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ROM hack: Difference between revisions

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'''ROM hacks''', or '''hack ROMs''', also known as '''fan games''' or '''bootlegs''' depending on the circumstances, are video games that have been edited or altered. While many fans distribute hacks of Pokémon games for free over the internet, some people have been known to sell them in the guise of legitimate games. Some of these games are hacked onto the actual game cartridges and sold over the internet on sites such as eBay.  
:''Pokémon Prism redirects here. For the {{Trading Card Game}} mechanic, see [[Prism Star (TCG)]]''.
{{redirect|Jade|the [[Key Item]] associated with {{p|Rayquaza}}|Jade Orb}}
[[File:rijonAdventures Piracy Warning.png|thumb|A warning to users about bootleggers included in Pokémon rijonAdventures]]
'''ROM hacks''', also known as '''hack games''' or '''ROM patches''', are video games that have been edited or altered by enthusiasts. The hackers achieve this by changing the code of the '''R'''ead-'''O'''nly '''M'''emory of a published video game to create something new.


Due to their nature, there are an uncountable number of hacks available on the Internet, so this article will limit itself to only the most notable ones. It should also be noted that all current Chinese language Pokémon game cartridges are pirated as there have yet to be any official Chinese language Pokémon games.
The [[core series]] Pokémon game system is considered very versatile and lends itself well to modification, giving hackers a lot of creative freedom together with a solid, well-tested game engine. These factors, as well as Pokémon’s notable popularity throughout the world, has lead to the creation of thousands of different games spanning multiple generations, ranging from minor adjustments to additional new features and, more and more frequently, entirely new fan-made Pokémon games. Though the core-series is by far the most popular series to hack, there are also many fan-created Pokémon games that do not use these as basis, and instead are, for example, modified versions of the {{g|Mystery Dungeon series}} and {{g|Conquest}}.


==Game Boy and Game Boy Color==
There is a distinction between ROM hacks and "bootleg games". These are unauthorised copies of published games which are sold to consumers, often flashed onto after-market game paks or game cards and lacking the official Nintendo Seal. However, since ROM hacks are often distributed over the Internet for free, they are regularly sold as bootleg games, usually against the hacker’s wishes. The reliability of these bootlegs are often poor, and has become such a problem that hackers have started to introduce warning screens into their games, cautioning users that if they paid for it, they may have been scammed.
===Pokémon Adventure===
 
[[File:PA hack screen.jpg|right|thumb|Screenshot from "Pokémon Adventure"]]
==History==
Pokémon Adventure is a hack of an existing pirated game called Sonic Adventure 7 for the [[Game Boy Color]]. It has five levels, and the intro sequence consists of a few Japanese [[Pokédex]] screenshots from {{2v2|Gold|Silver}}. Other than the intro, title screen, and ending, the game has almost no relationship with Pokémon, with most of the enemies being from other pirates made by the same company, such as Rockman 8 and Super Mario Special 3. While the game is paused, one can move themselves away from enemies.
[[File:Pokemon Brown.png|thumb|Pokémon Brown's title screen]]
Early Pokémon ROM hacks date back to the late 1990s with modified editions of {{game|Red and Blue|s|Pokémon Red}}. These were often relatively minor adjustments such as sprite or dialogue changes, and would generally follow the flow of the original game. These early ROM hacks were infamous for being particularly crude in nature, ranging from swapping Pokémon and human sprites around to replacing the dialogue with obscene text.
 
This trend continued until the release of Pokémon Brown by user Koolboyman in the early 2000s, one of the most notable Pokémon hacks in history. This was the first hack to completely re-invent the game, with a brand new region and completely new plot. Later editions included an expanded [[Pokédex]] (including Pokémon from Generations II, III, and IV), additional dungeons and additional plot tweaks. It is one of the few completed hack games and was successful enough to warrant a sequel (Pokémon Prism, a {{game|Crystal}}-based hack) and a Generation III version (Pokémon rijonAdventures) based on {{game|FireRed and LeafGreen|s|Pokémon FireRed}}.
 
Since Brown, Pokémon hacking’s notoriety has expanded exponentially, with developers creating many software tools for desktop operating systems to help create maps, edit sprites, graphics and even developing scripting languages specifically for the Pokémon game engine. It has also inspired many hackers to learn how to edit the games' {{wp|source code}} directly (known as ''{{wp|Assembly language|ASM}} hacking''). Numerous hacks have been released, often using FireRed as a base, such as Pokémon ShinyGold, Pokémon Naranja and the Pokémon Ruby Destiny series, just to name a few. While directly editing the binary data of one of the games was previously necessary to create a ROM hack, it's now far more common to work from community decompilations of the games, as source code ({{wp|Zilog Z80|Z80}} assembly for [[Generation I|Generations I]] and [[Generation II|II]], {{wp|C (programming language)|C}} thereafter) is far easier to write and debug.
 
