Rom Hacks that Improve the Experience (not level edits)

Eila said:
Most notable would be one extra level for each world .
In SMW GBA the game had no slowdown at all. Luigi had his unique attributes (and you could use him as P1), dragon coins were added in castles and mansion stages.
SMB3 had a bunch of exta levels and new (old) items like the SMW cape. However, they were locked behind that e-reader thingy.
All of them are generally easier, too.
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Getting hit in SMW GBA only takes away your cape/ Fire Flower instead of shrinking you. I don't know how else the games were generally made easier, I have't played through them in a long time.
 
Snacks the sober sea lion said:
Getting hit in SMW GBA only takes away your cape/ Fire Flower instead of shrinking you. I don't know how else the games were generally made easier, I have't played through them in a long time.
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That's a massive change. You could also have up to 999 lives. Not like you needed them.
In Yoshi's Island the counter is slower. In SMB2 there are way more hearts. With SMB3 you had extra items, I guess. I think you can only take two hits like in the SNES version.

Aeana said:
Lufia 2 has a patch that fixes a major nearly game-ending bug in the NA version. I say nearly because with enough patience, you can get past it, but most people never figured it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-yuHS3oswY
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Well, that's pretty significant. Frankly, I never got too far on the real hardware, as everything looks and sounds like ass on my unmodded SNES. Good thing I played it with the patch to begin with.
 
Maybe this is a good place to ask, is there a translation patch that restores the (imo superior) SNES translation to the otherwise decent DS port of Chrono Trigger? I guess they could remove the awful new content that was added too, but it's easily avoidable so it doesn't really matter.
 
Know Roll-Chan, Know Life.

1704titlescreen.png


http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1704/


The FFVI: Brave New World hack sounds fun, too.
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2095/

Character-based esper restrictions & new stat boosts that promote greater diversity and allow for customized development.
Esper leveling system that disassociates esper bonuses from traditional levels.
New and reworked formulas which rescue everything that isn’t magic or magic evasion from the dump-stat heap.
Rebalanced equipment, items, spells, and skills that aim to remove dead weight and give players more (and better) choices.
A complete overhaul of enemies from their stats to their behavior to better challenge veteran players and newcomers alike.
Tons of bugfixes, as well as remedies to many of the game’s more annoying aspects (such as rage hunting taking a lifetime).
A new script that restores much of what was lost in translation and builds on existing plotlines and characterization.
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Aeana said:
I'm glad someone else liked the ones I posted! I've done a loooot over the years, for various systems up to and including the DS. Too many. I'm just too picky. :\
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Well, yeah. You do good work.

Now I'm curious about these other hacks you've done. Do you have a site or page they can be downloaded from?


Aeana said:
Someday I'll finish and release this one:

SbJBH.png
ITghe.png


Proper casing patch for the Sega CD Lunar games, so they aren't entirely in upper-case like they were originally.
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Nice!
 
Don't have a link/pictures off hand, but there was an awesome patch that added a real time clock/transparencies effects/weather to Link to the Past. So you'd have time passing, and you'd occasionally get rain, etc. It really added to the atmosphere.
 
KojiKnight said:
Don't have a link/pictures off hand, but there was an awesome patch that added a real time clock/transparencies effects/weather to Link to the Past. So you'd have time passing, and you'd occasionally get rain, etc. It really added to the atmosphere.
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Yep. I've got it. It was based on the time and weather system in BS Zelda 3: Ancient Stone Tablets

Hang on...behold...Aladdin's cave.

http://www.zeldix.net/f40-patches

Too many to list there. All for Link to the Past. Weather additions, day/night cycles, new menus, new weapons, new pegasus boots (move whilst running), difficulty adjustments....a huge amount to give the game a new feel and twist.
 
Rich! said:
Yep. I've got it. It was based on the time and weather system in BS Zelda 3: Ancient Stone Tablets

Hang on...behold...Aladdin's cave.

http://www.zeldix.net/f40-patches

Too many to list there. All for Link to the Past. Weather additions, day/night cycles, new menus, new weapons, new pegasus boots (move whilst running), difficulty adjustments....a huge amount to give the game a new feel and twist.
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Holy shit on some of these hacks, Roc's Feather, having both the Flute and Shovel, move while using the Pegasus Boots, time to build a custom hack with this stuff.
 
