Highball
Which renderer to use
Highball can run each game through three different Direct3D translation layers. This is what the database knows for this title — empty rows are open questions, not failures.
| Renderer | Verdict | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| DXVKDirect3D 9-11 over Vulkan | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| DXMTDirect3D 11 over Metal | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Reported | community reports |
No dated Highball run yet. When one lands it records the renderer, the engine build and the macOS version it was seen on — which is what stops a verdict quietly rotting. Send one.
Notes
Reported perfect on D3DMetal on a base M1, 50 to 60 fps. A DualSense was not picked up, which players report on Linux too. An XInput controller (an 8BitDo Lite) works.
Provenance
Reported by udance4ever (highball-db#353, 2026-10-06), Apple M1, macOS 27.0.1, Highball 0.10.9, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r21, D3DMetal, rated 5 of 5 after 18 minutes, to the first boss at 50 to 60 fps by the player's account. Not verified by the maintainer.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Demo work on Mac?
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Demo has no native Mac build, but it is reported to run on Apple Silicon through Highball, a free open-source compatibility layer. This comes from community reports rather than a Highball test run, so treat it as a reasonable expectation rather than a guarantee.
Which renderer should I use for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Demo?
D3DMetal. Highball can translate Direct3D through DXVK, DXMT or Apple's D3DMetal, and the right choice varies by game. The database records D3DMetal for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Demo. Highball uses it automatically when the game has a row; to set it by hand, open Settings, then Environments.
Contribute a result
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Demo on Apple Silicon, working or not, a report takes a minute and fills in the empty rows above. Send a report, or read how the data is put together.