There are many websites dedicated to Pokémon ROM hack development. Notable examples include Skeetendo, PHO, and [[PokéCommunity]]’s ROM Hack section, the largest known English-language Pokémon ROM hacking community. Many of these sites hold award nominations and ceremonies to showcase some of the best talents of their community.
 
==Nintendo's stance on ROM hacks==
{{cleanup|section|needs better sources}}
[[Nintendo]] is against the practice of ROM hacking and has taken action against it in the past, issuing {{wp|Digital Millennium Copyright Act|DMCA}} takedowns to some ROM hacks.<ref>https://kotaku.com/another-pokemon-fan-game-says-nintendo-shut-them-down-1790360365</ref><ref>https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150911/06482132220/nintendo-hates-you-massive-takedowns-youtube-videos-featuring-mario-bros-fan-created-levels.shtml</ref>
 
==Game types==
Pokémon ROM hacks tend to fall into five vague categories, though due to the huge versatility of the Pokémon engine, some hacks will transcend several categories at once.
 
===Pokédex hacks===
[[File:Pokémon Blaze Black 2.png|thumb|An NPC that gives a {{season}}-dependent first partner Pokémon in Pokémon Blaze Black 2, a popular 649 hack. He can only give one first partner Pokémon per game, and the evolved forms of the rest are to be caught in [[Hidden Grotto]]es.]]
 
These hacks are designed to make all Pokémon available in-game, including [[first partner Pokémon]], [[event Pokémon]], [[version-exclusive Pokémon]], and Pokémon that can only be obtained or [[trade evolution|evolved through trading]], thus allowing the [[Pokédex]] to be fully completed in a single playthrough of the game. More advanced hacks will include Pokémon from later generations, often also adding the {{type|Fairy}}, newer moves and abilities, and other quality of life features to older games as well. They are often, though not always, named by simply appending the size of the National Pokédex (depending on the [[generation]]) to the end of the base game's name, as in "Pokémon Red 151" or "Pokémon Emerald 386". Such hacks will often not deviate too far from the official game story, and are often used in [[Nuzlocke Challenge|Nuzlocke]] runs and, more notably, for several runs in [[Twitch Plays Pokémon]].
 
===Difficulty hacks===
These hacks, such as Pokémon Radical Red and Pokémon Expert Emerald, also rarely differ from official game in terms of story. They instead have a significantly higher difficulty than usually experienced in regular Pokémon games. They often include extended Pokédex availability and other quality of life features, much like Pokédex hacks. These types of games too are popular amongst Nuzlockers as an additional challenge on top of Nuzlocke rules. Many fans see Pokémon Black 2 and White 2’s [[Key System|Challenge Mode]] as an acknowledgement of these hacks, though no official link has been made.
 
===ROM bases===
[[File:Day and Night Mode in Liquid Crystal.png|thumb|left|Late evening in Pokémon Liquid Crystal as a result of the fan-developed Day/Night System]]
These hacks are often designed to be used as a base for other ROM hacks, and often include major revisions to the game’s base code through ASM hacking to add new features such as additional types or a completely re-vamped tileset. Notable features include the introduction of a playable female character into Pokémon Gold, the addition of a Physical/Special split and the real-time clock into Pokémon FireRed, which gives way to a full Day/Night system, a feature that was missed by many fans in Generation III.
 
Another noteworthy feature is the development of the UPS patch format, which allows the expansion of Game Boy Advance ROM hacks from their original 16MB format to 32MB. This has the advantage of effectively doubling the space available for new maps and graphics, but means the game is only playable under emulation and will crash when played on official Nintendo hardware.
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===Language hacks===
[[File:Pokémon Emerald Chinese.png|thumb|A Chinese fan-translation of {{game|Emerald}}]]
Since the core series games prior to [[Generation VI]] were regularly released first in Japan, sometimes months ahead of their international releases, amateur enthusiasts would often translate Japanese-language Pokémon games into English and other languages so they could be played by international audiences. Since the translation was often performed by one or a small group of people, the quality of these translations were often dubious to say the least, the most humorous example being Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal. Nonetheless, these hacks were generally translated well enough to be played and were very popular amongst {{wp|YouTube}}rs.
 
In recent years, the core series games have begun releasing simultaneously around the world in more languages and as a result the need for language hacks has somewhat diminished. It does still happen for languages that the Pokémon games are not yet available in, most notably {{pkmn|in Greater China|Chinese}} prior to [[Generation VII]].
 
===Full/complete hacks===
These hacks are complete overhauls of the games, with new characters, plots, regions, and features. They often overhaul the game’s graphics, incorporating those seen in later generation games including battle backgrounds, sprites, and map tiles. They will regularly include Pokémon, moves, and types from later generations, and will sometimes include brand new ones created by the hacker. Some hacks, such as ShinyGold and Liquid Crystal, are remakes of entire previously released games, in the same way that FireRed and LeafGreen were remakes of Red, Blue, and Yellow.


