Rom Hack Roundup: Zelda-Like SNES Fan Translations

We all wish there were about 10 more Zelda games for the SNES. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is still one of the most stunning and solid SNES titles available. While there are some great hacks we’ve covered before, there are also a lot of fan-translated games in the same vein you can check out. Many of these games were not released since the Nintendo 64 was about to come out as they came out in Japan, and Nintendo had already set its sights on the new 64-bit market.

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As usual, just follow our handy patching tutorial to get these legally obtained ROMs up and running in English.

Marvelous : Another Treasure Island

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Developer: Nintendo

Release Date: 1996

Try If You Like: Zelda, Secret of Mana, Earthbound

Marvelous: Another Treasure Island looks and sounds like it was built on the Link to the Past game engine. It’s a colorful and fun adventure with the plot mostly lifted straight from Goonies. A famous pirate, Captain Maverick, has a treasure known simply as “Marvelous”. A group of young friends begin a quest to find it by solving complex puzzles. However, a group of pirates is also after the treasure. The game has you collecting items and controlling the members of the group. Although it looks like Zelda, the gameplay is very unique. You can control multiple characters and have to use them to solve the games puzzles. The puzzles are hard and the focus is on these rather than combat like in Zelda. It’s definitely a fun adventure to dive into!

 

Chaos Seed

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Developer: Taito

Release Date: 1998

Try If You Like: Zelda, Secret of Mana, Terranigma

 

Another excellent fan translated Zelda-style game, Chaos Seed deals with a race of cave dwelling people restoring balance to the earth by stopping the overworld explorers who are plundering their planet. It’s a unique take and most of the game takes place in labyrinth-like dungeons where the player battles in Secret of Mana style combat and seeks out important Mystic Rooms to cause changes to the planets energy flow. This game has some lovely orchestral music that is highly underrated.

 

Gunple: Gunman’s Proof

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Developer: ASCII Corporation

Release Date: 1997

Try If You Like: Zelda, Startropics

Gunple: Gunman’s Proof is a western-themed adventure game that really stands on its own. Two meteors crash on a small island where “the sheriff” takes care of the town. Soon the island is overrun by aliens and the sheriff must defend his territory. This is the only cowboy-like gun-toting Zelda clone I’ve ever played. Its fun, whacky and reminds me a bit of Startropics. The games main sprite is kind of silly looking and the music alternates between excellent 16-bit spaghetti western fare and spazzy xylophone solos. It’s an odd game that fans of Earthbound, Zelda and Startropics will enjoy.

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