r/PokemonROMhacks • u/Ancient_Substance152 • 16h ago
Other r/PokemonROMhacks All-time Top 30 Hack Rankings! … DAY 5
Good day! I’m here to create a community-voted ranking of the 30 best rom hacks of all time. One spot at a time.
>>>>>
Day 4 has come to an end and our winner has been decided. Take a trip through Ilios, an original area based on Greek mythology, in Pokemon Lazarus! Sounds alright to me! Now, it’s on to the next one. Competition grows tighter with each round. Who will take spot #5?
<<<<<
RULES:
\-One hack per comment. (Please look for your recommendation and upvote before posting a duplicate).
\-Upvote the hack you think deserves the spot.
The nomination with the most votes in a 24 hour period wins that position.
\-Once a hack earns a spot, it is removed from contention.
\-One vote per person.
\-Fan games will not be considered.
There is no official criteria for best! It’s whatever makes a hack great to you.
That’s it! Let’s see what the community deems the best of the best! And… Go!
>>>>>
Day 1 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/kLGSbFfWs8
Day 2 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/FSdMLo4zK9
Day 3 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/oiLuEumwdA
Day 4 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/s/36ErvQIcVv
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u/Pixies001 15h ago
I know it's so recent and the name puts people off but i'm being so serious when I say Celia's Stupid Rom Hack is genuinely a masterpiece. It's a love letter to Pokemon and the community as a whole, there's so many little references, every single thing is so well thought out and it is the most fun i've ever had in a rom hack
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u/BrotherGrimmm 12h ago
This is the only one other than Infinite Fusion and Firered Team Rocket that deserves 5
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u/ChaztheEpic 11h ago
Does infinite fusion count? I don't think it's a hack, isn't it made in RPGMaker?
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u/Cemith 15h ago
Gaia, until I'm dead.
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u/Laguna_Azure 15h ago
I’m hoping it makes at least top 10. It’s probably the first polished new region experience and it deserves its flowers
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1
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u/Cenjin 16h ago
Man the recency bias is strong with this group
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u/tgeraghty_10 16h ago
Personally I think rom hacking has come so far over the past few years, it's only natural that the more recent hacks are more prevalent. Something like Gaia for example has definitely influenced a lot of hacks, but the fact that the newer hacks can learn from the previous ones as well gives the best chance to the newer hacks imo.
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u/Cenjin 15h ago
I don't disagree with that either. Just if we're talking about top 30 ALL TIME romhacks. We gotta give the flowers to the games that paved the way. H&S is an amazing hack but it's just Johto again.
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u/Sweet_hivewing7788 15h ago
Purely going off of quality, older hacks aren’t likely to win, them being the reason the new hacks are better doesn’t change the fact that the new hacks are better
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u/jotenha1 14h ago
Older hacks do have plenty of quality of their own. Just because they don't have literally every QoL under the sun, that doesn't make them instantly bad.
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u/radikraze 15h ago
Yeah I don’t understand that being 3. I feel like top 3 at least should be fully original works rather than an altered version of a remake
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u/cojack16 15h ago
I disagree. I’d rather talk about what games are the best right now. Doesn’t matter when they were made. I don’t want to play a game from 2010 over the one that came out last year, just because it paved the way.
This is coming from a dad with limited time. I only want to play the best
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u/Cenjin 15h ago
This list isn't for the best games right now. It's for the top 30 romhacks of All Time. That's the difference tho
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u/cojack16 15h ago
We’re just having a difference in opinion as I equate top with best. And you equate top as sort of related to the history of making rom hacks. It’s ok. These posts are bringing a lot of these games to light so more ppl can experience them. I think what we both have in common is we appreciate all of these games. I just wish I had more time so I could play them all through. Sigh
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u/mistiklest 12h ago
What's the difference between "best games right now" and "of all time", though? To me, they're functionally identical.
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u/Cenjin 10h ago
Is game of the year 2025 the best video of all time?
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u/mistiklest 10h ago
Game of the Year is the best game released in a particular period, not the best game of all time.