===Pokémon Brown===
Because of the extraordinary amount of work involved by a voluntary hacker or hacking team, few of these games are finished in their entirety and are usually playable in the form of a beta. Most of the notable hacks below are considered to be part of this category.
[[File:Pokemon Brown.png|thumb|left|Pokémon Brown's title screen]]
Pokémon Brown is a hack of Pokémon Red. This hack began production in mid 2002, as a sequel to Koolboyman's "Rated M" ROM hack "Fukémon", titled "Fukémon 2". Finally, on January 16th, 2004, the hack was released to the public. The hack had a complete change of all maps, minor script tweaks and almost all the Pokémon sprites have been changed. Pokémon Brown takes place in the Rijon region.


It should be noted that some of the cities in Brown have a close resemblance to the [[Pokémon Gold and Silver beta#Beta maps|beta maps]] found in {{g|Gold and Silver Versions}}. For example, Botan City slightly resembles the [[Azalea Town]] beta map, Jaeru City resembles the [[Blackthorn City]] beta map, and Castro Valley strongly resembles the [[Olivine City]] beta map.
==Notable core series hacks==
With the release of easy-to-use hacking tools for the core series games, there are thousands of ROM Hacks available. What follows is a few notable examples, each with a brief explanation. <!--RPG Maker created games and fan games do not count as hacks, please double check games before adding in the future-->


The author of this hack released an updated version of Brown that was released in April 2009. The remake contains second and fourth generation Pokémon, new areas, several glitch repairs, new features and new additions to the storyline.
===Pokémon Quartz===
''Pokémon Quartz'', created by Baro, is considered one of the first complete overhauled ROM Hacks. Though its story is very similar to the original Pokémon Ruby's story, it does have its own original story, locations, and characters. It was also one of the first to include custom tilesets, as well as a completely custom Pokédex of 368 [[Fake Pokémon|original Pokémon]] (though they often reused canonical Pokémon's stats).  
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===Pokémon Diamond and Jade===
===Pokémon ShinyGold===
[[File:Fake Diamond start.jpg|right|thumb|Title screen of "Pokémon Diamond"]]
[[File:Barksh.png|thumb|The player at his house, in [[New Bark Town]]]]
''Pokémon ShinyGold'' was a [[Generation III]] [[remake]] of {{game|Gold and Silver|s}} using the {{game|FireRed and LeafGreen|s|Pokémon FireRed}} engine, echoing how FireRed is a remake of {{game|Red and Blue|d|Pokémon Red}}. Whilst not the first of its kind, it is amongst the most well-known Generation III hacks, despite it never leaving the beta stage. It is also one of the most illegally sold ROM hacks, with many bootleg versions of ShinyGold available as pre-patched ROMs or flashed game paks. ShinyGold's creator, username Zel, included a warning in later editions warning users about this problem and to demand their money back if they had paid for it.
 
ShinyGold is one of a number of [[Generation II]] remakes developed by hackers. Other examples include Pokémon Liquid Crystal and Pokémon CrystalDust, both of which include expanded areas and features, amongst others.


Possibly the most well-known bootleg "Pokémon" games are the notorious Pokémon Diamond and Jade (not to be confused with the official [[Generation IV]] games {{v2|Diamond and Pearl|s}}). In truth, these games were poorly translated versions of a Japanese game known as {{wp|Keitai Denjū Telefang}}. Telefang is divided into two versions: Power and Speed; the Power Version became Pokémon Diamond and the Speed Version became Pokémon Jade. Pokémon Jade is sometimes found on the [[Game Boy Color]] on the same cartridge as {{game|Crystal}}, but could also be found as a standalone cartridge. The hacks had numerous glitches that the original game did not have, such as the inability to load a save properly. The game also contains profanity and swearing, which is absent from all official Pokémon games licensed by [[Nintendo]].
===Pokémon Ruby Destiny series===
[[File:Ruby Destiny LoG.png|thumb|left|200px|[[Surfing]] cinematic in Life of Guardians, an example of the 'side-scrolling' perspective sometimes used in hack games]]
''Pokémon Ruby Destiny'' is a popular series of games based on the {{game|Ruby and Sapphire|s|Pokémon Ruby}} engine created by [[PokéCommunity]] user destinedJaGold. The series consists of three completed games: Reign of Legends, Rescue Rangers, and Life of Guardians. This series is of particular note, as it is one of the longest running completed hack series available, particularly for its in-depth gameplay and plot. It, like other popular hacks, has even drawn interest from Let's Play creators. The series is also known for incorporating the {{t|Fairy}} type into the Generation III game engine, as well as a user-created "Chaos type", alongside several user-created Pokémon.


