Category Archives: Hacks Showcase

Hack Showcase: Mega Man 3 Revamped Hack (NES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Released by TheSkipper1995, this hack is a combination of work from KujaKiller’s Mega Man 3 Improvement Hack, along with other improvements and editions from DangerDoodle, DurfarC, and MartsINY. This hack builds upon the changes from the Improvement hack with some new enemy ai, level designs, graphics and more. The changes from the Improvement Hack are still intact like the new opening, the top spin being useful, weapon selecting with the select button, etc. Others includes:

  • Liberal changes to level design to make more interesting and engaging use of enemies, hazards, and stage gimmicks; most notably longer Dr. Wily stages with over 40 screens of additional, challenging content!
  • Improved utility to Hard Knuckle which can be aimed much faster, Needle Cannon which has a much faster auto-fire rate, and Gemini Laser which doubles its speed after ricocheting once!
  • Significant added graphical detail to many stages and cutscenes including Top Man, Hard Man, Snake Man, Gemini Man, and Spark Man!
  • Additional fixes to several stray bugs that went unnoticed in Mega Man 3 Improvement!
  • A restructured story line that keeps Break Man’s secret hidden until the final act!
  • Changes to boss hitboxes and a.i. to be both less frustrating and more challenging!

Version 1.1 Update:

  • Updated bug fixes from Kuja Killer’s latest Improvement patch version 2.2.2
  • Very minor tweaks to level design and damage value balancing based on feedback.

Continue reading →

Hack Showcase: Ninja Gaiden 1 Restoration & Ninja Gaiden 3 Restored Hacks Reviews

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Released by CF, this set of hacks aim to bring the US NG1 closer to its Japanese counterpart and removing a bug that has plagued gamers for years. (Note because there isn’t that much to say aside from the hack changes for NG1 and Ng3, I’m doubling up on these reviews.) From the RHDN page for this list of changes:

Changes for the restoration patch:

  • The player is sent to level 6-3 rather than 6-1 upon dying against the final boss trio.
  • Item placements are reverted to their Japanese originals, as evident in stages such as 4-1 where they reach the very top of the screen again.
  • Ken’s name is changed to Joe like in the Japanese version and 3D series. Ninja Dragon is also changed to Dragon Ninja.
  • Typos and grammatical errors are fixed such as Irene’s “your safe” line.
  • Lines containing “damn” and “hell” from the unfinished script (which ultimately made their way into Ninja Gaiden Trilogy for the SNES) are restored.

Additional changes for the free movement patch:

  • The player’s backwards jumping momentum is the same as their forward jumping momentum.
  • The player suffers no horizontal knockback.
  • The timer is permanently frozen.
  • A few new item placements are provided. For example, stage 3 was the only level in the original game not to contain the Jump & Slash technique, so it is added to 3-2.

Continue reading →

Hack Showcase: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Redux (N64)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Released by Maroc and his team, this hack adds a lot to ocarina of time with quality of life improvements and more. A number of graphics were removed and others restored, the speed of text scrolls a lot faster now along with other gameplay elements. An extra hack called master Quest is included (no idea if it’s like the official Master Quest with the gamecube port) for an additional challenge. This hack can be patched normally or using the Patcher64 program where you can change the hack to your liking, along with changing some colors of link’s clothes and Navi, and change the sounds from objects! Want to make Navi squawk like a chicken instead of saying “Hey listen!”, you can! Note: this review was done with a customized OoT Redux hack patch using the Patcher64 tool.

Main Features:

  • Text speed now goes 2 times as fast as the original, matching Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time 3D.
  • Text revamp, restored and revised based on subsequent releases of Ocarina of Time.
  • Fixed graves behavior like in subsequent versions.
  • Properly center the “Navi” text in the C-Up button.
  • Collecting Gold Skulltulla Tokens no longer freezes the player but allows it to continue moving. This is similar to what happens in Majora’s Mask spider houses.
  • D-PAD can be used to quickly access ocarina and iron/hover boots.
  • Rupee color of the rupee count indicator now changes in color to reflect the wallet upgrade possessed.
  • Stone of Agony now works even without rumble. An icon will appear over the rupee count when in proximity of a hidden grotto.
  • Farore’s Wind does not get dispelled through time travel and can be used independently by child and adult Link.
  • The bunny hood now works like in Majora’s Mask boosting movement speed when worn.
  • Bombchu Bowling prizes now appear in fixed order instead of random (Rotation being: piece of heart, purple rupee, bomb bag capacity upgrade, bombs).
  • Fishing made easier by guaranteeing biting, but keeps the fish size RNG from the original game. Continue reading →

