder in the wrong place or a renamed OBB are moved where they belong automatically.
• Faster with every start. The port remembers which parts of the game's code it has translated (the JIT cache, kept across updates) and translates them ahead of time from then on: shorter loading screens and fewer stutters. While the game loads, the CPU runs at 1785 MHz, as official Switch games do.
• Fully offline. Every online service is blocked; career, races, cars and saves work offline.
• Your career in one file (save/progress/nfstr_save.sb): easy to back up, kept across updates.
• Debug menu (ZL + ZR + Minus), four pages switched with L / R: performance (frame-rate limit, VSync, CPU / GPU / memory clocks, the loading boost), graphics (detail level, phone effects, anti-aliasing, texture filtering, 3D resolution, a frame-rate counter), controls & sound (tilt steering, volume) and live information (clocks, temperatures, battery, loading times).
• Three crashes of the original game fixed in the loader.

What you need

	What
Console	A Nintendo Switch, Switch OLED or Switch Lite running Atmosphère with the Homebrew Menu. Use emuMMC and keep a backup of your SD card.
Game	Your own Need for Speed Most Wanted for Android, version 1.3.128: the APK with the 32-bit build (lib/armeabi-v7a) and the OBB main.1003128.com.ea.games.nfs13_row.obb (about 650 MB). One .xapk file with both works too.
SD card	About 1 GB free.
PC	Not needed.

How to install

[!TIP] New to Switch homebrew? First set up your console with custom firmware (Atmosphère) and the Homebrew Menu: the community guide switch.hacks.guide explains it step by step. Unsure what APK, OBB or emuMMC mean? See the glossary.

<img src="docs/images/install-steps.png" alt="Install in 4 steps: download the zip, copy the switch folder to the SD card, add your APK and OBB to the game folder, start with R + any game" width="100%">

1. Download. On the Releases page, under Assets, download NFSMostWanted2012-0.3.1.zip (not "Source code", which is only for developers) and unzip it on your computer.
2. Copy to the SD card. Copy the switch folder from the zip to the root of your SD card.
3. Add your game. Copy your APK and your OBB into switch/NFSMostWanted2012/game/. Don't unzip or rename them. If your copy is a single .xapk file, copy just that. Don't have them as files yet? Here's how to get them from your own phone.
4. Play. Hold R while you launch any game to open the Homebrew Menu, then choose NFS Most Wanted 2012 Loader. The first start sets the game up from your APK (a few seconds, or about a minute for an .xapk). Press A and you're racing.

[!WARNING] Always open the Homebrew Menu with R + a game (title takeover). From the Album, homebrew only gets about 440 MB of memory, which is not enough for the game.

<details> <summary><b>What the folder looks like after the first start</b></summary>

sd:/switch/NFSMostWanted2012/
├── NFSMostWanted2012-0.3.1.nro   the port
├── README.txt                    the player's guide
├── LICENSES.txt                  open-source components and their licenses
├── game/                         YOUR game files (never share them)
│   ├── main.1003128.com.ea.games.nfs13_row.obb   the OBB, unchanged
│   ├── <your APK>.apk            can be deleted after the first start
│   ├── lib/                      the game's 5 libraries, taken out of the APK
│   └── assets/                   the APK's assets, taken out of the APK
├── save/
│   ├── progress/                 your career: money, reputation, cars, events
│   └── settings/                 the game's own settings (language, ...)
├── cache/                        the port's own cache: makes later starts load faster (safe to delete)
├── source/                       the port's source code (not needed to play)
├── settings.ini                  the port's settings (also changed in the debug menu)
└── log.txt                       what happened at the last start: attach it to bug reports

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The full install guide covers updating, backups, the optional PC script that also gives the port the game's own icon, and troubleshooting.

Updating

Copy the switch folder of the new release over the old one: game/, save/ and your settings are kept, and the new version removes the old .nro by itself. Coming from an older version in switch/NFSMostWanted/ (0.1.0 to 0.2.0)? Copy the new folder and start it: your game files and progress are moved over automatically.