===Pokémon Prism===
A fourth game in the series, Broken Timeline, was in development and would've involved the Eon duo, Latias and Latios, but development for the game has since been cancelled due to destinedJaGold losing interest after going through several plot changes to the story and never getting past the beta stage, and since been done with ROM hacking in general.
[[File:Pokémon Prism Naljo.png|thumb|left|Screenshot of Naljo, Pokémon Prism's Region]]
Pokémon Prism is a hack of {{game3|Gold and Silver|Pokémon Gold|s}} made by Koolboyman, as another entry into his series of hacks, preceded by Pokémon Brown. This hack completely overhauls the original game, and also won [[Pokécommunity]]'s Hack of the Year award in 2007. [http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=227492] It takes place in a new region called Naljo, with new music, Pokémon from the first four generations, new Pokémon types, and more. One feature is to replace the player's sprite with another at a special shop. The game also has crafting systems and the ability to send a Pokémon out of its Poké Ball outside of battle. There are also a few minigames included such as a {{wp|Pachisi}}-type board game. Like many other hacks, Prism is still in progress, with periodic updates being released to the public. Its latest version was released in August 2010.
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==Game Boy Advance==
===Moemon===
===Moemon===
[[File:386 Moemon.png|thumb|right|386 Moemon]]
[[File:First partners Moemon.png|thumb|The Kanto first partner Pokémon, represented by Moemon]]
Moemon (short for "{{wp|Moe (slang)|Moekko}} Monsters") is a hack of Pokémon FireRed that changes all Pokémon into [http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Gijinka gijinka]. It is a simple change of FireRed, but with additions such as the ability to catch the three [[starter Pokémon|starters]], {{p|Eevee}}, and a mix of both LeafGreen and FireRed Pokémon (thus making it simpler to obtain all Pokémon). The game still receives a fair amount of attention, as a patch was released solely for the FireRed hack that updated both the sprites of the Pokémon as well as their menu sprites, functioning like DLC would for any game.
''Moemon'' (short for "{{wp|Moe (slang)|Moekko}} Monsters", 萌え擬人化 ) is a prominent hack of {{game|FireRed and LeafGreen|s|Pokémon FireRed}} that changes all Pokémon into {{wp|Moe anthropomorphism|gijinka}}. It is a simple change of FireRed, but with additions such as the ability to catch the three [[first partner Pokémon]], {{p|Eevee}}, and a mix of both LeafGreen and FireRed Pokémon (thus making it simpler to obtain all Pokémon). The game still receives a fair amount of attention, as a patch was released solely for the FireRed hack that updated both the sprites of the Pokémon as well as their menu sprites, functioning like DLC would for any game.


A ROM hack of Emerald has been released as well. Like the FireRed hack, it's a simple change of Emerald, replacing all Pokémon with ginjika counterparts, however, a few aesthetic changes have been applied to both [[Route 101]] and [[Littleroot Town]], adding many [[puddles]] to the town, and the [[Oran Berry]] has, curiously, been renamed the "Weed Berry", possibly for comedic effect.  
A ROM hack of Emerald has been released as well. Like the FireRed hack, it's a simple change of Emerald, replacing all Pokémon with ginjika counterparts, however, a few aesthetic changes have been applied to both {{rt|101|Hoenn}} and [[Littleroot Town]], adding many [[puddles]] to the town, and the [[Oran Berry]] has, curiously, been renamed the "Weed Berry", possibly for comedic effect.


Moemon received a short burst of fame when it was posted to gaming site Kotaku in late 2007.[http://kotaku.com/gaming/clip/pokemon-dressed-up-in-moe-332781.php]
Moemon received a short burst of fame when gaming site {{wp|Kotaku}} posted an article about it in late 2007.<ref>[http://www.kotaku.com.au/2007/12/pokemon_dressed_up_in_moe/ Kotaku - Pokemon Dressed Up in Moe]</ref>


===Pokémon Amber===
===Pokémon Naranja/Orange===
Pokémon Amber is a hack of {{game3|Ruby and Sapphire|Pokémon Ruby|s}} which sports brand new Pokémon sprites, a brand new region (Sider), and new characters. It is made by the hacker 'Joy', and can be played in Spanish or English. There is a team much like [[Team Rocket]], which is called Team Solaris. Pokémon Amber was released on Whackahackpokemon.com as a beta, Beta 1 (Final). The overworld sprites have also been heavily edited, as has the script of the game. The playable characters are Xander or Ann. The maps have also been edited.
[[File:Pokémon Naranja.png|thumb|Battling [[Tracey Sketchit]] in Pokémon Naranja]]
''Pokémon Naranja'' is a {{wp|Spanish}} hack of {{game|Ruby and Sapphire|s|Pokémon Ruby}} in which the {{player}} plays as either {{Ash}} or {{an|Misty}} and travels around the [[Orange Archipelago]]. Naranja is a Spanish word which means "orange". {{p|Celebi}} appears as this game's [[Game mascot|mascot]]. This game is based on the [[S02|Orange Saga]] in the {{pkmn|anime}}. The game starts after the player had won the [[Indigo League]]. Despite this fact, the player starts with only a Lv. 5 {{p|Pikachu}}. Many characters, plots and events in the Orange Saga are included in the game, such as the [[GS Ball]], [[Ash's Lapras]], the [[Orange League|Orange Crew]], the [[Crystal Onix]], the {{p|Golduck}} from ''[[EP091|Bye Bye Psyduck]]'', and [[Ash's Snorlax]]. This game is particularly well-polished and features a completely overhauled graphical system, and well as many hours of playtime.  Other anime-based hacks include the popular Pokémon AshGray, a FireRed-based game depicting Ash's journey through the [[Kanto]] region in the [[original series]].
 