Hack Showcase: Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past Redux ver 10.1 (Updated 9/21/2022) (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Zelda Link to the Past Redux is another lovely hack released by Shadowone333 and his team. This one is a combination of his team’s work and that of the Link to the Past DX hack by Con and qwertymodo. This one added improvements to the graphics, quality of life features, and restored some censored content from the original release. The FMV opening was also restored!!

A Link to the Past Redux provides two main patches (either of which can be applied without the need of the other):

  • New inventory GFX starting from version 7.0, which gives individual slots to every item, including one per each bottle and the shovel is handled as a separate and permanent item. Ocarina and Golden Bee names have been fixed manually for this too.
  • New Retranslation patch, a companion to main Redux. This patch provides a completely new and unique retranslation of the game’s script provided by the Translation Quest team that is primarily faithful to the Japanese text. (NOTE: This is an independent patch and should NOT be patched over the main Redux patch, but all optional patches should be compatible with it.)

As for the main changes for Redux:

  • Max consumables for Bombs and Arrows are now 60 for Bombs and 99 for Arrows
  • Change Link’s hair and hat to closely match his original artwork.
  • Change Agahnim colors to match the original red robe and blue skin artwork.
  • Changed Uncle’s sprite to match official artwork.
  • Change the Flute’s name to Ocarina (I don’t know in what world that instrument is a flute). This includes in-game text and Credits name changed too.
  • Change the Good Bee’s name to Golden Bee.
  • Change Faerie to Fairy. This includes in-game text too.
  • Change Pegasus Shoes to Pegasus Boots. This includes in-game text too.
  • Change all the references of the “Wise Men” to “Sages”.
  • Change the layout of the Ice Palace to that of the GBA port. No more going around the entire palace just to get to the next room. As of v2.0, the Ice Palace new layout has been fixed to have 3 movable blocks in the new section. There was one movable block unused in one other Dungeon layout found in Room 240. (Why was it there?)
  • King of Hyrule now has a red outfit instead of green to match the rest of the franchise’s Kings of Hyrule (Like Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule from WW).
  • Permanent Shovel, as well as being able to dig up items with it in the overworld.
  • Skip the Title Screen sequence by pressing Start, you no longer have to wait until the Triforce and title screen finish their animation.

There’s also a number of optional patches to add!

Continue reading →

Hack Showcase: Legend of Zelda Redux (NES) (Revised 4/14/2023)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Zelda 1 Redux aims to fix and improve a lot of this amazing game with new graphics, font from the Famicom Disk System version, cleaner interface and other quality of life features. Released by Shadowone333 and his team, this hack improves a lot and more on Zelda 1 with different graphics, quality of life improvements, a new overworld map, increased rupee capacity up to 999, slight change in graphics for where to bomb or light a candle, and more! Optional patches include changing some of the graphics and changes back to their original, removing the annoying beeping when low on health and more! I need to give this a try on my own for both quests!

From the Changelog:

  • MMC1 and MMC5 versions. This was done so that users that want to go the reproduction cartridge route, can use the MMC1 version (and for compatibility sake). For emulation, any of the two versions can be interchanged.
  • Save manually with Up+A when in the Items Subscreen
  • Reworked heart HUD to match Zelda 2 Redux
  • Relocalization of the game’s script to better match the Japanese release, or have better hints altogether. Based on the Legends of Localization book/webpage (Except the two iconic “Take this” and “It’s a secret” lines)
  • Make the Blue tunic more vibrant
  • Increment the initial bomb max. amount to 10 instead of 8
  • Increment the bomb upgrades by 10 instead of the original 4. First upgrade should give you 20 bombs, second will be 30.
  • Faster text printing
  • Modify the Sword beam to only be active when at full health/heart, and stop shooting when the life gets to 3/4 of a heart
  • Modify certain item names to better match subsequent official names in the franchise (Rupee, Fairy, Heart Container, etc.)
  • Change the Red and Blue rings to Red and Blue tunics
  • Introduction text rewrite
  • Reimplementation of the warning screen from version PRG1 upon Game Over / Saving
  • Slight modifications to the title screen to give the “ZELDA” title a red color (modified fading palettes to match this change too)
  • Possibly also add a breakable tile hint for overworld tiles
  • Automap Plus, but modify it to have 1/4 heart decrements instead of 1/8 (this is needed in order to make space in sprite PPU for the next point (#3)
  • Visible hint for breakable walls in Dungeons (already implemented, just need sprite space for the left walls)
  • Remove the 1 Rupee flashing (couldn’t be made green due to palette limitations) Continue reading →

