Which romhacks do you consider essential? I am not talking about

Literally zero romhacks are "essential."

The block fix for Mario All-Stars.

Theres some that "fix" castlevania 2 that I hear are essential but I found multiple and was too lazy to figure out which was best.

>>3819617

By that you mean, if the want to play Terranigma we should learn Japanese or live with pal-slowdown?

>>3819619

Any more?

This is a touchy subject, because no matter what your preferences are a purist will jump down your throat for it.

Anyway, IMO I'd say Sonic 3 Complete and Ecco the Dolphin Rev 1.

Rev 1 isn't really a hack. It's a rare version that is the easier Japanese version but in english.

>>3819648
Just put a 60hz mod on the fucking console. PAL SNES is the best looking one anyway.

An essential hack for me is the Castlevania blood screen one.
It turns the entire screen shades of red. It's so essential and not at all pointless and retarded to have on that site.

Also, some of the 7th saga rebalances.

>>3819879
Terranigma wasn't optimized for PAL, it looks exactly the same as the NTSC-J game, only with terrible slowdown. There's also a region lock, so if it detects a mod it doesn't let you play. Unless you patch it.

I'd say that the Shin Megami Tensei automap shortcut patch is absolutely essential.

>>3819610
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/450/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/827/

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The Fan Translation for Breath of Fire II does the game a great service.
The official translation was a shitshow of using the same character display system as the Japanese version, so a limited number of characters on display made for stupid 4 character naming conventions and strange sentences. They even retained the Japanese box quotation marks.
The fan translation goes above and beyond, not just merely rewriting the script to more coherent English, but reworking the dialogue boxes with fonts that support emphasises and hi-res mode for transparency.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/gbatemp-recommends-revival-008.315188/

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Another favourite quality of life hack of mine is Metroid + Saving.

It does more than simply re-introduce the battery saving that the Famicom Disk System release featured, it has a nice new save menu that shows your progress.

More than that:
>Resuming from a save retains your energy, no having to farm energy from a mere 30 points
>There's an added mini-map function, although it doesn't show where you've been, nor hide where you haven't been
>It allows you to carry both the wave and ice beam upgrades, rather than swap between them.

It allows you to sink your teeth into the original Metroid adventure without the hassle of not yet conceived standards. I would understand purists disagreeing with the mini-map inclusion, but I think it's justified when it emulates what future games would do, especially in a game that so heavily recycles screen sections whilst navigating corridors.

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1032/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2211/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2319/

>>3819889
Can I play this on Everdrive

>>3819910
No clue, but try it and see.

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3211/

Super Metroid GBA style. It's a combination of Project Base (Which adds a lot of nice gameplay changes, most importantly it makes the physics much tighter) and Control Freak (which makes the controls resemble the ones from the gba games). I'm finding it really hard to go back to vanilla after playing this.

Color and sound restoration patches for the SNES ports on the GBA.

The Streets of Rage 3 hack that makes it more like Bare Knuckle 3

>>3819906

MaternalBound is definitely the best way to play Earthbound, just don't bother trying to play it on an Everdrive unless you're a big fan of weird, volatile glitches.

I have to say that Mega Man 3 Improvement seems pretty nice. I haven't beat it yet but it seems to get rid of a LOT of the glitches and slow down which were a burden in the original game, and it also gives it an intro.

Some other things though are un-necessary to me, like getting rid of the small wait time when picking up HP or moving the HP meter of bosses on the right of the screen, but it's no big deal either.

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/992/

Also, for Metroid on NES there are some hacks which add a map and a save system.

>>3820047
I played through it on my SD2SNES and I never experienced any glitches. Was I just lucky nothing went wrong? What kind of glitches happen if you play it on an EverDrive?

>>3820072

The game starts normally but on the title screen it completely glitches out, the music starts shitting itself and it hangs. You can get further by patching one of the scene dumps of Earthbound (I forget which) but that one likes deleting the save file a few hours into every game. Regular Earthbound works fine at least.