===Pokémon TPP Version===
[[File:TPP Red Anniversary Banner.png|thumb|left|Boxart banner for the physical cartridge release of Pokémon TPP Version]]
{{main|Twitch Plays Pokémon/Season 2#R01: Pokémon Anniversary Red}}
 
''Pokémon TPP Version'' is a hack of {{game|Red and Blue|s|Red}} created for the [[Twitch Plays Pokémon#Season 2|Season 2]] opening run of [[Twitch Plays Pokémon]] and developed by users pigdevil2010 and EliteAnax17. The hack was based on an earlier [[ROM hacks#Dex hacks|Dex hack]] named "Pokémon Red 151" by PokéCommunity user Blue, which featured significant [[level]] increases across the game as well as making all 151 Pokémon catchable in the wild. On top of the previous changes, Pokémon TPP Version includes additional challenges and features, such as [[legendary Pokémon]] respawns, [[Gym Leader]] and [[Elite Four]] rematches with higher-level teams, and level 100 event battles with [[Professor Oak]] and the original {{ga|Red}} from the first Twitch Plays Pokémon episode. It also includes the Battle Tent, a [[Battle Tower]]-like facility intended for players to earn money without having to repeatedly rebattle the Pokémon League.
 
This hack is notable as the first ever to be specifically designed for live broadcast, as well as the first to be designed for Twitch Plays Pokémon's unique play style. For example, {{p|Mew}}'s cave (a new post-game bonus dungeon accessible from the area of the [[S.S. Anne]] after pushing the infamous [[S.S. Anne#Rumors|truck]]) is filled with numerous [[hole]]s, making it not too difficult to navigate for a single player but extremely challenging with hundreds or thousands of players controlling the game at once. The game took 39 days in total to complete, with the patch only released after the Twitch community's completion. It is also one of the very few hacks that have been released on a physical cartridge with the hackers' permission as part of a community-led project.
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===Pokémon ChaosBlack===
===Pokémon Prism===
[[File:ChaosBlack start.jpg|right|thumb|Start screen from Pokémon ChaosBlack]]
''Pokémon Prism'' was a hack of {{game|Crystal}}, created by a team led by Adam "Koolboyman" Vierra over the course of eight years. It is particularly notable for being one of the only Pokémon ROM Hacks Nintendo has issued a DMCA takedown against, merely days before its actual release.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/12/nintendo-sends-cease-and-desist-notice-to-pokemon-rom-hacker/]</ref> This DMCA notice caused the hack infamy, leading to the hack's being released by pirates.<ref>[https://kotaku.com/pirates-leak-pokemon-prism-after-nintendo-shuts-it-down-1790598623]</ref>
Another infamous hack is Pokémon ChaosBlack, which is a modification of {{game3|FireRed and LeafGreen|Pokémon FireRed|s}} that was released on the [[Game Boy Advance]]. This game contains many fake Pokémon, including Mewthree. Although it has a reputation as a bootleg cartridge sold illegally, the original creator of the hack released the patch for it onto the Internet. ChaosBlack is infamous for including numerous created Pokémon and harsh language.


The description on the back of some boxes can inform gamers that it is a bootleg, as there is a missing accent on the "e" in "Pokémon". Another large giveaway is the fact that Chaos from the Sonic the Hedgehog games exists on the front cover. Also the game is apparently developed by 'Mewthree Inc.' instead of Nintendo, meaning it couldn't have been endorsed by Nintendo, Pokémon's usual trademark. Despite these obvious flaws, the bootleggers still included a fake Nintendo Seal of Approval on the box and cartridge.
===Pokémon Unbound===
{{sectionstub}}


