fcgamer | 5,005 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 The title more or less says it all. Does anyone here actually enjoy playing ROM hacks? I'm not talking about lazy character hacks or improvement hacks, rather I am talking about those games where someone redesigned the levels as a bare minimum. When I see announcements of new ROM hacks being released for a game featuring new levels, I just wonder if anyone actually plays (and enjoys) these. Similarly, I wonder about the people who would spend so much time even creating said games, as from my experience, I just don't really see people into this sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,344 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 (edited) 7 minutes ago, fcgamer said: The title more or less says it all. Does anyone here actually enjoy playing ROM hacks? I'm not talking about lazy character hacks or improvement hacks, rather I am talking about those games where someone redesigned the levels as a bare minimum. When I see announcements of new ROM hacks being released for a game featuring new levels, I just wonder if anyone actually plays (and enjoys) these. Similarly, I wonder about the people who would spend so much time even creating said games, as from my experience, I just don't really see people into this sort of thing. There are some truly legit ones where you really do get a totally different game, some have been done with a link to the past or also Super Metroid that I can think of off the top of my head. Timewalk usually did ones that really did deserve there own releases. There is a link to the past one where it changes that you don’t get the sword until like 30-45 minutes of playing and it is truly a nightmare lmao Edited July 29 by a3quit4s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 12,251 Administrator · Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 Tons of people are into rom hacks. More people, I'd wager, than the number of people who bother to collect physical games, for instance. I've played a few which I really enjoyed, especially the FF1 NES hack I played recently which reimagines the entire game; it followed the same beats so I was never lost, but it was a superior experience overall compared to the original. SMW rom hacks are massively popular, especially kaizo specifically. It's a whole thing all on its own. Rom hacks are huge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Count | 596 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 Any examples of which you're referring to @fcgamer? I had a fleeting interest in Beavis and Butt-Head Do Streets of Rage 3, but watching some play-through on YouTube was enough for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,344 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 9 minutes ago, Gloves said: Tons of people are into rom hacks. More people, I'd wager, than the number of people who bother to collect physical games, for instance. I've played a few which I really enjoyed, especially the FF1 NES hack I played recently which reimagines the entire game; it followed the same beats so I was never lost, but it was a superior experience overall compared to the original. SMW rom hacks are massively popular, especially kaizo specifically. It's a whole thing all on its own. Rom hacks are huge. I don’t think I made it past the first stage on Kaizo SMB3 lmao I have a good copy on a cart that is pretty nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 5,005 Posted July 29 Author Share Posted July 29 21 minutes ago, Gloves said: Tons of people are into rom hacks. More people, I'd wager, than the number of people who bother to collect physical games, for instance. I've played a few which I really enjoyed, especially the FF1 NES hack I played recently which reimagines the entire game; it followed the same beats so I was never lost, but it was a superior experience overall compared to the original. SMW rom hacks are massively popular, especially kaizo specifically. It's a whole thing all on its own. Rom hacks are huge. Wow that's insane, my mind is blown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 5,005 Posted July 29 Author Share Posted July 29 22 minutes ago, The Count said: Any examples of which you're referring to @fcgamer? I had a fleeting interest in Beavis and Butt-Head Do Streets of Rage 3, but watching some play-through on YouTube was enough for me. Nah, I just saw a notification in my FB feed about a new SMB 3 ROM hack and it got me wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki | 5,113 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 Personally, no. I kind of draw the line with translations or maybe an improvement like the MMC1 for Castlevania II that cleans up the jank and adds this nice world map kind of simulating the old NP fold out. I have enough games, lack of time, always a lack of time even when it wasn't short working as I do now, where I just don't want to. I've tried a few over time, and usually I find the structure of the games to be problematic, buffoonery really. You have people trying to do something new, but the gameplay, placement, mix of the two, some other elements turn into this C-tier amateur hour I don't like much like most homebrew has been. The newer generation I call after market because people are putting their A game out unlike the garbage peddled for like 15 years prior, and that garbage fits right with much the hacks. People who care, want to try, and just don't get it at an acceptable commercial (enough) level. I won't avoid all hacks, but most definitely. I'll look, watch a video, read...but actually doing the work probably not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaMan52 | 2,561 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 (edited) I do enjoy playing some ROM hacks, especially NES hacks. Some examples include Mario Adventure, Mega Man 3 Improvement, Back to the Future Enhanced Edition, Donkey Kong: Original Edition, Monster Party: Let's Go Again!, and Super Mario Land 2 DX. Mario Adventure: https://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/63/mario-adventure-the-best-nes-game-hack-of-all-time Monster Party: Let's Go Again!: https://gusstevenson.com/games/monsterparty/ This Monster Party hack is a little more gory and uses some ideas from prototype versions of the original game. GoldenEye With Mario Characters is also fun. Edited July 29 by MegaMan52 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pendragonx | 119 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 Yeah, I enjoy tons of them.. I've made physical carts out of several of them sofar.. one of the latest was the TMNT: Shredder's Re-Revenge for the Genesis ..a complete overhaul of Streets of Rage 2 .. it's pretty damn amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Count | 596 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 @MegaMan52 Mario/Goldeneye looks kind of fun, but I wouldn't pay more than $20 for a loose cart as a novelty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRobot | 6,026 Events Team · Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 I play Kraft Dinner SMB almost exclusively when I want a dose of Super Mario Bros. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart010 | 1,779 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 2 hours ago, Pendragonx said: Yeah, I enjoy tons of them.. I've made physical carts out of several of them sofar.. one of the latest was the TMNT: Shredder's Re-Revenge for the Genesis ..a complete overhaul of Streets of Rage 2 .. it's pretty damn amazing Yea shredders re-revenge is sick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMR | 538 Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 I love rom hacks and fan translations. Check out, Super Mario Bros. Special 35th anniversary, Metroid Rogue Dawn, Legend of Zelda Ganon's Curse, and Castlevania The Holy Relics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NostalgicMachine | 325 Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 (edited) I barely have time to enjoy the classics as it is, let alone dive deep into ROM hacks. Some look super cool, though! Edited July 31 by NostalgicMachine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,918 Editorials Team · Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 16 minutes ago, NostalgicMachine said: I barely have time to enjoy all the games as it is, let alone dive deep into ROM hacks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefaultGen | 5,723 Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 I hate the idea of difficulty curves, where every game has to start at My First Video Game difficulty when I’ve played these franchises my entire life. Lots of ROM hacks don’t care about that (e.g. Kaizo SMB, Super Mario 74, etc.) and make something we’d never get from a commercial video game. There’s lots of junk, which makes the highlights even more impressive because so much effort has gone into something free that 99% of people wouldn’t even consider playing. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ankos | 542 Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 From a playing perspective I've got nothing against ROM hacks. Some are really good and have enough original content where its hard to notice they aren't from the ground up fan games. They're to me a slightly older fashion of doing game mods. I don't actively seek them out like I used to though. It's usually easier to just boot up a fully original fan game (or really any freeware done as a passion project) on a computer than to dig up an IPS file, track down a game, backup said game, and then figure out how to emulate it or throw it on a flashcart I'm not super into improvement hacks either. If I never liked a game then I don't need a fixed version, I just won't play it. If I liked a game, but feel that its design is outdated, then I'm fine with it being outdated. I can play newer games if I want a more modern experience 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefaultGen | 5,723 Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 3 hours ago, Ankos said: I'm not super into improvement hacks either. If I never liked a game then I don't need a fixed version, I just won't play it. If I liked a game, but feel that its design is outdated, then I'm fine with it being outdated. I can play newer games if I want a more modern experience Those "improved" ROM hacks are like "We fixed ALL the problems with Ultimate Death Gauntlet! Now you have infinite lives, enemies deal half damage, mid-stage checkpoints, and an NPC spoils the hardest puzzle in the game." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumez | 3,153 Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 Yeah, people thinking they "fixed" a game strikes me the same way as people talking about "QOL improvements" in modern remakes that do away with core game design elements. That said, that only goes for other people doing it. I made a rom hack that fixes Power Blade, and I absolutely believe it makes the game a lot better: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5240/ I also made a hack that "fixes" Dracula XX, but that one was kind of against my will. Makes Richter's walk speed mactch that of Dracula X on PCE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
final fight cd | 227 Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 (edited) As already mentioned kaizo aka super Mario world rom hacks is big on twitch and people literally have careers playing super Mario rom hacks. Very smart people will even create custom code for the game. A popular streamer, BarbarousKing, took like 4 years and thousands of hours to create a 41 exit super Mario world hack. He got several devs to create custom code, custom music, etc. If I remember correctly the day he released it Super Mario world was like the 8th top streamed game on twitch for that day or maybe even a couple days. Edited July 31 by final fight cd 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NostalgicMachine | 325 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 I've seen some Mortal Kombat II MUGENs that look INSANE, but I've yet to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT | 171 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 I do enjoy playing ROM hacks, but not all the time and only for certain games. I do enjoy a good randomizer like LInk to the Past or Super Metroid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NostalgicMachine | 325 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 1 hour ago, CT said: I do enjoy playing ROM hacks, but not all the time and only for certain games. I do enjoy a good randomizer like LInk to the Past or Super Metroid. I forgot about randomizers! I loved the ALTTP one! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pendragonx | 119 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 alas, Romhacking will get a lot trickier now that Rockhacking.net is going read-only .. I guess we'll have to hope that their forums, or VGS will stick around as places to post hacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now