>>3819903
>I think it's justified when it emulates what future games would do, especially in a game that so heavily recycles screen sections whilst navigating corridors.
I disagree, since the "recycled" pieces served a purpose from a game design standpoint.

>>3819610
Terranigma's VFW patch to stop t h e t e x t l o o k i n g l i k e t h i s .

The sound and color correction hacks for the different Final Fantasy IV, V and VI Advance ports.

FFIX's ATB speed up hack.

That one Mother hack that lets you talk to people with the press of one button rather than have to open the menu and select talk.

>>3819889
If only they hadn't went so above and beyond. The menu and dialog boxes look pretty ugly IMO, and I could have done without the anime opening music.

>>3819906
I can't recommend these enough

>>3819617
This.

>>3819648
>a translation patch is a romhack

Theres a difference. Romhacks are always rife with absymal balance and game design. Look at Zelda parallel towers and see how atrocious it is compared to Alttp.

>>3819619
>The block fix for Mario All-Stars.
This.

Also the 'Pacifier Patch' to remove Baby Mario's crying in Yoshi's Island.

>>3820341
>The sound and color correction hacks for the different final fantasy IV, V, and VI advance ports
Definitely this.

>>3819610
Sonic 3 Complete is actually essential. Loads of optional settings, fixes a few bugs, makes Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles into a more cohesive whole, it's damn good. Insta-shield is stupid good because of a bug-fix though, turning what was just free invincibility frames into a bullet reflector (the insta-shield code is supposed to reflect like the actual shields, but it didn't in the game as released), so almost nothing can hit Sonic if you're somewhat good
and there's a Sonic 1 hack that just makes Sonic's sprite really, really smoothly animated -- Sonic 1 Smooth Edition

Also, someone made fixes for the Sega CD Working Designs games that reverts most of the changes back to how they were in the JP versions. http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=23436.0

>>3820528

Didnt know that existed! Now I can actually have fun playing the game!

>>3819903
I can get behind this all except for being able to carry wave and ice beam at the same time. Why are rom hackers such mary sue little faggots the game was not designed that way but they have to have the perfect little characters.

>Samus was the top bounty hunter at her intergalactic bounty hunter school
>She had the best grades and the was the most popular
>She could also carry the wave and ice beam because she was extra special

>>3820528
>Also the 'Pacifier Patch' to remove Baby Mario's crying in Yoshi's Island.

Well, that's a start to fixing that game, I guess.

>>3820498
>Theres a difference. Romhacks are always rife with absymal balance and game design. Look at Zelda parallel towers and see how atrocious it is compared to Alttp.

It's sad you think that because you means you are interested to try them, but give up before finding hacks that you'd enjoy. Try SMB3 Chaos Control for instance. Some hacks have good design

>>3821470
Not him, but I've tried all of the "big name" romhacks that are supposedly good and they're all trash. Why should I bother playing modifications made by amateurs when I could be playing the original games that were made by professionals that were paid to design levels that passed QA testing?

The only romhacks I'll bother with are translations, restorations, and bugfixes.

Anyone got a "Follow Orders" patch for Dragon Warrior IV?

That one patch for Mario 3 that puts a brown cloud under Mario every time he jumps and plays a fart noise.

>>3819617
The 40 Winks crack for the N64 version.

Best restoration hack for FFIII/VI? I was about to replay it, but I remember there being several bugs like the evade bug and all that. Is there anything that corrects this?

>>3821475
I used to think like that, but every once in a while I find a pretty good romhack. In my spare time, I've been watching playthroughs of a few Megaman romhacks on youtube and wound up picking up a few I thought looked good.

>>3820835
>>3820617
>>3820528
It's sad that you think this is "improving" the game. For the childs sake, I hope you never ever reproduce.

And the game is so easy that you'll rarely ever lose Mario anyway.