===Pokémon Diamond 2 and Jade 2===
===Pokémon Radical Red===
[[File:Pokemon Jade 2 title screen.gif‎|right|thumb|Title screen of "Pokémon Jade 2"]]
''Pokémon Radical Red'' is a difficulty hack of Fire Red created by a team led by Soupercell and koala4 that increases the difficultly significantly compared to the vanilla version. Radical Red adds mechanics and quality of life features from future games in the series and additionally incorporates Pokémon from Generations IV to IX.
Similar to the first fake Diamond and Jade games, Diamond 2 and Jade 2 were hacked from Keitai Denjū Telefang 2. Also, like Diamond and Jade, the Power Version of Telefang 2 became Pokémon Diamond 2, and the Speed Version became Pokémon Jade 2. They are in Chinese, and their title screens have been altered to poorly drawn Pokémon characters along with the character Dragon from the film ''[[wikipedia:Shrek|Shrek]]'' (possibly due to her superficial similarity to a {{p|Charizard}}). The similarities between the title screens of this and the original Diamond and Jade (as well as the fact that they have Pokémon names in the first place) suggest that these may be made by the same pirates. Diamond 2 crashes after the title screen, making it unplayable without a save state, and Jade 2 has graphical glitches. There is also a poorly translated English version of the Power Version of Telefang 2 called "Pokémon Ruby," which has no relation to the real one.


===Pokémon Naranja/Orange===
{{sectionstub}}
Pokémon Naranja is a {{wp|Spanish}} hack of {{game3|Ruby and Sapphire|Pokémon Ruby|s}} in which the {{player}} plays as either {{Ash}} or [[Misty]] and travels around the [[Orange Archipelago]]. Naranja is a Spanish word which means Orange. {{p|Celebi}} appears on the box art and title screen.


This game is based on the [[Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands|Orange Saga]] in the {{pkmn|anime}}. The game starts after the player had won the [[Indigo League]]. Despite this fact, the player starts with only a Lv. 5 {{p|Pikachu}}. Many characters, plots and events in the Orange Saga are included in the game, such as the [[GS Ball]], Ash's {{AP|Lapras}}, the [[Orange Crew]], the [[Crystal Onix]], the {{p|Golduck}} from ''[[EP091|Bye Bye Psyduck]]'', and [[Ash's Snorlax]].
==Bootleg games==
Whilst technically speaking these are modifications of published games, the ROM hacking community generally considers these more as "bootlegs" rather than ROM hacks. The main difference being these games were likely designed to trick players into thinking they were official for monetary gain, something which most ROM hackers actively try to avoid. These games were often flashed to third party Game Paks and sold illegally. Bootleggers will oftentimes download a fan made rom hack from their repository then flash it onto a third party cartridge to make these. Below are some notable examples.


This game also includes a special feature: the player's character actually speaks during some of the story sequences, which has never been implemented in any official Pokémon game.
===Pokémon Diamond and Jade===
[[File:KDT Power title GBC.png|thumb|left|Title screen of Keitai Denjuu Telefang: Power Version]]
[[File:Fake Diamond start.png|thumb|Title screen of "Pokémon Diamond", its bootleg.]]
[[File:Fake Jade start.png|thumb|Title screen of "Pokémon Jade", its twin]]
Possibly the most well-known bootleg "Pokémon" games are the notorious Pokémon Diamond and Jade (not to be confused with the official [[Generation IV]] games {{game|Diamond and Pearl|s}}). These games are knock-off versions of the Power and Speed Versions of {{wp|Keitai Denjū Telefang}}, respectively, which were only released in Japan for the [[Game Boy Color]] on November 2000, a year after {{game|Gold and Silver|s}} and a month prior to {{game|Crystal}}.


The game maker originally planned to release a third beta version before {{wp|Christmas}} in 2005; however, the creator canceled this for an unknown reason. Therefore, the game is currently incomplete.
Pokémon Jade is sometimes found on the same cartridge as an illegally produced Pokémon Crystal cartridge but could also be found as a standalone cartridge. It was also mentioned in [http://web.archive.org/web/20030604202427/http://pokemon.com/letters/200324.asp the Pokémon.com mailbag] in 2003 as "the bootleg and illegally produced Pokémon Jade".


Naranja has, much like Chaos Black and ShinyGold, also been published in cartridge form and sold as a bootleg game by pirates. This is the only sold Pokémon game to ever feature the Orange Islands.
These bootlegs had numerous bugs that the real games did not have, such as the inability to load a save file properly. The game also contains broken English, profanity, and swearing, which is absent from all official [[Pokémon games]] licensed by [[Nintendo]], with the British Gaming Blog describing the additions as "a healthy dose of Engrish and plenty of swear words."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080708225438/http://www.britishgaming.co.uk/?p=580 British Gaming Blog » Bizarre Bootlegs - The Lighter Side of Piracy] (archived copy)</ref>


===Pokémon Quartz===
The creatures depicted on the box and title screen don't appear in the game, and are not Pokémon or Denjuu in that matter. Diamond depicts a snake-like creature of unknown origin, while Jade depicts an edited version of the forest spirit from the movie ''Princess Mononoke''.
[[File:Quartz Title Screen.png|thumb|The title screen of Pokémon Quartz]]
Another hack of Pokémon Ruby, released by the author as a patch file intended to be played by {{wp|VisualBoyAdvance|VBA}} users who already owned the Ruby cartridge and had a copy of its ROM image. The game has a great number of spelling and grammatical errors, which result from the hack being translated from Spanish, although the grammar improves throughout the game. The game also contains profanity and adult themes, which are absent from all official Pokémon games. Pokémon Quartz replaced all names and graphics of traditional Pokémon with new, made-up Pokémon, although some of the changes were only cosmetic and did not change learnsets or types. The game takes place in a region known as "Corna", a heavily edited version of Hoenn, and requires the player to navigate a very different series of paths during gameplay. It also been published in cartridge form and sold as a bootleg game.