Rich! said:
Yep. I've got it. It was based on the time and weather system in BS Zelda 3: Ancient Stone Tablets

Hang on...behold...Aladdin's cave.

http://www.zeldix.net/f40-patches

Too many to list there. All for Link to the Past. Weather additions, day/night cycles, new menus, new weapons, new pegasus boots (move whilst running), difficulty adjustments....a huge amount to give the game a new feel and twist.
Click to expand...

There's some neat hacks there, but I'm not seeing what he's talking about regarding weather effects and stuff.
 
transience said:
I really like these two:

Final Fantasy Tactics LFT - http://www.rpgdl.com/lft

Basically a rebalance of FFT with the goal of making every class useful and making the game more playable. Skills are moved around, every class has innate gained JP up to decrease grinding, stats are changed, etc. Some of my favourite changes: Archers now have innate Ignore Height, Knight Break skills now hit at 100%, Thieves have innate Two Swords, etc. I really recommend this for any fan of FFT.

Final Fantasy V - Ancient Cave - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4t6nDOVBAk

Named after Lufia 2, this hack takes FF5 and turns it into a roguelike. Everything, including jobs, is found in chests and randomized. The game mechanics and skills remain the same but each run is wildly different thanks to the different skills you may find. Finding White Mage is super valuable but only if you also find Cure in a chest!
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FFV one sounds amazing
 
Whats the correct format for the ROM? 16bit non endian?

My mind is failing me here. Trying to export the hacked audio back.
 
Rich! said:
Big bump here, but this is big news

2547screenshot251p9l.png


http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2547/

The Super Mario Advance 3 (Yoshis Island) colour restoration patch is finished. The game is now restored to its original SNES palette. I have confirmed it works on the real hardware. It's awesome.

This means all of the GBA Mario games are now fixed.
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Is it just me or is that link dead? I actually really wanted to nab that to use on my DS Lite.
 
Rockman 4 Minus Infinity is the best and most amazing NES hack I've ever seen.

779012.jpg


It changes basically everything about Mega Man 4. Adds bosses from previous games, it fuses them, levels are redone, new game mechanics, ridable vehicles, new weapons, new final boss. This hack is just plain astounding and I have no idea how they did it.

The best part? It actually runs perfectly in actual hardware. You HAVE to check this one out, people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALOHyz3GILk
 
Ishida said:
Rockman 4 Minus Infinity is the best and most amazing NES hack I've ever seen.

779012.jpg


It changes basically everything about Mega Man 4. Adds bosses from previous games, it fuses them, levels are redone, new game mechanics, ridable vehicles, new weapons, new final boss. This hack is just plain astounding and I have no idea how they did it.

The best part? It actually runs perfectly in actual hardware. You HAVE to check this one out, people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALOHyz3GILk
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This is amazing!!!
 
King of Fighters 99 Anniversary Edition by Yashional



Game was revamped with some KOFXI super active visuals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogNaaw9dMU0
Video shows 2012 version, but the games has been updated many times and to the point of last month.

two styles for each characters: 99 mode and 98 mode.


Each mode has there own type of dodge from the represented games:



And 11 EX characters:
 
NinjamicWZ said:
cr.jpg


Castlevania II: Redaction. Exactly the same game. No difficulty changes or new areas and visuals. Just speeds up the day/night transition text, speeds up text in general, fixes missing text & incomprehensible/misleading translations.
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This was the one that came to mind. I've never played it, just heard of it.
shaowebb said:
Thats not Sally Acorn.

This is Sally in Sonic
OS1WdSO.png


Ah. Much better. A character with a brain who isn't a place holder to make Sonic seem "cool".
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All I remember is that the cartoon with Sally was superior to the sillier, other one.

Also, wow @ that Tecmo Bowl...