>>3822195
Just say FFVI. Calling it III is just pointlessly pedantic and confusing for most people. The Ted Woolsey Uncensored Edition sounds like what you're looking for. Expands on the script, uncensors a couple things and aims to fix the game's bugs.

>>3822213
>And the game is so easy that you'll rarely ever lose Mario anyway.
True. I never ever found it that annoying.

>>3820498
>There's a difference
Except there fucking isn't. Translation patches are a type of rom hack, they all use the same ips format.

>>3819610
Final Fantasy retranslation projects. Hoping for a FFV one soon

>>3822243
I think anon is equating romhacks with a patch that modifies the game's core as opposed to just translating text. I use the translation patch/romhack distiction as well.

FYI not all patches use .ips

I know it's not what op is asking for but FF IV was so easy I was getting bored playing it, as far as I'm concerned a difficulty patch for that game is essential since they made the game way easier for the west. The original translation was also sort of crap.

>>3820006
>>3820341
>>3820551
Even with those patches, the GBA ports still manage to look and sound worse than the SNES originals.
>>3820015
This is essential. Bare Knuckle 3 is hands down the best in the series.
>>3822410
The USA version was actually FF IV Easy type, not the original FF IV.

>>3822262
In order to translate you need to modify a game's core.

>>3823641
USA FF IV was its own thing, not Easy Type. It was rather something in between.

>>3819917

>most importantly it makes the physics much tighter
Faggot, Super Metroid's physics were already perfect.

You're right about Control Freak though.

>>3819610
Zelda outlands

Cardfighters Clash 2 English

http://cfc2english.blogspot.ca/

>>3820498
>Theres a difference

No there isn't.
Fan-translations are types of rom-hacks.

>>3822213
>For the childs sake, I hope you never ever reproduce.
Likewise.

>>3820829
This is autism.

>>3819610
Multiplayer hack of Prisoners of War.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMd7miHvlww

>>3822213
Yoshi's Island has a metric fuck-ton of problems. Baby Mario is just one of the minor ones.

>>3821475
Why bother playing the original when mods improve on everything I want out of the original in the first place? Why pretend that QA and a professional development team automatically means a quality product when it's blatantly obvious that that's not true?

The super pitfall anniversary hack.
Turns an unplayable mess into an actual good game with only a fuckton of fixes and improvements.

>>3821475
>why should I bother playing modifications made by amateurs
Because they can be really good too. Project M, for example, is arguably the best smash bros game (and yes I'm aware that it's a mod and not a rom hack, but he was arguing about modifications in general).

>>3821551
there's a Game Genie code that bypasses the auto-command

>>3822213
agreed. the baby crying is SUPPOSED to be annoying -- it's negative feedback for taking hits, and it instantly lets you know that you need to grab Mario.

the only "problem" with Yoshi's Island is people who suck at it.

>>3825965
>(and yes I'm aware that it's a mod and not a rom hack
it is a romhack, wii games are stored on read only memory.

>>3825993
I've never heard it called anything but a mod but I suppose you're right

>>3821475
If you ever want to try again, here's a rule of thumb. It certainly helped me.

Does a rom hack mention being difficult, or more difficult than the original, in any capacity at all? Abandon ship immediately. Doesn't matter how much they underplay, if it comes up AT ALL that's a giant red flag.

>>3826023
That's not always true either, some hacks I've played where more difficult than the original game but without turning into Kaizo either. Like SMB3 Chaos Control for instance (I know I keep mentionning that one).

My soon-to-be-released Mega Man V romhack sure is harder than the original too, but only to try and make the game more on par with MM3 and 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLpnePXZLCw [Embed]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD8VTPCm4pQ [Embed]

I guess I won't mention it being "more difficult" then.

>>3826069
Fair enough. There's plenty of good ones like that, in spite of what I said. It's just that the one anon was particularly turned off by some bad experiences, so I thought I'd steer them away from that kind of thing.

Also that's a neat channel you have. I should play the Build engine games someday.