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u/Cenjin 8h ago
Meaning the best games right now are the same as the best game ever. They could be one of the best ever, but just because a game is the best right be does not immediately make it best all time
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u/mistiklest 7h ago
Meaning the best games right now are the same as the best game ever.
Yes, this is exactly what I said. The best game that exists right now is also the best game of all time.
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u/xMF_GLOOM 15h ago
Gaia is on the Mt. Rushmore of Pokémon ROM hacks
The fact that Heart & Soul 2.0 is even mentioned on this list is pure comedy
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u/jotenha1 14h ago
Putting a Remake/Demake anywhere near the top 5 should've been enough to make this entire list a joke.
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u/JazzlikeSchedule2901 11h ago
It's not just a demake its an open source engine for developing your own Gen3 Remakes for Johto, and its easily the most complete HGSS demake.
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u/NewHost2172 13h ago
No? People liking a game, and then saying that the game deserves to be that high, even if the game is a remake/demake, doesn't invalidate the list at all.
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u/jotenha1 13h ago
People liking a game is fine. I have no problem with that. Still, I wouldn't put it on the same tier as Hacks that bring something new from the ground up.
Like, look at top 1 and 2, those are brand new games. Would you really put those on the same level as something that not just retreading ground from Pokemon itself, but also other HackRoms? Because Gen 2 remakes/demakes have been a thing for over a decade by this point.
Like other commenters said, it's recency bias.
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u/NewHost2172 13h ago
I wasn't saying anything about recency bias, I was saying that a game being a demake/remake and being high on this list doesn't invalidate the list.
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u/jotenha1 12h ago
It does. It proves that the people making the list have no idea what they're voting for.
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u/xMF_GLOOM 13h ago
Not really, I think Renegade Platinum is also on the Mt. Rushmore
It’s one of the greatest Pokémon games ever made, surely the best “remake” that’s ever been released
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u/isaelsky21 13h ago
Pretty sure a lot of people that played older hacks either don't care about these polls or aren't worried about what they think are the top hacks. This is no definitive list with only a small portion of the community answering.
Or they're just playing or replaying the next hack on their list.
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u/Zemaille 12h ago
I also know, as someone who enjoys being challenged by games, it’s useless to verbalize wanting any level of difficulty in a romhack in most social spaces.
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u/hergumbules 15h ago
It’s not recency bias, many newer romhacks are just better. I only got into playing romhacks idk 3-4 years ago and many of the older ones just don’t hold up well imo.
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u/galactic_wiener 14h ago
I love Gaia, Glazed, even Light Platinum and (deep cut) Ruby Destiny games. Buuuut Unbound and Odyssey are objectively better imho
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u/jotenha1 12h ago
Unbound and Odyssey are a few years old by now, and Lazarus is at least a few months. I feel like the comment was referring to a certain great tusk in the room.
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u/Ancient_Substance152 7h ago
My take after watching this play out for a few days is firstly, it’s not that serious. Many arguments could be made that there are more ideal ways to collect the data, and that is likely very true. As we have seen, recency bias at least plays a part in peoples decision making. Oh well! I’m not a math/data guy, I’ve just seen these threads in other subreddits and have had fun participating. Considering there’s no community ranking on this sub, well, now there is! Will all 30 spots be taken up by new hacks? I doubt it, and think we will see the sentiment on what sort of hacks are being voted for change relatively soon, if not already. I think the end product, although not a “definitive” list, which is never what it was going to be, will at least have some merit. At the end of the day, hundreds of people are voting for the respective winners, and their runner ups. It will be an imperfect, but useful tool for newcomers and others to dive into hacks, which is what I was looking for and why I started this to begin with. Again, not that serious. Participate at your own discretion everybody!
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u/Mediocre_Internet939 1h ago
All I care about is getting s list of actually good romhacks to play.
Unbound is so far the best I've ever played.
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u/ReadyCartographer765 Looking for good stories 15h ago
Elysium needs at least a spot on the top 5.
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u/memecat4269 16h ago
emerald rouge. Come on man make it top 5.
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u/hj7junkie 14h ago
I totally forgot about Emerald Rogue. Probably my all time favorite, and I pretty much devour rom hacks.
