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Super mario sunburn for me
Pokemon Unbound is better than any official Pokemon title, hands down, and I would say it’s without question the best Pokemon rom hack. Great story, very polished gameplay mechanics and QOL changes, completely new and original region, just an overall great experience.
The SmithPlays legacy games, Pokémon Yellow, Crystal, and Emerald are amazing. Alternatively Pokémon Crystal Clear for that open world style.
And currently I’m playing Pokémon DX Director’s Cut, it’s all the fun of the GameCube game, with every quality of life improvement I could think of, plus the amazing music.
Swear to the past is one i like to spring unsuspectingly on people. “Oh cool, classic zelda i don’t remember him saying that!!”
- Celeste Mario’s Zap & Dash (NES): SMB1 turned into a Metroidvania with Celeste mechanics ported in. I think what impresses me the most is that they got 4-directional scrolling into this engine.
- Super Metroid and A Link to the Past Crossover Randomizer (SNES): It’s an absolutely incredible technical feat that this even works. SM and ALttP smashed together into a single ROM, with a few doors that take you from one game to the other, then the item pools are shuffled together so you have to go back and forth to find one game’s items in the other. Unfortunately because ALttP is a much bigger game with a lot more items it kinda overshadows SM, you may not find this to be as replayable as the standalone randos. But I recommend trying it once because it’s just so cool the first time.
When I designed an adapter to use a 32k EEPROM in a C64. All electronics I needed sandwiched between two IC sockets.
I don’t have a favorite, but one that I find amazing is Super Mario 64 Romhack: Mario Builder 64 (which got hit by DMCA from allegedly Nintendo). Mario Builder 64 is a level editor realized fully in Super Mario 64 itself, which should run on real hardware I think. It is intuitive to use and the community created ton of custom levels. I think a custom software is needed to handle the community stuff, but the Romhack itself is playable on an emulator if you want test building your own levels.
The download page for the patch file (remember its not a Rom, its just a patch) got hit by a DMCA. Usually Nintendo does not do that with Romhacks. Sure the patch files itself are not Rom files, but they might contain data that is copyrighted. That’s why Nintendo might be annoyed by this.
Get your patch file copies (.bps format) and archive it if you care.
- original download page (showing unavailable content): https://romhacking.com/hack/mario-builder-64
- source code and release build available on Github (but only v1.0): https://github.com/rovertronic/Mario-Builder-64 and https://github.com/rovertronic/Mario-Builder-64/releases/tag/1.0
- version 1.1 and 1.0 of the patch file available at: https://gamebanana.com/mods/514361
- find custom levels at (I think you need xxx): https://levelsharesquare.com/MB64/levels
- documentation: https://rentry.co/MB64-Setup-Guide
Note this is copied from a post I made on an older account. I am not stealing others posts… just saying it now.
Another one that stood out as one of my favorites is already mentioned by another users comment, the Super Metroid and A Link to the Past Crossover Randomizer. It literally binds both separate games by portals and items have influence on the other game.
Or what about the recreation of the BS F-Zero tracks. As the game itself was lost to time, because it was a streaming (yes we got streaming in 90s…) it was impossible to dump the cart. But there exist video footage of these tracks. They used some tech to automatically analyze video to basically create a perfect match. Article by Destructoid, Documentation video by Did You Know Gaming, and download link of the newest patch file v1.1.
There are so many interesting Romhacks out there, its one of my favorite things about videogames in general.
Pokemon Chrystal Legacy, AM2R, and Mother 3 translation
Thorn between 3: FF6 T-Edition for the “political incorrectness”, the fan translation of Slayers for the SNES because it captures well the tone of the series, and the semi-official update for Sonic 3D because it was made by one of the devs decades after the game was released.
I actually have ff6 ted woolsey uncensored edition queued up to play soon
I was about to bring that one up! That’s a great one and the ultimate “best of both worlds” edition for FF 6 imo. Keeps some important Woolsey character while improving the script. I also think this is the best translation of the Opera scene (it’s based on the GBA version I think).
Ah, sorry. Brain fart. Meant Spoof Edition. Though in retrospect, T-Edition is pretty good too. And reminds me of the Final Fantasy VII - New Threat, which reworks the game in many small details for it to be more plot-consistent, be it with itself, or with its subfranchise.
My first ff7 play was also a rom hack that had some translation fixes but I forget which one now, was very good tho
Super Mario 64 - Star Road
Theres not shortage of great Mario 64 Hacks out there, but this was one of the pioneering ones that really felt like a proper sequel to the game.
It does a good job of pushing up the difficulty curve without going too far. The world’s are beautifully designed and carry a great aesthetic that blends well with the low poly vibe of the N64.
The soundtrack is another standout. Many songs from a wide history of Mario games get re-imagined in the 64 Soundfont quite nicely.
It was my entry to romhacks so I definitely have some bias, but for any Mario 64 fan I think its well worth your time
Pokemon Polished Crystal is an amazing vanilla+ experience for Crystal on GBC. The 60fps overworld drastically enhances the experience, among many other great changes.
Tetris Rosy Retrospection
Pokemon Lazarus, maternalbound, Pokemon adventure chapter red
I’ve played unbound, rocket edition, and I think some of Gaia?
Was hoping for some Pokémon ones to check out thanks
Pokémon Uranium is supposed to be good, I think.
Banjo Kazooie Jiggies of Time
It’s a romhack by Mark Kurko that makes Ocarina of Time into a Banjo Kazooie game. It’s really well done and I’ve heard it’s even compatible with the recently recompiled PC port of Banjo Kazooie.
Others have said Mother 3 and AM2R which are both legendary.
Another one is Game Center CX: Arino no Chousenjou 2. The sheer variety of era-faithful but still original games is wild, and the translation is an impressive labor of love.