While the best-known bootleg cartridge as played on the actual GBA contains serious glitches and errors, the current patch file release works well with VBA when the patch is applied to a clean image of an actual Ruby cartridge.
The real Telefang games do share conceptual similarities with the real Pokémon games. Whereas in the [[core series]] Pokémon games, players take the role of a [[Pokémon Trainer]] who travels through a specific [[region]] of the [[Pokémon world]] to obtain or {{pkmn2|caught|catch}} {{OBP|Pokémon|species}} in [[Poké Ball]]s and send them out for {{pkmn|battle}}s, in the Telefang games, players take the role of a [http://wiki.telefang.net/T-Fanger T-Fanger] who travels through the Denjū World to befriend creatures called [http://wiki.telefang.net/Denjuu Denjū] and have them battle each other using a device called the [http://wiki.telefang.net/D-Shot D-Shot]. However, unlike Pokémon, Denjū themselves have a D-Shot and call each other to battle. Other similarities between the two game series can be seen in the mechanics of each: the creatures in both share common stats such as HP, Attack, Defense, and Speed; both series have moves or attacks in common, like どくばり ({{m|Poison Sting|Pokémon}}, [http://wiki.telefang.net/Poison_Sting_(move) Telefang]), とっしん ({{m|Take Down|Pokémon}}, [http://wiki.telefang.net/Rush_(move) Telefang]), かえんほうしゃ/カエンホウシャ ({{m|Flamethrower|Pokémon}}, [http://wiki.telefang.net/Flamethrower_(move) Telefang]), or じしん ({{m|Earthquake|Pokémon}}, [http://wiki.telefang.net/Earthquake_(move) Telefang]), and both series also have natures for their creatures ([[Nature|Pokémon]], [http://wiki.telefang.net/Personality Telefang]), though the effects of moves are not necessarily the same in every case, and natures work differently.


Zorak of Something Awful did a complete Let's Play [http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Pokemon%20Quartz/index.html playthrough of the game], which ended in an interview with the creator of the hack.
===Pokémon Diamond 2 and Jade 2===
[[File:Pokemon Jade 2 title screen.png|thumb|left|Title screen of Pokémon Jade 2]]
Similar to the first fake Diamond and Jade games, Diamond 2 and Jade 2 were hacked from [http://wiki.telefang.net/Telefang_2 Keitai Denjū Telefang 2]. Also, like Diamond and Jade, the Power Version of Telefang 2 became Pokémon Diamond 2, and the Speed Version became Pokémon Jade 2. They are in Chinese, and their title screens have been altered to feature official artwork of {{ga|Ethan}} and [[Kris]] from {{game|Crystal}} along with the character Dragon from the film ''{{wp|Shrek}}'' (possibly due to her superficial similarity to a {{p|Charizard}}). The similarities between the title screens of this and the original Diamond and Jade (as well as the fact that they have Pokémon names in the first place) suggest that these may be made by the same people. Diamond 2 crashes after the title screen, making it unplayable without a save state, and Jade 2 has graphical bugs. There is also a poorly translated English version of the Power Version of Telefang 2 called "Pokémon Ruby", which has no relation to the real one.
{{-}}


A sequel to the game, Pokémon Marble, is in its beta release. This version is a hack of FireRed and has vastly improved grammar and spelling.
===Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal===
[[File:GO TO THE ELF'S WORLD.png|thumb|A poorly translated version of [[Professor Oak]]'s opening speech; Pokémon are consistently referred to as "elf(s)" throughout the game]]
"Pocket Monsters Crystal Version" (popularly known as Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal) is a bootlegged version of {{game|Crystal}}. Translated from the original Japanese to Chinese to English (and allegedly sold in Vietnam, giving the bootleg its popular name), the dialogue in the game (now {{wp|Engrish}}) is often nonsensical and unintentionally humorous. All Pokémon, character, and location names are similarly badly translated, often resembling romanizations of Chinese transliterations of the Japanese names. The translation is so poor that the game has achieved a cult status, and is the subject of many popular Internet memes. It was made popular by various "[[Let's Play]]" video series on {{wp|YouTube}}, with the most notable one being by DeliciousCinnamon. Another well-known playthrough is the one by ''[[Twitch Plays Pokémon]]''.