Hack Showcase: Mega Man 2 Megamix (NES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

The Mega Man 2 Megamix hack is a suite of 4 different hacks put together along with other changes by DannyPlaysSomeGames. This is very well done and adds a lot to MM2 in terms of changing your usual stretegies when you would play, along with making some things easier and bringing a few features in line with the later NES titles. The hack features and other changes include:

Continue reading →

Hack Showcase: Legend of Zelda 2 Redux (NES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Zelda 2 Redux by ShadowOne333 aims to make a number of improvements to Zelda 2 for the NES, known as the black sheep of the Zelda family due to it’s higher difficulty, change from overhead to side-scrolling format and more. A lot of quality of life improvements were added too, along with optional patches to change your gaming experience to the definitive version of Zelda 2. I had finished this myself a couple years ago, after never finishing it as a kid for various reasons. Discovering this made me smile and I wanted to see what this hack was all about! ShadowOne333 is also the brains behind other Zelda redux patches for Link’s Awakening DX for Gameboy and Link to the Past for SNES. This hack was finally released after a long time in October 2020, with an update in December 2020 to bring this hack to version 2.3.

The changelog for this hack is extensive! And there’s a large assortment of optional patches to improve upon the Redux experience more!

  • Changes to the Life Meter HUD: Should have hearts now instead of the old bars it had for a life meter
  • Reworked HUD to be more in-line with other Zelda titles. It also looks much better to the eye now and is more streamlined
  • Added 1/4 heart gauge by IcePenguin. Now the life meter is reduced by 1/4 parts instead of the original sliding bar, effectively letting you know exactly how much health (no longer will the meter show no life with Link still alive)
  • Reworked title screen. Now the Sword in it is the same as the one in the original US boxart, and also the scrolling text of the title screen has been entirely rewritten to be more in-line with the canon story of Zelda II
  • Manual Save Feature: You can now save the game by Pausing and then pressing Up+A on the Pause screen (both in side-scroll pause and overworld pause!)
  • Manual saves no longer count towards the Death counter in the Selection screen! Now only Game Overs should increment that counter
  • Implemented @njosro’s Restart in Current Palace patch (as a bonus) 😛
  • Link now has a Blue and Red tunic! Upon using the Shield spell with a Defense level between 1-4, you’ll get the Blue tunic. Once you get up to level 5-8 of Defense, you will get the Red tunic Continue reading →

RPG Hack Showcase: FF2: Threat from Within Part 1 (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

FF2: Threat From Within part 1 is a hack that has been in the making for a long time by Chillyfeez of FF4 Ultima fame. The first part of a 4 part(?) series, this one takes place 40 years after the events of FF2/4, and 20 years after the events of The After Years, in a time where the crystals lost their power after Zeromus was defeated and the second moon left Earth’s orbit. In the years since, King Edge has been rebuilding Eblan and established the Royal Eblana Mercenary Army (REMA), a ninja force for hire, to help with problems around the world. Edge’s son Furio is about to set off on his first mission, which will set off a chain of events that will endanger the entire world, yet again.

More information from romhacking.net: The gameplay will be familiar but the story is brand new and there are many new gameplay mechanics, including:

  • Limit Breaks!!
  • Hirable Mercenary Characters!!
  • Chocobo “Hunting”!!
  • Epic Choices – Decisions the player can make to alter how the events of the game play out!!