Controls

Driving: the port hands the game a MOGA Pro gamepad, which it supports natively. Since 0.3.0 the game's controls pages and tutorials show the Switch's buttons (+ and − instead of Start and Select).

In the game, the pause menu's CONTROLS shows them, with a picture that matches how you play: a handheld console in handheld mode, a controller when docked (it changes when you dock or undock).

<table> <tr> <td width="50%"><img src="docs/images/screenshots/controls-handheld-game.jpg" alt="Game controls page in handheld mode, with a drawing of a handheld console"></td> <td width="50%"><img src="docs/images/screenshots/controls-docked-game.jpg" alt="Game controls page when docked, with a drawing of a controller"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">_{Game controls, handheld mode}</td> <td align="center">_{Game controls, docked}</td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/controls-handheld-menu.jpg" alt="Menu controls page in handheld mode"></td> <td><img src="docs/images/screenshots/controls-docked-menu.jpg" alt="Menu controls page when docked"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">_{Menu controls, handheld mode}</td> <td align="center">_{Menu controls, docked}</td> </tr> </table>

_{The pictures are the port's own drawings, with the Switch's button layout: similar to a Switch, but not the same, on purpose (why).}

Switch	Game
Left stick	Steer
A	Drift
L, or right stick down	Brake / reverse
R, or right stick up	Nitro
+	Pause

Menus

Switch	Game
D-pad / left stick	Move the highlight (at the edge of a list: scroll)
A	Press the highlighted button
B	Back
L / R, then A	Pick a page in the bottom menu bar
Right stick	Drag like a finger: scroll lists, pan the map
+	EasyDrive (start the next event) on the map
Touch screen	Works as on a phone

Gyro steering: in the game, Options > Controls > TILT TO STEER. Hold the console level to drive straight; about 30° of tilt is full lock. All buttons keep working.<br> Debug menu: hold ZL + ZR and press Minus; L / R switch its pages. Changes are saved at once in settings.ini.

Status

[!NOTE] Experimental. The whole game runs on the Switch, but this is an early release. Back up your SD card and use emuMMC.

Part	State
Career, races, garage and cars	✅ Works
Every menu with the controller, touch screen	✅ Works
Music and sound effects	✅ Works
Saves (kept across updates)	✅ Works
720p handheld / 1080p docked	✅ Works
Docking and undocking while you play	🧪 New in 0.3.0: the resolution follows at once. Feedback welcome
Frame rate	⚠️ Still being tuned on real hardware: the game targets 30 fps, and busy races can drop below that at stock clocks. The debug menu can raise the CPU clock. 0.2.6 and 0.2.7 remove the main causes of short stutters found so far.
Loading	✅ Faster since 0.2.7, most of all from the second start on (the JIT cache). 🧪 0.3.1 adds the CPU boost while loading: not yet measured on a console
Phone effects, anti-aliasing, texture filtering	🧪 New in 0.3.1: working on the PC test build, not yet tried on a console
Gyro steering, custom clocks	🧪 New, not yet confirmed on many consoles: feedback welcome
Online features (Autolog, leaderboards, EA account, store)	❌ Not available: the port is offline by design

Known issues

• The very first test build froze a console once (the cause is not known; later builds have not done it in testing so far).

See the changelog for what changed in each version.

Help wanted: testers

The port is tested on a PC build that runs the same game code, and on a few consoles. Reports from more consoles help the most, in English or Spanish, with log.txt from the port's folder:

What	How to help
🔌 Docking while playing (new in 0.3.0)	On a Switch or Switch OLED, put the console in the dock and take it out during a race and in the menus. Does the picture stay right?
⏱️ Loading times (new in 0.3.1)	The CPU now runs at 1785 MHz while the game loads. log.txt has a loading screen: ... s line for each loading screen: how long are yours?
✨ Anti-aliasing and phone effects (new in 0.3.1)	Turn on anti-aliasing (debug menu → GRAPHICS) and race a little, handheld and docked if you can: does the frame rate stay at 30?
🏎️ Frame rate	Turn on the frame-rate counter in the debug menu (ZL + ZR + Minus) and play a few races. The perf: lines in log.txt say what holds the frame rate back.
🪟 Reflections	If the building windows look wrong on your console, a photo helps.
🌍 Languages	If a text still says MOGA, or + / − look wrong in your language, a screenshot helps.