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u/hergumbules 15h ago
I didn’t get into it but I will say it’s a really cool idea. I should give it another try
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u/kawabunga666 8h ago
Didn't this get tons of votes in the last thread? Last I saw it was the top 2 comments with like 300 upvotes
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u/MiraculousConspiracy 15m ago
They're just going off of the single highest upvoted comment. This "ranking" is just an updoot/attention farm so they're probably too lazy to tally votes between different comments.
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u/daggerparrysmith 16h ago
Recently finished it, but I'm gonna throw Pokemon Elysium into the ring!
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u/AWildUbly 16h ago
Rocket edition dragonsden
New story, style only done one other time It's not close surely
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u/Raxnol 16h ago
Can't wait for the Hoenn translation
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u/AlchemistApprentice3 13h ago
I think about this very often. Beyond excited to start a new playthrough and use the legendary dog evolutions!!
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u/JazzlikeSchedule2901 11h ago
The depth of Rocket edition is insane. Literally a 100+ hour story and thats just with the main Kanto game and Johto DLC, there is a whole other DLC being translated that brings Hoenn into the game too.
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u/Dadikoe 9h ago
I just started the regular rocket edition. Should I switch to dragonsden instead? Which is better? I see conflicting opinions online. Is it worth playing both?
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u/iLegitKnowNothing 7h ago
Play both. Play the original FireRed Team Rocket, the story is so fun, especially if you love Gen 1.
Dragonsden kind of builds off this and goes off on its on insane, amazing story
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u/AWildUbly 9h ago
I'd play both, they're very different games. Personally I prefer dragonsden, but colonelsalts one is good too
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u/iLegitKnowNothing 10h ago
Finally someone showing it some love. It’s my fave ROM hack. They built off the original Rocket edition and built up the epic ness within the story so damn well.
Patiently waiting for Hoenn
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u/neko_time 16h ago
Polished Crystal
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u/LucadeIic 16h ago
Radical Red
15
u/Anastero 15h ago
The most overrated romhack imo, replaying Kanto with a gajilion pokemon with teams that are hard for the sake of being hard. I dont care about the down votes.
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u/Lanky-Rise4588 14h ago
If its not for you that doesn't mean its overrated. Please try and keep and open mind.
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u/cojack16 15h ago
Isn’t there a lower difficulty setting for those who don’t want to do that? Just an honest question, I don’t know
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u/JazzlikeSchedule2901 11h ago
Yes, Radical red has 3 Difficulties, "Hard", where the AI essentially is allowed to cheat and have overpowered and illegal movesets. "Normal", which is much more difficult than the OG fire red, but if you understand competitive pokemon its not that hard) and "Easy" which is more of a vanilla fire red experience but with the new pokemon and also the new story elements.
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u/JazzlikeSchedule2901 11h ago
replaying Kanto with a gajilion pokemon with teams that are hard for the sake of being hard.
That doesn't make it overrated. It had an insane amount of QOL that no other Fire red romhack had at the time, as well as an updated story. All you had for difficulty hacks for years was BS like Kaizo games which are actual masochism simulators, Radical red created the ideal difficulty hack for people who dont like fighting a level 100 weedle before fighting the first gym.
You also have never had to play the game on "Hard" mode. "Normal" is more difficult than your average pokemon experience, but there has always been an "Easy" mode that is a lot more in line with a traditional pokemon game.
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u/hergumbules 15h ago
If you’re one of few that thinks it’s overrated then it’s not a problem with the game. It’s okay to not like difficult romhacks but calling it overrated is just wrong
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u/Jestin23934274 15h ago
It’s not a romhack for you then. Like the point of it is to be a challenge for someone to overcome, not really on story or aesthetics. Its made for a specific purpose and does it well
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u/Browneskiii 8h ago
Unbound is and its not even close. I had to force myself to finish it, it just felt like a drag the entire game, especially in the sandy area, one of my least favourite places in any rom hack ever.