>>3822236
No, because FFIII specifically refers to the NA SNES version. Use your big boy brain and learn to infer based on context and the topic at hand.

>>3826023
>Does a rom hack mention being difficult, or more difficult than the original
While not always true, this is a good way to safely weed out a lot of bad hacks.
Generally, it means that the creator took level design and balance into their own hands and nine times out of ten it ruins the game.

The only times when this isn't true, the hack is very popular and highly praised anyway.

>>3826098
Autism.
Many such cases.

Sonic 1 Smooth Edition

The only romhacks I end up using are usually for gameboy games that need a link cable or use the Infra-Red thing on the gameboy color to do stuff. With Pokemon TCG in particular I have yet to find a emulator that works with card pop, so to complete the game so I had a rom hack that adds that missing cards to booster packs.

>>3820015
>>3823641
Link?

I just see translations if that's what you guys are talking about.

>>3826023
Don't do this if the original game would let you beat it while playing like a braindead vegetable.

>>3826980
So that instantly disqualifies every single Super Mario World romhack.

>>3827028
No, it does the exact opposite of that.

>>3827041
SMW lets you beat it while playing like a braindead vegetable, so hacks of it are best to be avoided. The ones that mention being "difficult" are Kaizo tier and the ones that don't are shit for other reasons.

>>3827045
Are you illiterate?

Sonic Classic Heroes is essential for any ROM collection, particularly for multiplayer. One of the best goddamn co-op experiences to be had on any system, anywhere.

>>3827098

For sure, been tempted to get the TeamPlayer for this but considering the only other games it supports are shitty annual sports games I'm undecided.

>>3827098
One of the loops on Hill Top Zone will freeze your game if you go through it on Kega Fusion. Use debug mode or level select. Don't remember the act but I know the offending loop is one where you spindash and "break" the ground.

>>3819610
why didn't you post here:
>>3744351

>>3827228
I know he's been working on an update that, among other things, adds new teams (Rose: Amy, Cream, and Tikal / SEGASonic: Sonic, Mighty, and Ray). It'll probably fix that bug too.

Mega-man 3 Improvement and tho they're not really "essential" because they're only graphics hacks, the Roll-chan hacks are some of my favorite.

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/992/

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1704/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2265/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2266/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2799/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2267/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2691/
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2692/

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>>3825965
project M is a fucking masterpiece

but

99 percent of romhacks that aren't just general enhancements are terrible as fuck

>>3826098
Actually FFIII could also refer to the NES/Famicom original, dipshit.

are there any popular arcade rom hacks? stuff like sf2 rainbow edition?

>>3824187
no throwing game design out the window because you want to hold both power ups and blow through everything like a badass cause fuck trade off is autism

>>3822262
Buddy, all translations modify game's core, they change memory, and add new graphics (i.e. english fonts). Translation patches are romhacks.

>>3819903
I think Metroid with a map is terrible idea. Metroid was intentionally designed around player not needing a map in the same way that Super Metroid was designed with a map in mind (i.e. SM uses map to nudge the player in right direction many times). Adding map to Metroid is kinda pointless, especially since Metroid's world is not that big, and you're supposed to be able to learn it completely by heart - having a map means that you might never learn the game world.

Also wasn't saving a thing in the original Disk System version?

>>3828290
Some guy made a new level pack for Donkey Kong called Donkey Kong II, it's pretty cool

>>3828765
that "map" looks like shit and you only see it when you pause, it's hardly worth having and even less worthy of bitching about.

and yes, in the original game you could save up to 3 quests.

>>3819610
OP you have got to try this one it makes Contra so much better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLN2HZPivUg

>>3819885
Do you even know what you are talking about it? If Terranigma wasn't optimized for PAL, then there's no reason to patch the ROM. Just running the console at 60hz will make it run correctly.

50/60 on SNES is hardware driven, not software driven

Only reason I can see to use the patch is to fool a dumbshit emulator into booting into 60hz.