Open an issue: the form asks for everything needed.

FAQ

<details> <summary><b>Is this an emulator?</b></summary>

For the CPU, yes; for everything else, no.

The game is a 32-bit ARM program (armeabi-v7a). The Switch's processor can run 32-bit ARM code, but only in a program that is 32-bit from start to end, and Switch homebrew is 64-bit only: the Homebrew Menu, libnx and the Mesa graphics driver the port is built on don't exist in 32-bit. So the port runs the game's code through Dynarmic, the CPU recompiler from 3DS emulators. Each piece of the game's code is translated into the Switch's 64-bit ARM code once, the first time it runs, and the Switch then runs that translation directly. That is the same technique an emulator uses for its CPU, and it is the one part of the port that works like one. The JIT cache remembers what was translated, so later starts do it ahead of time.

Nothing else is emulated. There is no phone and no Android system underneath, and no emulated GPU: the port loads the game's libraries itself, and what the game asks Android for (files, OpenGL ES, sound, input, its Java side) is answered by the port's own Switch code. The game's graphics calls go straight to the Switch's GPU driver. See How it works.

</details> <details> <summary><b>Is this the Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) port?</b></summary>

No. That's a different game and a different project: nfsmw-nx. This one is the 2012 game (its Android version). Both can be installed side by side.

</details> <details> <summary><b>Does it work with the PC, PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii U version of Most Wanted (2012)?</b></summary>

No. Those are different programs: Criterion's version for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PS Vita, and Most Wanted U for the Wii U. This port runs the Android version, the mobile game made by Firemonkeys, and only works with its APK and OBB (version 1.3.128).

</details> <details> <summary><b>Where do I get the game files?</b></summary>

From your own copy of the game. This project can't help with that, and issues asking for game files will be closed.

</details> <details> <summary><b>Which version of the game works?</b></summary>

Version 1.3.128 (package com.ea.games.nfs13_row), with the 32-bit libraries (lib/armeabi-v7a) in the APK. APKs that only have the 64-bit build (arm64-v8a) don't work: the port tells you so at the first start.

</details> <details> <summary><b>Does the port go online? Can I get banned?</b></summary>

The port never connects to the internet: every online function of the game is blocked, and it doesn't even start the console's network service. Running any homebrew needs custom firmware, which is against Nintendo's terms and can get a console banned from Nintendo's online services. Running homebrew on an emuMMC and keeping your SD card backed up is the usual advice.

</details> <details> <summary><b>Where is my save, and how do I back it up?</b></summary>

Your whole career (money, reputation and Most Wanted rank, cars, events) is one file: switch/NFSMostWanted2012/save/progress/nfstr_save.sb. Copy it somewhere safe from time to time.

</details> <details> <summary><b>Why do the controller pictures look similar to a Switch, but not the same?</b></summary>

Because the shape and look of the Switch and its controllers are Nintendo's own design, and this project doesn't copy Nintendo's (or EA's) artwork. The port only ships what it made itself, and drawings that copied the console would put the project at risk.

So the pictures on the controls pages are original drawings in the game's style. What matters for playing is the same as on your Switch: every button is where it is on the console (X on top, Y left, A right, B bottom, − and + at the top, L and R on the shoulders), and the game's lines point at the right one. The picture also follows how you play: a handheld console in handheld mode, a controller when docked.

</details> <details> <summary><b>Can the Homebrew Menu show the game's real icon?</b></summary>

Yes, on your own copy: run the optional prepare_sd.py script from the release on a PC with --nro (see the install guide). The released .nro never contains EA's artwork.

