It’s kind of hard to believe that making illegal games was ever profitable, but judging by the amount of work that went into some of these, there must have been some market for it. Either that or some really smart folks just had nothing better to do with their spare time. Either way, we get some interesting gems such as Kart Fighter to check out thanks to their efforts…
Continue reading Rom Hack Roundup: Series Crossovers Part II
Back in the days when mascots were firmly attached to certain systems, we often wondered, what would Sonic look like on the NES, or Mario on a Sega Console? Such questions “sort of” get answered by these ROM hacks. The amount of work that went into these is surprising really, considering there was little or no profit to be made. That said, it sure is interesting to see familiar nostalgic game elements mixed and matched into something new.
In fact, the recent amazing hack Metroid: Rogue Dawn even has a little homage section (I won’t spoil it here) to one of the classics. Here’s a few more to get your nostalgic mash-up fix.
Somari is not actually a ROM hack, but a unlicensed NES game that puts Mario into the world of Sonic the Hedgehog. Apparently it was sold illegally in asian countries as it clearly has stolen art from both Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. Somari is a bit buggy and glitchy, so recently a hacker created the Sonic the Hedgehog for NES Rom Hack based on Somari. It puts our favorite blue Hedgehog back in the mix and corrects lots of sound and physics glitches in the original Somari ROM. It also does a better job of creating those iconic Sonic songs on the NES. It was often argued in the 90’s that Sonic was impossible on the NES, and while the speed does’t quite measure up, the gameplay actually does.
Megaman is the subject of many, many Rom Hacks. And with good reason! Capcom’s 8-bit platformers are some of the best music, controls and gameplay ever seen on the NES. Megaman in the Mushroom Kingdom sends the blue bomber through a variety of stages from Super Mario Bros. 1, 2 and 3. It’s a very high quality ROM and tons of fun. The music is mostly yanked from other NES Megaman games and graphics from all the Mario games. Each Robot’s stage represents a different area from one of the three originals. This is one of the most enjoyable cross-over games I’ve ever played.
There are some more whacky crossovers out there, stay tuned for more.
The best Rom hack of 2017 is already here. Metroid: Rogue Dawn is a prequel to the events of the original NES Metroid. This ambitious Rom hack pushes the limits of what the NES can do. You will forget this isn’t a Super Metroid romhack after a short journey into this epic game.
Continue reading Romhack In-depth Review: Metroid: Rogue Dawn
Two exciting updates for the world of retro-gamers are just around the corner. In fact, you can pre-order one of them now and may be playing it in less than two months. Check out these innovative new consoles that are coming down the line, one from Nintendo and one from RetroUSB.
Release date: November 2016
Price: $59.99
The Nintendo Classic Mini NES is an official new console from Nintendo. What looks like a little baby NES has no cartridge slot but features 30 classic games built in and also has HD output and letter boxing options for high-res display. It also has temporary saves, which is a nice addition to some of these long classic games that previously had no save/continue features. The list of games is basically the top 30 games you’d want to have for Nintendo, including both Zelda games, Final Fantasy, Mega Man 2, StarTropics, Super C and more.
Release date: Preorder Now / September 2016
Price: $185.00
This awesome piece of hardware does NOT use emulation. This means it’s audio and video is far more faithful to the original NES than things like the Retron5 or handheld emulators. This also means the more unconventional games will work just fine. It also has HDMI out with expansion audio and specific ports for Famicom or NES games. All this plus built-in game genie, variable display options and – possibly the most impressive – it supports all peripherals, even the Power Glove – it’s so bad!
