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Rom Hacks that Improve the Experience (not level edits)

R

Rich!

Member
So, in the classic Pokemon thread, I've been showing off this absolutely incredible hack of Pokemon Red that converts the game into a full Game Boy Colour game, complete with updated graphics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3tAlAbfTqw

I've flashed it onto a spare GBC cart I have lying around, and it's a joy to play on the handheld - even to the point where it makes my Pokemon Red retail cart absolutely redundant. It improves the experience that much.

So, what other hacks are there that improve the experience? I'm not talking about major level edits or anything like that - UI, Graphical, Audio or control modifications that improve the game.

Anyone got any? I've got a few more in mind, but I'll let you guys go first. And for the sake of getting more replies, PC games are fair game too.
 
R

RichieJNES

Neo Member
SML2013s2-1.png


This makes Super Mario Land look very pretty.

http://androidarts.com/sml/sml.htm
 
B

Boney

Banned
There's an amazing Metroid hack that adds a map and equipable upgrades I think.

Haven't tríed it though

Ah yes LUA
 
R

Rich!

Member
Zeyphersan said:
So... it turns Pokemon Red into Pokemon Yellow?
Click to expand...

No. Pokemon Yellow has very basic GBC support - the same as on a Super Game Boy in fact. Only four colours on screen at any one time.

This offers the full GBC palette.

THIS is Pokemon Yellow:

jbi462XIat10w0.jpg
Click to expand...

If you cant see the difference between that and the hack I posted in the video then you seriously need your eyes tested. Here's the rom hack of Red for comparison:

bgb00005_zps22b94149.png


nRivv79C
 
Meesh

Meesh

Member
Breath of Fire 2 re translation is pretty awesome. Anime type opening and dialog that makes perfect sense. Believe it or not this is one of my favorite hacks.
 
R

Rich!

Member
Evilink said:
Breath of Fire 2 re translation is pretty awesome. Anime type opening and dialog that makes perfect sense. Believe it or not this is one of my favorite hacks.
Click to expand...

d4s is a SNES programming god.

My old Super Famicom had a custom BIOS and boot up menu coded and programmed by him. It was fully animated and had options for 50/60hz, regions, patches, you name it. It was unreal.

edit, I see the legend that is Neil Corlett has also been mentioned above. Good, good.
 
T

The Awesomest

Member
GBA Fire Emblem games: the thread. There's a whole community of people who hack the game to change the difficulty, rebalance the games, and even create whole new games with new characters and maps and everything that goes along with it.
 
Meesh

Meesh

Member
richisawesome said:
d4s is a SNES programming god.

My old Super Famicom had a custom BIOS and boot up menu coded and programmed by him. It was fully animated and had options for 50/60hz, regions, patches, you name it. It was unreal.
Click to expand...
Whoa, I hope you still have it, sounds practically like a collectors item :)
 
S

Syril

Member
The Control Freak hack for Super Metroid which changes the control scheme to match the GBA games, gives an option to make Samus always run, gives the X-ray visor its own button, and eases the timing on wall jumps.
 
R

Rich!

Member
Enk said:
Still can't believe after all this time there still isn't a hack that removes the voices from the Super Mario USA Advance. There's one hack for it that just changes the voice for Toad to his classic voice.
Click to expand...

I actually did do a hack for Link to the Past that removed Link's voice, and it was amazing. Lost it ages ago, but it's a really easy hack to do, so I'll give it another go sometimes.

Evilink said:
Whoa, I hope you still have it, sounds practically like a collectors item :)
Click to expand...

Nope. Sold it during desperate times. It was the house or the SNES. Had to pay the rent.

Brings a tear to my eye when I remember it.
 
K

Kemal86

Member
There's a hack for FF6 advance that restores the music to its rightful glory, and another that tries to "mesh" the original and updated translation. There's a lot of places where the new translation is superior, but many of the "fan favorite" lines were removed as well - the hack tries to balance the two.
 
R

Rich!

Member
Elija2 said:
Whoa, seriously? Did Nintendo actually make those games brighter to compensate for the OG GBA's dark screen? Man, they knew it was bad. Were the SMB3 and Yoshi's Island ports like that too?
Click to expand...

Yoshi's Island is brightened up considerably, and due to way the graphics are, it's nigh on impossible to fix.

SMB3 GBA was released after the launch of the GBA SP, so it's actually very close to the SNES version thankfully. The worst crime was the GBA Donkey Kong Country "ports" by Rare. They are fucked beyond all recognition.

One thing that really impressed me about Link to the Past/Four Swords and Zelda: Minish Cap was that they included options for Dark (SNES), Normal and High brightness levels, along with decent text speed options. Capcom knew what they were doing - very nice of them!
 
Z

Zukuu

Banned
Only classic games?

If not, rune factory frontier, a hack / action code that disables that atrocious juggeling of the balance of the runies. MANDATORY to enjoy the game.
 
R

Rich!

Member
Zukuu said:
Only classic games?

If not, rune factory frontier, a hack / action code that disables that atrocious juggeling of the balance of the runies. MANDATORY to enjoy the game.
Click to expand...

Any games.

I would even say that the cheat codes enabled via Wii Homebrew to turn off Fi's notifications and display text instantly in Zelda Skyward Sword fit into this thread nicely.
 
R

Rich!

Member
Thanks to this thread, I've now discovered the LUA script function for the FCEUX NES emulator.

oh my god, this stuff is brilliant.
 
T

To Far Away Times

Member
richisawesome said:
d4s is a SNES programming god.

My old Super Famicom had a custom BIOS and boot up menu coded and programmed by him. It was fully animated and had options for 50/60hz, regions, patches, you name it. It was unreal.

edit, I see the legend that is Neil Corlett has also been mentioned above. Good, good.
Click to expand...

What? How do even run a bios like that on a retro system?
 
J

Jotamide

Unconfirmed Member
The Silent Hill 3 FOV fix that allows you to play the game in wider resolutions, aka the real HD version.
 
I

Ivan A Nguyen

Member
I saw a YouTube vid lets play of a redone Pokemon Red hack that puts you in the shoes of a team rocket member. Pretty interesting stuff.
 
B

brainpann

Member
There is a hack for Shin Megami Tensei for the snes, which allows you to bring up the automap with the L button, just like SMT 2.

I alao want to trymy hand at making a "save anywhere" hack for SMT, making it a little but easier to play.
 
A

Akai__

Member
There was a Pokemon Fire Red hack, which had top casters from twitch.tv as gym leaders and in the elite 4.

That was kinda cool. Wish I could find it. :/
 
G

George Claw M.D.

Member
GBA FFVI patch for SNES music.

Patch to combine FF12 International edition with FF12 vanilla to make an English International version. (Not sure if this counts according to OP)
 
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