If your goal is to play Half-Life, use legal PC/console releases. If you're interested in the technical challenge, build an original DS homebrew inspired by Half-Life mechanics and share source code under a permissive license to avoid copyright issues.
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Because no official ROM exists, the legality of Half-Life DS files is a grey area only for the homebrew versions. The homebrew code is legal (original code written by fans), but distributing the game assets (the .pak files containing textures, models, and sounds from the PC version) is copyright infringement. If your goal is to play Half-Life, use
To play the homebrew demo legally, you must: Because no official ROM exists, the legality of
The most critical bottleneck is the 4MB of main RAM. Half-Life maps, even with Binary Space Partitioning (BSP) optimization, often exceed this threshold when loaded into memory alongside the game logic and audio assets. A direct port is impossible; a ROM hack or port requires aggressive texture compression, reduced polygon counts for models, and complex memory streaming solutions.
This is the modern solution. Install custom firmware (like TWiLight Menu++) on your Nintendo DSi or 3DS that allows for Moonlight or DS2Way streaming.