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

Continue reading →

RPG Hack Showcase: FF4 Darkness Within (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Darkness Within is a FF4 hack by Rynzer completed in 2019. This hack starts out very dark where Palom and Parom are killed by baron soldiers and Cecil is killed during the assault on Mysidia for the crystal there. You end up in the underworld doing tasks for the King of the Underworld to restore your soul. From there the plot proceeds partly like it would in the vanilla game, but in a different order, just like you did the underworld missions when you started. Party members you know and love will join at different times and sometimes have a new ability than the original title with a number of other twists.

With a revised plot comes new dialogue and other changes to the gameplay and other mechanics. Some spells that you could target on all enemies can now only target one enemy, different consumables replace some from the original, and now you only have to buy 1 arrow and you’ll not run out! Enemies were rebalanced or nerfed depending on where you are in the story, and this hack can be hard! Especially in the beginning!

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

Continue reading →

Hack Showcase: Mega Man X in Sonic 2 (Sega Genesis)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Mega Man X in Sonic 2 is a Sonic 2 hack which allows you to play as X in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 stages that was made by Pacca at SHC 2018 (Sonic Hacking Contest 2018). I discovered this by accident a few nights ago on YouTube and I love it! This began as a simple swap of Sonic for Mega man X and evolved into its own full-fledged game. X has a stage select of all the Sonic 2 stages, and the game also has all of X’s upgrades hidden in 4 stages, and 8 different heart tanks to increase your life bar. The upgrades do the same as they would in the X series: armor decreases your damage, boots for dashing, X-Buster upgrade for stronger shots. Not sure about the helmet in this hack. You’ll fight through the stages as X shooting enemies to free the animals and fighting Robotnik. Defeating Robotnik gains you a new weapon like in the X series! You can return to stages after finishing them and game over doesn’t mean starting over again from the beginning! No bonus stages though. The power-ups from Sonic 2 were replaced with X’s energy and weapon energy power-ups in the tv monitors, but the speed shoes and shield remain. And look for cameos by Zero too!

So how is it? This hack is a lot of fun and merges Mega Man X with Sonic 2 in such a fun way! X replaces Sonic in all the levels, but everything else about Sonic 2 remains the same: enemies, rings, Robotnik too. Rings really only count for points since hitting checkpoints don’t trigger bonus stages and there’s no Chaos Emeralds in play here. Having X as a ranged fighter against enemies and the boss fights makes this hack easier than Sonic 2 itself since you don’t have to spin close to ko anything. Wall sliding and climbing in this lets you find any of the secrets or hidden heart tanks and X’s upgrades. 4 of the levels has X’s upgrades, and all the stages have a heart tank, usually in Act 2. Boss fights play out the same but after completion you gain a new special weapon like in a Mega Man classic series title. The weapons have their uses places but you still may find yourself using the X-Buster regardless, moreso with some forms of Robotnik.

Like I mentioned before, the stage select screen is based on the first X title and you can enter the 8 stages of Sonic 2 in any order. Game over doesn’t mean a complete restart like in Sonic 2, you keep any upgrades and gear and can go back to a stage to try again. You can re-enter finished stages to pick up any upgrades you missed, and earning continues are the same as in Sonic 2 by scoring enough points when you finish an act (symbol for continues is classic Mega Man). Using a continue doesn’t refill your special weapon energy completely though, so if you get stuck on a boss and need that special weapon you may have to just game over to reset all your energy. Monitors for weapon and energy refills do respawn after losing a life or restarting with a continue though.

I can’t really say much bad about this…this is how you do a hack where you put in a different character than normal. X really changes the game in your play style and how you fight enemies and Robotnik. It’s part Sonic, part MMX! Kinda sad the title screen wasn’t changed much, but keep an eye out for Zero too! Really only downside is some jank when you get stuck in a hidden cave sometimes where the graphics kinda break up, and some the animations of X don’t match what’s going on screen when you have to interact with an object (like grabbing a vine).

I GIVE THIS 5 OUT OF 5 RINGS!!

GAMEPLAY VIDEO:

Links:
https://mike64.itch.io/mmx-in-sonic-2 – Download it here
https://sonichacking.org/vault/ – Sonic Hacking Contest Vault

 

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