</details> <details> <summary><b>The game runs slowly. What can I do?</b></summary>

Open the debug menu (ZL + ZR + Minus) and turn on the frame-rate counter. Raising the CPU clock helps the most; log.txt also says every 10 seconds what is holding the frame rate back. Sharing those perf: lines in an issue helps tune the port.

</details> <details> <summary><b>The sound crackles. What can I do?</b></summary>

The game mixes its sound so loud that loud moments are cut off, which sounds like crackling. Since 0.2.6 the port lowers the mix to 70% by default; you can change it under Sound volume in the debug menu (ZL + ZR + Minus). Turn the console's volume up instead. If the sound breaks up or stops for a moment, please report it with log.txt: it counts those "dropouts".

</details> <details> <summary><b>The game closes right after it starts. What can I do?</b></summary>

First update to 0.2.8 or later: it fixes a crash at start-up that happened on some consoles. If it still closes, look at the end of log.txt in the port's folder. Since 0.2.8 it says what happened: a CRASH section when the port crashed, or a line marked E/ when something is wrong with your files. If the port says "A game file is damaged", it has already deleted that file: put your APK back into game/ and start again, and it takes a fresh copy out of it. Also make sure you start the Homebrew Menu with R + a game. If it still closes, please open an issue with log.txt (and, if there is one, the newest file in sd:/atmosphere/crash_reports/).

</details> <details> <summary><b>How do I report a bug?</b></summary>

Open an issue and attach log.txt from the port's folder. It says what happened at the last start, and it never contains game files.

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How it works

The Android game is a 32-bit ARM program, and Switch homebrew runs as 64-bit programs only. The loader:

1. Recompiles the game's code with Dynarmic, the CPU recompiler used by 3DS emulators (the one emulated part of the port), patched to run under Horizon's memory rules.
2. Loads the game's five .so libraries itself and links them to native replacements of everything they import: about 330 libc, math and pthread functions, OpenGL ES 2.0 and Android APIs.
3. Plays the Java side: a fake JNI with the game's Java classes (activity, run loop, assets, MOGA controller, FMOD audio, text rendering) rewritten in C++.
4. Drives the Android lifecycle like the real app does, one frame at a time, with the game's GL calls on their own CPU core.

More in docs/TECHNICAL.md: performance work, the controller menus, the debug menu and the source layout.

Building from source

You need devkitPro with switch-dev, switch-mesa and switch-libdrm_nouveau, CMake 3.16+ and the Boost headers. Then:

cmake -B build-switch -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$DEVKITPRO/cmake/Switch.cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build-switch -j

The result is build-switch/NFSMostWanted2012-0.3.1.nro. docs/BUILDING.md has the details, the Linux test build used for development, and how a release is made.

Support

If you enjoy this port, you can support my work on Ko-fi. It helps me keep updating my ports and make new ones!

Credits

Standing on the shoulders of others:

• Electronic Arts and Firemonkeys Studios, who made the game. Please support the original.
• Dynarmic by merryhime and contributors, with oaknut, mcl, fmt, robin-map and Boost.
• libnx and the switchbrew community, devkitPro (devkitA64, switch-tools, switch-mesa) and Atmosphère.
• Mesa and libdrm_nouveau for OpenGL ES on the Switch's GPU.
• stb by Sean Barrett (font rendering, unpacking the APK).
• Barlow Condensed by Jeremy Tribby (SIL Open Font License), used in the banner and the icon.

Full list with licenses: THIRD_PARTY.md.

License

The port's own code (src/, tools/, res/, patches/) is under the MIT License. The bundled third-party code keeps its own licenses (THIRD_PARTY.md). The game is not included and is not covered by this license in any way.

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial fan project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Electronic Arts Inc., Firemonkeys Studios or Nintendo. Need for Speed and Most Wanted are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc.; Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo. No game code or data is distributed here: you need your own copy of the game.

Running homebrew requires custom firmware, which is against Nintendo's terms of service and can get a console banned from online services; that decision is yours. The software is provided as is, without warranty (see LICENSE).

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