FH2 Recompiled vs Xenia Canary
One game recompiled for phones, or a general Xbox 360 emulator for PC: how they differ and which one fits your device.
- Static recompilation
- vs JIT emulation
- Android vs PC
- Title ID 4D530AA4
Both projects run Xbox 360 games without the console, and both rely on the same research into the Xbox 360’s kernel and Xenos GPU. The difference is scope and method: FH2 Recompiled is a static recompilation of one game for Android, while Xenia Canary is a general Xbox 360 emulator for PC. Facts below come from each project’s repository and Xenia’s public compatibility list, checked November 9, 2026.
Side-by-side comparison
| FH2 Recompiled | Xenia Canary | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A port of one game: Forza Horizon 2, with fixes and options written for it | A general Xbox 360 emulator for many games |
| How the game code runs | Recompiled ahead of time from PowerPC to C++, compiled to native ARM64 or x86-64. No JIT | Translated while the game runs (JIT) on an x86-64 CPU |
| Graphics | Xenos GPU emulated on Vulkan (default path from Xenia’s research), or a native renderer with shaders translated ahead of time | Xenos GPU emulated on Direct3D 12 or Vulkan |
| Platforms | Android ARM64 (APK); Linux x86-64 from source | Windows and Linux builds on its GitHub releases; no Android |
| Forza Horizon 2 status | Boots and plays menus and races; low FPS on phones (README) | Compatibility report for 4D530AA4 labelled “playable”, with Kinect optional and unimplemented kernel features noted |
| What you supply | Your own disc image or extracted files, plus your own shader library for the native renderer | Your own disc image or game files |
| Phone-specific work | Touch controls, Turnip drivers, frame generation, power overlay, big/little core pinning | Not a phone project |
| Relationship | Its kernel and GPU emulation come from the ReXGlue SDK, which derives from Xenia | The research the SDK builds on |
| License | GPL-3.0 (SDK BSD-3-Clause) | BSD-3-Clause (Xenia) |
Static recompilation vs emulation
An emulator such as Xenia reads the game’s PowerPC instructions while it runs and translates blocks of them for your processor (a JIT). A static recompilation does that translation once, ahead of time: FH2 Recompiled’s code generator turns default.xex into C++, and a normal compiler builds it for ARM64 or x86-64. There is no interpreter or JIT left for the game code, and fixes can be written directly into the generated program, as with the paint shop crash fixed in 0.4.0 by routing the game’s setjmp/longjmp through the recompiled code.
The GPU is not recompiled the same way. FH2 Recompiled’s default path still emulates the Xenos GPU on Vulkan, which is why phones fall short of the console. Its native renderer, adapted from the nfsmw-nx port, translates the game’s shaders ahead of time into a library made from your own files.
Forza Horizon 2 on Xenia Canary
Xenia’s community compatibility list tracks Forza Horizon 2 as 4D530AA4 in issue #111, labelled playable, with Kinect marked optional and unimplemented kernel features and GPU queries noted; an earlier report on that issue described a crash after choosing the first car. Xenia Canary ships Windows and Linux builds on its GitHub releases, and the PC needs an x86-64 processor and a Direct3D 12 or Vulkan GPU.
Which one to use
- Android phone or handheld: FH2 Recompiled. Xenia has no Android version.
- Windows PC: Xenia Canary. FH2 Recompiled has no Windows build.
- Linux PC or Steam Deck: Xenia Canary’s Linux build is ready to run; FH2 Recompiled must be built from source and has no published Deck results.
- Either way: use your own copy of the game, and download only from each project’s GitHub releases.
Frequently asked questions
Is FH2 Recompiled better than Xenia for Forza Horizon 2?
They answer different questions. On a phone, FH2 Recompiled is the one that runs: Xenia has no Android build. On a Windows or Linux PC, Xenia Canary runs Forza Horizon 2 as a general emulator, and its compatibility list marks the game playable; FH2 Recompiled has no ready-made PC download.
Is FH2 Recompiled based on Xenia?
Partly. It is built on the ReXGlue SDK, whose Xbox 360 kernel and Xenos GPU emulation derive from the Xenia project; the README credits Ben Vanik and the Xenia contributors. The game code itself is recompiled ahead of time instead of translated while it runs.
Can I use the same game files for both?
Both work from your own disc image of the game. FH2 Recompiled is tested only with the USA edition, Title ID 4D530AA4. This site does not explain how to obtain or prepare game files for either.
Why is static recompilation faster?
Because the CPU work of translating PowerPC instructions is done once, before the game runs, and the compiler can optimize the result. On phones the GPU emulation still dominates, which is why FH2 Recompiled added a native renderer with shaders translated ahead of time.
Can Xenia run on Android?
Not from the Xenia Canary project: its releases are a Windows archive and a Linux AppImage. Any “Xenia APK” comes from somewhere else.