*this is the point where I realize how old the thread is.

And wait...didn't OP used to be awesome? why isn't he awesome anymore?
 
There's a hack/translation for the Japanese version of Castlevania III on the Famicom, using a more literal translation of the Japanese script so you can have both the fantastic soundtrack and an english version at the same time. http://www.romhacking.net/translations/730/

And there there's the relocalized add-on to that patch that changes that translation's script to their changed names like the Japanese Ralph Belmondo to Trevor Belmont, along with fixing a lot of bugs and redoing the title screen. http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1983/

There's also a hack for Earthbound that's basically uncensoring of the game to match Mother 2 more and adding in a run button called Maternalbound.

ShadowOne333 of starmen.net said:
MaternalBound:

Uncensoring + Mother 2 Gas & Title Screens + Credits Sequence Hack An EarthBound & Mother 2 Bond!

This is an Earthbound hack which takes as ultimate goal to make it as close to Mother 2 as possible, taking care of most of the uncensoring that NOA made during the localization of Mother 2, including even the Gas and Title Screen modified to match that of Mother 2, and also a modified Credits sequence.

Mainly, create the best experience possible of Mother 2/Earthbound, combining an uncensored version of Earthbound made from scratch (graphical and text-wise), and also adequate a Mother 2 title screen and references, this ROM will no longer be named EarthBound, but rather a proper Mother 2 american version of the game, like it was supposed to be and leaving the main game intact (without modifying any core-gameplay mechanics).

The changelog and modifications done to this hack is QUITE extensive, so head over to this site for full details on what has been changed and also instructions on how to apply the patch properly:

http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/WIP-MaternalBound-Uncensoring-Other-junk-hack/page/1/
Click to expand...

For those who want a harder challenge in Earthbound there's also another hack called Mother 2 Deluxe, which makes Earthbound's script to be more 1:1 with the original script, and then making a bunch of ASM work to the game, but it's still buggy in some areas, I recommend playing through Maternalbound at the moment for your needs of Earthbound improvement hacks.

Abridged post of Messianic from starmen.net said:
What is EBDX/M2DX?

It’s only a completely uncensored, back to the Japanese text, completely reprogrammed in a bajillion ways, redrawn and palletted enemies, new enemy sprites, new colored maps, difficulty way increased, new items added, psi animations changed, new psi added, enemies much more difficult, and a BILLION other things done Earthbound!

Here is a list of ASM changes:

- Enemies can now have offense and defense higher than 255, and this will also work with Neutralizer/Pale Green Light and Mirror.
-Rock Candy can now modify Luck.
-Flash now properly blinds enemies.
-Shops now show Offense and Guts being changed with weapons and Defense and Luck changed with others, instead of just Offense and Defense.
-“Auto Battle” and “Run Away” text realigned.
-Added an attack that does damage and paralyzes.
-Added an attack that does damage and diamondizes.
-Added an attack that does damage and poisons.
-Added an attack that does damage and immobilizes.
-Added a move that raises both one’s offense and defense.
-Added a move that always kills the target, but acts like a physical blow.
-Added code that allows Belch to take a certain amount of damage before being able to be affected by Fly Honey.
-Added a move that let’s enemies run away from the fight.
-Some enemies now have Death Protection, preventing auto kills from Flash, and now uses a Paralysis check instead of Flash check when it tries to paralyze them with Flash. Death Protection shrouds the HP/PP of the enemy when Spied as well, and lowers the damage they take from poison.
-Equip window now shows Speed, Guts, and Luck changes.
-Added new functionality to Bottle Rockets where they have a 60% miss rate per “hit” and will now hit random enemies on screen per hit for a flat 120 base damage.
-Electric-based enemies are now immune to Thunder, metallic enemies now take double damage from it.
-Spy now shows max/current HP and PP, all stats and vulnerabilities, and whether or not an enemy has Death Protection.
-Shield Killer now always hits, and now does damage based on amount of layers of shield on its target.
-Insect Spray auto kills insects, Rust Promoter paralyzes metallic enemies.
-Added PK Beam which deals 100/200/auto death (or 300 damage)/300 damage to a row of enemies. Bypasses PSI Shield. Reflected by Franklin Badge.
-Added Speed Up which give +25% speed to a max of +50%.
-Mirror now always works against non-bosses, and any PSI moves used while Mirroring are free.
-HP/PP window boxes lowered by a tile to make room for larger enemy sprites.
-Can now teleport to Dusty Dunes and H.H.Village without ruining the Clumsy Robot teleport scene.
-Defense down never fails.
-Waking up from sleep is now a 1/6th chance, but any direct damage will always wake up the sleeper.
-Mushroomization and Possession statuses now curable with new Fungicide and Holy Water items.
-Add an expanded Battle Actions and PSI Ability Table that allows many of these things to be possible.
-Revamped Jeff to have a ‘Tools’ system and command in battle which puts all his special items there.
-Equippable items now give different resistances.
-Yo-yo items now hit an entire row of enemies.
- Status attacks now have Luck checks. (Flash, Paralysis, Hypnosis, and Brainshock excluded)
- Auto Battle removed.
Click to expand...