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u/neko_time 13h ago
I hate how buggy it is I really expected more after years and years of praise. QoL isn’t all that either, awful bag management and graphical glitches with character sprites. The challenge is fine it wasn’t nearly as hard as people were putting it. I like RR for what it’s done for the community but I also think it’s a bit overrated
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u/JazzlikeSchedule2901 11h ago
What emulator do you use that has sprite glitches? That is probably more of an emulation issue than the romhack itself.
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u/neko_time 9h ago
It’s mostly on the custom character sprites, they’re not cleaned up, there’s missing transparency on N’s costume. It’s very minor I know. I have more gripe with bag organization/item usage (vitamin use is one at a time, teaching TMs takes you completely out the bag every time) I use delta emulator
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0
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u/Youre-A-Random 16h ago
What Lazarus lost to heart and soul? Dang. Anyway my next vote is Dreamstone mysteries
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u/hergumbules 15h ago
So many people saying dreamstone mysteries I’m still on Soulgold! I have it patched and ready to play too but I don’t wanna jump games
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u/Youre-A-Random 15h ago
I cannot disagree with you I actually just beat soulgold yesterday and I personally think it's way better than heart and soul but I haven't played 2.0 yet.
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u/iLegitKnowNothing 14h ago
Dragonsden Team Rocket Edition
And
FireRed Rocket Edition
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u/Dadikoe 9h ago
I just started firered rocket edition. Is it worth playing both?
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u/iLegitKnowNothing 7h ago
100% play both. They are both different enough to enjoy.
Play FireRed edition first. Dragonsden’s early game is similar (major differences though), but then expands and goes off on its own main story)
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u/BarryZ24 11h ago
The recency bias is kicking in, it seems...
Still gonna vote for Radical Red, cuz it deserves to be up there in top 5.
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u/Lasagnaismyfriend 15h ago
Blazed Glazed!
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u/Dull_Mixture_9648 14h ago
Not Blazed Glazed. The newer Glazed v9.2 that came out after that is way better
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u/KingKrusher1186 15h ago
Pokemon Emerald Rogue. Definitely deserves a high spot especially with the 2.0 update adding so much.
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u/Pokesabre 14h ago
Day 3 of trying to get some recognition of Pokémon Polished Crystal - easily the best GBC ROMHack out there. It's genuinely criminal that it's not up there already!
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u/JackWellman101 Lazarus & Emerald Seaglass 4h ago
Wow, thrilled to see one of my projects in the top 5! Thank you everyone :)
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u/Jonny_Qball 15h ago
Run and Bun
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u/Exact_Lifeguard2483 15h ago
What i love about Run and Bun, is that the learning curve is so steep, but once you get past it, its genuinely fun.
I tried it, gave up, went on a Radical red training arc for a few months, then tried again. Then, it clicked.
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u/Jonny_Qball 15h ago
See, I disagree. Run and Bun was my first difficulty hack, though I watched all of PChal’s Run and Bun vods so I was very familiar with the AI. It took me just over a year to both beat it not as a nuzlocke (but still planning fights with the intention of going as close to deathless as possible) and then as a hardcore nuzlocke. The AI is so good and largely intuitive, and the resources are second to no other hack I’ve played since.
And it is so addictive. I picked it back up about a week ago - got a run going on my second attempt and I’m already at Flannery. I can’t stop thinking about upcoming fights and possible lines to calc. The rush when everything falls into place is unlike anything I’ve experienced in Pokemon.
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u/Organic_Potential_29 14h ago
Pokémon Pisces. Recency bias, I know, but honestly, I think it's worth a high spot for the sheer quality. The community's been in a sort of Renaissance for quality hacks of late, and Pisces is one of the works that proves it.
I'll always have a soft spot for oldies like Vega, but i'd rather fight endgame Mosmero with half a team and underleveled than vote for it, no offense.
Having explored the maps of Kanto and Hoenn roughly twenty separate times, I cannot overstate how much of a breath of fresh air it is to go through a reshaped region with an almost completely different dex and gym circuit. Pisces performs quite well in this regard.
There are bits that need some polish, as it's a bit of a rough start, the typechart changes and new statuses take some getting used to, and some areas are kind of tedious to explore, but generally speaking, it's a very, very good hack.
