Hack Showcase: Crystalis QoL & Ungrind (NES) and Doom 32x Resurrection (Sega 32x)

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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.

Note: Seeing how I streamed both games together, I kept the gameplay video together along with this double review.

Crystalis QoL & Ungrind is a hack of Crystalis for the NES by Mentil. The aim of the hack is to reduce the time to grind for leveling and gathering gold, along with some other quality of life changes:

Changes:

  • Equipping orbs and bracelets is no longer necessary. Upon exiting the inventory screen, the respective Power will go into effect for your equipped sword.
  • Attempting to cast a spell with insufficient MP now leads to a single error beep and no interruption of gameplay, rather than a pause and a window opening up.
  • There is now an additional way to get Tornel to return home, that is a more reasonable prerequisite. In the God Slayer version of this patch, Stom now gives a hint to this instead of a red herring; a hint was also changed for how to progress at Mt. Sable to reflect a different stumbling block.
  • Dialog boxes should no longer cause screen wobbling on certain emulators (credit to steve_hacks for inspiration/vector). Running on Fceux/Mednafen is confirmed fixed, at least. If your emulator of choice (such as gnes) now has wobble or other issues when it didn’t before, use the respective anti_antiwobble IPS for your ROM version.
  • Fixed a bug preventing one from using level 3 charge attacks when current MP was exactly equal to their MP cost. Additionally, level 3 Bolt had its flashing toned down (it couldn’t be fully removed yet still display the associated graphics).
  • Fixed the Skeleton so that it now has paralysis immunity instead of poison, and shoots bones instead of webs. (I suspect someone typed in data from the line above in the spreadsheet (Blue Spider) here.)

Additionally, in the ungrind patches:

  • Most enemies had their gold and XP rewards increased to 200-300% of their original values, so almost no grinding should be required in order to progress or complete the game, if you defeat every enemy that crosses your path.
  • Several enemies had their damage nerfed to more-reasonable levels, and some damage sponges were adjusted so that they should no longer require more than ~6 hits to defeat (at expected levels/equipment). A few enemies had their elemental resistances modified.
  • Bosses had their level requirements lowered to 1, so there should be fewer cases of encountering a level gate. Note: despite this, late-game bosses have high defense that is insurmountable at too low a level, which isn’t fixable without substantially nerfing them (or some recoding effort that’d have broad balance implications). This precludes completing the game below approximately level 14.
  • Halved MP costs for level 3 charged sword attacks. They should be more useful relative to other spells now.

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Retrorevisited: Streets of Rage Trilogy (Genesis)

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Retrorevisited is a stream series where I revisit a game or a game series I haven’t played in over 10 or 20+ years. I’ll go through to try see what I remember until a game over or I run out of continues. In some cases muscle memory may slowly return, in others probably not. This is a chance for me to revisit games of my youth that I still have or had at one point, playing them with and without nostalgia goggles, and do with mini-reviews of them too. If I decide to play any fully later and do a full review, parts of the mini-review would be incorporated into it. Depending on the playstyle or system, games reviewed will either be mini-reviews or one about all games in this session.  

The Streets of Rage games were Sega’s answer to brawlers on the SNES like the Final Fight series. Sporting great graphics and music and action, the games depict a team of ex-cops and friends fighting to save the city from the criminal organization run by Mr. X. Each character has their own move sets and stats in all 3 games. The three games of the Genesis trilogy were all released on the Genesis between 1991 and 1994, along with some Sega Master System and Game Gear ports, and included and various Sega collections. a 4th game was released for Windows and modern systems in 2020.

I never really played the SoR games until 2, and I still love it to this day. The music is some of my favorite of the 16-bit era, the graphics and gameplay are fabulous and it’s one of my go-to brawlers. I never fully played SoR or the hard SoR3, but plan to sit down with them in the future.

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Retreorevisited: Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out (NES)

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Retrorevisited is a stream series where I revisit a game or a game series I haven’t played in over 10 or 20+ years. I’ll go through to try see what I remember until a game over or I run out of continues. In some cases muscle memory may slowly return, in others probably not. This is a chance for me to revisit games of my youth that I still have or had at one point, playing them with and without nostalgia goggles, and do with mini-reviews of them too. If I decide to play any fully later and do a full review, parts of the mini-review would be incorporated into it. Depending on the playstyle or system, games reviewed will either be mini-reviews or one about all games in this session.  

Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out was released in the US in 1987, with a re-release in 1990 with Mike Tyson replaced with Mr. Dream. This is a boxing title where you play the role of Little Mac rising up the boxing ladder to fight Mike Tyson. All of your enemies are larger than life and have their own gimmicks and tricks you need to learn to beat them with punches, dodging, ducking, and uppercuts. You beat your opponents by KO, TKO, or referee decision. 

I had played this on occasion, but I didn’t own this until I got Punch-Out. I loved this as a kid from the characters to the challenge and learning my opponents moves. I never finished this or got past Great Tiger as a kid. But I still enjoyed this for it’s fast paced action, the way you had to think in each fight and the amazing graphics.

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RPG Hack Showcase: Secret of Mana Turbo (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.

Secret of Mana Turbo by Queue is a romhack with a number of quality of life options and more to really change your experience playing Secret of Mana. Seeing this hack is in beta, it’s not officially on RHDN yet, but the betas do work for playthroughs.

There is way too much to mention between changes, bug fixes, quality of life improvements and more, so it’s suggested to check out the readme file for the full listing. Just to name some:

Core “Turbo” Features:
– Removes stamina (attacking / running / blocking)
– Streamlines weapon charging UI
– Removes weapon charging klaxon
– Stairs don’t prevent running (but still slow you)

Changes to zhaDe’s New Gameplay Improvement (V0.18):
– Organized the patch selection menu
– Glove weapon has guaranteed enemy knockdown (was Axe)
– Whip has negative knockback (pulls enemies towards you)
– Boomerang moving attack executes quicker
– Added sound to Axe thrust
– Changed sound of Sword thrust
– Added diagonal thrusts to Sword
– Hold ‘A’ while charging to pause charging gauge
– Block button changed to ‘R’ and stamina use removed
– Damage and healing numbers disappear faster (split to its own option)
– Magic Recharge times greatly reduced, but still present to prevent spamming
– Magic Recharge made configurable in the patcher (Advanced Options)
– Changing direction while running requires gradual turns (no instant 180s)
– Added sound when selecting secondary weapon
– QuickSpell primary hotkey changed to ‘L’
– QuickSpell use doesn’t require direction holding
– QuickSpell use finalizes on ‘B’ press instead of release
– Can reset QuickSpell menu with ‘X’/’Y’
– Can still strafe while charging using ‘L’
– MP display only shows after obtaining Undine
– Split ally and enemy AI changes into multiple options
– Split spell tweaks into multiple options

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.

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Hack Showcase: E.T. Fixed (Atari 2600) & E.T. Complete Redraw/Overhaul (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.

E.T. Fixed was developed with the help of AtariAge users Nukey Shay, Random Terrain, KevinMos3, Iesposta, and Roadrunner to fix a number of problems for this Atari 2600 game known for its bugs. The game isn’t that bad honestly IMO, just plagued with issues. Issues fixed with this hack include the collision detection between E.T. and the wells, not losing life energy when walking or speeding around, recolorings, and more.

A new game mode was added so now there’s 4 game modes to choose from:

  1. FBI and Scientist chasing you and Elliot
  2. FBI only and Elliot
  3. Scientist only and Elliot
  4. Easy Mode with only Elliot and no enemies

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. Sorry for the screencaps looking off, not sure why Retroarch did them this way.

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Hack Showcase: A Week of Garfield Update (Famicom)

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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.

Created by Pangent Technologies, this hack fixes a lot of the issues that plague the Famicom game A Week of Garfield. The fixes to this make the game a lot more enjoyable and less of a chore to play. I finished this on stream once before and it was a tough time and not one of my greatest streams.

This hack features:

  • Overhauled graphics, especially Garfield and the UI.
  • Start with full health.
  • Level select. Press Select at the title screen to skip stages, then press Start.
  • New font in the style of “Search for Pooky” for the Game Boy Advance.
  • All text converted to ASCII format.
  • Graphical bugs fixed, like how the lasagna powerup is rendered.
  • Palette bugs fixed, like the incorrect palette of the Mice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

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.

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RPG Hack Showcase: Filly Fantasy 6 (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.