Sorry if this post is too long, and there being no pictures, they were corrupted when I posted them, guess neogaf bans those image hosts.
 
Only Rom Hack I ever really sank my teeth into was a remake of Pokémon Gold with the GBA engine. Played the hell out of it when I was a kid; even bought a PSP so I could install CFW on it and play the game on the go via emulator.

Pokemon_Shiny_Gold_02.png
mqdefault.jpg


Never got finished, unfortunately (as far as I'm aware the guy stopped just before Viridian City). But it was a blast (so well presented and with added content, story), you could have told me GameFreak made it and I'd have believed you. Tried HG/SS when they released a couple years later, but I honestly preferred this Rom Hack.
 
My favorite Rom Hack is probably Pokemon Blaze Black and Volt White versions 1 and 2.

It overhauls the entire balance of the game and properly distributes every single pokemon up to the 5th gen entirely throughout the game world, making it possible to acquire all 649 Pokemon without needing to trade.

All of the Pokemon movesets have been revised. Random trainer battles and Gym leaders Pokemon lists have also been overhauled making the game much more challenging but fair to incorporate all 649 Pokemon in the game.

Any Pokemon that requires a trade to evolve instead evolves at a preset level or needs to carry a special item when they reach a certain level to trigger a specific evolution.

Basically everything that was would make sense for a Pokemon game to include all in a single version was factored here. Also Pokemon are placed in reasonable and expected locations. For example you won't find Fire types inside an ice cave. Also the Fossil Pokemon are given to you talking to one of the workers in a mine or as a gift from the Trainer at the Museum Gym.

Everything just makes sense if Pokemon Black / White 1 and 2 was a single player game.


Other noteworthy mentions are FuSoYa's work on the Variable Width Font edition of Secret of Mana that only makes the text a nicer fit in the text boxes but also clarifies the localization a bit with somewhat better dialog.

Also two excellent Super Metroid hacks, one called Eris which overalls the entire game, and another similar one called Ice Metal 1: Uninstall. Both make for very different but excellent experiences from the Super Metroid formula.
 
Probably been mentioned but I'll note it anyway: Sonic Megamix. Technically it has now evolved beyond a rom hack in to an entirely new game but it's basically the greatest rom hack in existence. It turns Sonic 1 in to a beautiful, fast paced adrenaline rush of a game with masterful level design, control enhancements and Sonic Team Genesis-era quality art. The music is pretty amazing too. I'd be hesitant to call it a straight rom hack just because even though it is one by origin it just doesn't do the game justice to call it one; it's that unbelievably good.

The creator (Stealth) recently started working on it again. He has updates posted on his Patreon for those interested here.

Here's a recentish video of one of the newer zones if you want to see it in action.
 
I wish they would patch the Blood and fatalities back into Mortal Kombat 1 for SNES. I've always wanted to see that version fully realized without censorship.
 
Alo81 said:
Is it just me or is that link dead? I actually really wanted to nab that to use on my DS Lite.
Click to expand...

