I recently came across a colorization that turns the original black and white/green version of Pokémon Red for the GameBoy into a proper GameBoy Color title. This sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, but the sheer number of hacks that have been made over the course of several decades is slightly overwhelming, so I’d love to get a decent first selection by hearing which are your favorites that have improved or transformed console and handheld games in meaningful or entertaining ways.

Thanks in advance!

  • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org
    8·
    21 hours ago

    Hands down my favorite lately is Shadowrun (SNES) - the addition of SNES Mouse support. It makes the game so, so much better. That’s been huge for me, since the game is a point-and-click adventure. It’s such a quality-of-life improvement. If the mouse existed and was common when Shadowrun was written, I have to hope that they would have thought to allow it.

    Also, obviously there’s a huge community of SMW hacks, and pretty much anything well-reviewed on SMW Central, I’m liable to enjoy.

    In line with yours, there’s Pokemon UItra Violet, a great hack of Fire Red for GBA. Also Pokemon Naranja, another Fire Red hack that’s based on the Orange Archipelago.

    • DdCno1@beehaw.orgOP
      3·
      15 hours ago

      Shadowrun (SNES)

      I had never even heard of this game, but reading the description on Wikipedia, it sounds absolutely fascinating. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll definitely give it a go!

      • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org
        3·
        15 hours ago

        It’s a really fun game - and if you want a more typical action-RPG vibe, you should also seek out the Genesis Shadowrun game. The games are very different, but both are true to the Shadowrun experience.