Filly Fantasy 6 by DrakeyC is a hack of FF3/6 themed around the reboot My Little Pony series. The main plot beats of FF6 remain, but everything else is changed from the heroes and villains, locations, gear, Espers and more. This hack is more themed towards fans of the MLP reboot, but anyone who isn’t a fan can still find enjoyment in it (like myself). The readme file included lists the bulk of the changes, but there is a grand database google file (link below) with all of the other changes, fixes and additions. Many enemies were changed to MLP related as drawn graphics compared to sprite work. Also worth noting this hack can tend to be on the hard side, and an easy mode patch is included. Since the list of changes is pretty long, for a preview I’ll stick to the changes of the main cast of FF6 to their pony counterparts:

  • Terra as Twilight Sparkle
  • Locke as Flash Sentry
  • Edgar as Princess Celestia
  • Sabin as Princess Luna
  • Celes as Princess Cadance
  • Cyan as Applejack
  • Shadow as Fluttershy
  • Gau as Scootaloo
  • Mog as Pinkie Pie
  • Setzer as Rainbow Dash
  • Strago as Rarity
  • Relm as Sweetie Belle
  • Gogo as Trixie
  • Umaro as Apple Bloom

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.

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Retrorevisited: Sports Night

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Retrorevisited is a stream series where I revisit a game or a game series I haven’t played in over 10 or 20+ years. I’ll go through to try see what I remember until a game over or I run out of continues. In some cases muscle memory may slowly return, in others probably not. This is a chance for me to revisit games of my youth that I still have or had at one point, playing them with and without nostalgia goggles, and do with mini-reviews of them too. If I decide to play any fully later and do a full review, parts of the mini-review would be incorporated into it. Depending on the playstyle or system, games reviewed will either be mini-reviews or one about all games in this session.

So for this edition of Retrorevisited I wanted to do something different. I’m not that big into sports games, or sports in general. I enjoyed some sports games growing up and now if they get my interest and easy to pick up and not complicated. For this Retrorevisited, I thought about the various sports games I’ve played growing up for Atari 2600, NES, and SNES, and wrote them down. This edition will be mini-reviews of each game I played, from what I remember of it then and revisiting it now. From the following list I put them into a randomizer wheel and played which game came up:

Tennis – Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast)
Racing – Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Bowling – Bowling (Atari 2600)
Racing – F-Zero (SNES)
Golf – Golf (NES)
Basketball – NBA Jam TE (SNES)
Football – Tecmo Bowl (NES)
Golf – Nes Tournament Open Golf (NES)
Hockey – Blades of Steel (NES)
Baseball – Ken Griffey Presents Major League Baseball (SNES)

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Mega Man Derusting: Mega Man 7 (SNES)

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So I have a long history with the Mega Man games growing up. I came up with the Mega Man Derusting series to do such a task. The goal is to play and finish the Mega Man classic series along with most of the X series and some other Mega Man titles. I still have some of my mega Man and X carts and discs and hadn’t really played them in years but I wanted to share my adventures on stream of relearning my way through the classic titles, and in some cases finish the later games to completion! 

THE REVIEW: Mega Man 7 was released for the 16bit systems in 1995. The series made a great conversion to 16-bit with great graphics and music! Even if the sprites seem a bit too big. The plot of this one continues from that of Wily finally going to jail at the end of MM6, where he had a backup plan (like every good mad scientist) of a new set of Robot masters to free him from jail after a certain amount of time. This was the first game to feature Auto’s shop and new abilities from Rush. I think one of my favorite parts is how deep the ending for this game is (and the cool scene of Wily’s Castle burning as Mega Man walks home).

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RPG Hack Showcase: Final Fantasy 6 T-Edition (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.

FF6 T-Edition translated is a long waited hack finally translated by Tomato of FFC2 fame. This is a lengthy harder hack of FF6 with a lot of new features, things to do, quality of life changes and more!

  • Retains the original story, but adds a LOT of new content *around* the main story, including side quests, locations, dungeons, super-bosses, unlockable character costumes (each with stat changes), a music player, and more
  • Celebrates the Final Fantasy series in countless ways, including hundreds of pieces of music from other games in the series
  • Updates the game’s mechanics with bug fixes, difficulty modifications, new spells, new attacks, new items, and a whole lot more

The hack also comes with EX Mode, which adds even more post-game content, superbosses and things to do! Big thanks to my buddy Chris474 for helping me get the save files together for the Hack Showcase video and this review.

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.

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