Rich! said:
You're right. What the. I've uploaded it to here for now:

https://www.**************/file/vjbyaa

It's a banned site, its the send in space.
Click to expand...

Alo81 said:
Awesome, thanks. I've mirrored it on Sta.sh so that people have a not-banned on gaf copy to access if others need it.

http://sta.sh/0uspr278m4y
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Link is dead because the patch was removed, it's incomplete (it only affects the first stage, and even that one isn't completely altered). Don't ask me how it ended up getting on ROMhacking.net without being fully vetted.

Foffy said:
NO hacks for Simon's Quest? A game that fucking needs it?

GAF, please. How about a hack that not only retranslates the game, but actually adds a functional map? It also adds a save system, too.

Or even a hack of Dracula's Curse which features the Japanese audio and difficulty with an updated English script? You get the best of both worlds, with none of the bugbears.
Click to expand...
Both of these hacks have already been posted. Did you even read the thread?
 
lazygecko said:
Wish there were more GBA palette/color hacks. Not just for SNES ports but for any GBA title that could look a lot better without being "optimized" for the non-backlit original hardware.
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I'm surprised it's not simpler. It seems like for the various SNES->GBA ports they'd have been using some function to change the old palettes in the desired way rather than doing everything manually. If the right calculations were found, the reverse could be applied as a post-processing effect.
 
Not sure Project M really qualifies for this thread, it's closer to a full conversion that turns Brawl into a new game.

Other people have posted dramatic conversions/overhauls though, so I dunno.
 
Psxphile said:
Link is dead because the patch was removed, it's incomplete (it only affects the first stage, and even that one isn't completely altered). Don't ask me how it ended up getting on ROMhacking.net without being fully vetted.
Click to expand...

What the hell. Aw man, that's terrible.
 
Psxphile said:
Link is dead because the patch was removed, it's incomplete (it only affects the first stage, and even that one isn't completely altered). Don't ask me how it ended up getting on ROMhacking.net without being fully vetted.


Both of these hacks have already been posted. Did you even read the thread?
Click to expand...

Searching Simon's Quest only brought up my post and yours, and as I went on that, there were no results besides those. :P

I have seen also nothing on Dracula's Curse in the thread, either.
 
chaosblade said:
Not sure Project M really qualifies for this thread, it's closer to a full conversion that turns Brawl into a new game.

Other people have posted dramatic conversions/overhauls though, so I dunno.
Click to expand...

It's not a stand alone game. It obviously builds on the existing game with little deviation.
 
There should be a ROM hack for Metroid Fusion, where you can skip the dialogues with Adam. That would make the game even more enjoyable.
 
Amedo310 said:
King of Fighters 99 Anniversary Edition by Yashional
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Just took this for a spin. Pretty great. People should check out the 96-98 Anniversary Hacks by EGHT. The '98 version is Ultimate Match if it existed on NeoGeo.

Zee-Row said:
I wish they would patch the Blood and fatalities back into Mortal Kombat 1 for SNES. I've always wanted to see that version fully realized without censorship.
Click to expand...

At some point somebody replaced the "sweat" with blood but from understanding how that version works is somebody would have to go to a lot of trouble to bring that experience to you.

Speaking of MK be sure to check out the MK2 Boss Hack for SNES, MK2 Unlimited, UMK Trilogy & MK Revelations for Genesis.

For Simon's Quest make sure to check the creator's website for the most updated version of it and little extra stuff you can choose add to the patch to further customize the experience.

Choppasmith said:
FULLY playable Zero in X3.
Click to expand...

The author of this hack is refining this one with a bunch of bells and whistles and a hack for Zero in X2 is being worked on by him as well.

Mega Man X3 - Zero Project Vers. 3.0 (In Progress)

Mega Man X2 - Zero Base Mod (2015-2016 WIP)

You can check out the latest updates for both hacks at their respective links.

A wonderful Link's Awakening patch that gives the mermaid her top back and a hippo her boobs if that's what you're into and what not.
 
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