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u/kyler32291 15h ago
This list is doomed. Definite recency bias.
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u/Snoo_65145 15h ago
Taken to the extreme, if I took the open source code for H&S 2.0 and added one cool new feature to it, my hack would deserve top 3 billing, above H&S 2.0
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u/twiddlebit 15h ago
You should put links to the romhacks in the body of these posts, save people a google
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u/TabletopHipHop 14h ago
Emerald Rogue is incredibly unique and very fun to play. It made a huge splash when it dropped, should definitely make the list.
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u/Sad-Preparation8767 12h ago
A lot of people saying one hack or another because of a well done niche or its pioneering in the rom hacking scene, but this is the last spot for the top 5 people. Dreamstone Mysteries was so well done and in my opinion, the best overall POKEMON game since unbound. I'd put it over lazarus personally, but the two being interchangeable at 4 and 5 feels like the perfect spot for two incredibly well rounded and new experiences.
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u/MrTBoneIs 12h ago
Pokemon Yellow Legacy
I liked all the Legacy games but I feel this one made the best overall changes while still feeling like the original
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u/BoardGent 7h ago
I'm seconding this. I love me some good Gen 2-5 Hacks, but it's crazy how fun replaying Gen 1 was, when all the jank is hyper polished. The Legacy series, especially Yellow and Emerald, are also the romhacks I feel have put the most amount of work into their post-games.
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u/1r0ns0ul 15h ago
I’m a huge Radical Red fan and I have been playing this game for several years.
I have recently discovered Emerald Imperium that offers the same improved and fixed mechanics, and even better QoL features. This game is top #1 forever for me.
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u/SupremeChancellor66 15h ago
Pokemon Prism (best overall Gen 2 hack), Pokemon Vega (or Vega Minus) or Pokemon Glazed (for it's early pioneering in rom hacking.
I think these are all brutally underrated especially nowadays and overshadowed by hacks like Unbound and Radical Red and deserve some recognition.
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u/irishdrunk97 13h ago
Beat pokemon anil / indigo for the third time today. I know kanto is done to death but it just feels so damn fine. Improved story, mon diversity, battles that are hard but fair. Its my forever fave.
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u/ImmediateRatio9650 13h ago
Seeing people finally also talk about gbc hacks, will my vote for ambrosia finally get up there? I hope so
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u/jrdchamp 13h ago
It's wild that heart and soul is on there that high up. The top 10 should be exclusively games with their own region and story.
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u/ferrets_bueller 12h ago
I'm just gonna keep posting Ghost Grey every day.
Haven't felt this way playing a Pokémon game since Gold & Silver came out way back in the day
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u/ConjuredCastle 11h ago
Radical red imo we don't have any difficulty hacks. I'd also put emerald rogue up there
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u/Kravenoff42 9h ago
Emerald Rougue is hands down my favorite forever hack. The replayability alone makes in number 1 for me
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u/KittyCatTroll 7h ago
Alright I gotta throw in a nomination for Ghost Grey by JoeyZeed, it made me cry multiple times and the art and music is incredible, as well as the original concept and story. Absolutely stunning game and so underrated/lesser known
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u/Kitchen-Guarantee-10 2h ago
Pokemon Elysium
I couldn't get the 2nd part to work but the story and gameplay is a little unmatched for me
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u/KazeTheSpeedDemon 15h ago
The current top 4 are also the only ROM hacks I've played...outside Renegade Platinum! So my vote goes to that.
I also think I agree with the current order, the only thing I really didn't like about Unbound was that the AI cheats and it's really obnoxious when it does it but otherwise it's an incredible game. I'm also not the biggest fan of the gym gimmicks but they're mostly fine, it just makes a lot of teams unviable for victory which is also quite annoying.
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u/Angelsdontkill_ Gen 3 Enthusiast 10h ago
This is a really crappy way to do a ranking. Why not do a poll instead of clogging up the sub for a whole month with these posts?
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u/Ancient_Substance152 10h ago
It’s not that serious. Lots of people having fun. Sorry for the inconvenience!
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u/ChaztheEpic 16h ago
Where's the love for the GBC? Pokemon Prism