===Pokémon Marble===
===Pokémon Adventure===
[[File:Marble battle.png|thumb|right|A battle from Marble version between {{p|Caterpie}} and {{p|Doduo}}'s replacements]]
[[File:PA hack screen.png|thumb|left|Screenshot from Pokémon Adventure]]
Pokémon Marble was made as a sequel to Pokémon Quartz, and uses Pokémon FireRed as a base. It has a new Rival, new maps and graphics, a brand new plot and more than 250 fake Pokémon. It takes place 20 years ''after'' Quartz, and starts this time in Lowheaven. Professor Baro reappears and participates in the storyline much more than in Quartz.
"Pokémon Adventure" (Also known as ''Pokémon Gold 2'') is a hack of the bootleg game "Sonic Adventure 7" for the [[Game Boy Color]], produced in 2000 by developer Makon Soft. Pokémon Adventure is a platformer game in which the player plays as an anthropomorphized version of {{p|Pikachu}}. The only similarities the game has with Pokémon are the main character and the use of [[Poké Ball]]s as a point system, similar to rings in the Sonic franchise. Many of the enemies do not resemble any Pokémon at all.


===Pokémon ShinyGold===
====Pokémon Jade====
[[File:Barksh.png|thumb|right|The player at his house, in [[New Bark Town]]]]
"Pokémon Jade" (Unaffiliated with the Telefang hack) was released in 2001. When compared to ''Pokémon Adventure'', the graphics and music remain unchanged from ''Sonic Adventure 7'' although the color tinting is different, and a story is added to the beginning. Once again, the player plays as an anthropomorphized {{p|Pikachu}}.
[[File:ShinyGold Title Screen.png|thumb|left|Title Screen of Pokémon ShinyGold]]
Pokémon ShinyGold is a total conversion of {{game3|FireRed and LeafGreen|Pokémon FireRed|s}} that turns the game into a {{2v2|Gold|Silver}} [[remake]], much like how FireRed is a remake of {{game3|Red and Blue|Pokémon Red|s}}. That makes ShinyGold the very first [[Generation II]] remake when counting with hack ROMs, due to the fact that it was first released before [[Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions|HeartGold and SoulSilver]]. It is considered by many people to be among the best and one of the highest-quality hacked games. As well as illegally releasing the game to ROM communities as a patch, some pirates have copied the hack (as with many others) to Game Boy Advance cartridges to illegally sell the game and trick gamers who genuinely think that it is an official Pokémon game. In response to this, the game's creator, Zel, placed a note at the beginning of the game saying that the game should be returned if the player paid for it. The game features some changes to the storyline, like the fact that a new trainer, named Carlos,  is introduced, a trainer with which the player keeps fighting during the gameplay. It has also introduced features that allow Pokémon that normally evolve via time-based events or trade to evolve by other methods that are more easily available to the player. For example, {{p|Scyther}} evolves into {{p|Scizor}} with a {{evostone|Moon Stone}} rather than by its normal method, trading while holding a {{DL|Type-enhancing item|Metal Coat}}. The game also features many events which were not available in the original game, as well as many [[Generation III]] Pokémon being found in some areas.
[[File:Carlos ShinyGold.png|thumb|center|A battle against Carlos]]


===Touhou Puppet Play or Touhoumon===
Unlike the other hacks of the same game, it suffers from a programming error that crashes the game once the first level is completed, making the game impossible to complete.
Touhoumon is a combination of the Japanese shoot'em up series [http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Touhou_Wiki Touhou Project] and the Pokémon games. The (Official) hack is for FireRed while there is a fan derivative that extends to Emerald. There are both English and Japanese versions. The Japanese versions tend to be further ahead in terms of development.
{{-}}


Almost every Pokémon has been replaced from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations with Touhou characters. The music has also been remixed between the original Pokémon themes with Touhou character boss and stage themes.  Certain fan derivative versions of the game uses the physical-special split from Diamond and Pearl. The types and evolution styles have been changed as well according to the newest official Japanese version 1.80.
===Pokémon Diamond Special Pikachu Edition===
"Pokémon Diamond Special Pikachu Edition" (Once again unaffiliated with the Telefang hack and the real game) for the [[Game Boy Color]] is a hacked version of ''Super Mario Special 3'', a bootleg [[Game Boy Color]] port of ''{{smw|Super Mario Bros. 3}}'', released in 2001, likely around the same time as Pokémon Jade. It is a simple sprite hack that replaces {{smw|Mario}} with the same anthropomorphized {{p|Pikachu}} sprite seen in the other Makon Soft titles.


===Pokémon Uranium===
Two versions exist - one in English, and another in Chinese. Both versions are impossible to complete - The English version starts on the fourth level of the original game which a glitch prevents the end block from activating properly, instead summoning out a {{smw|Super Leaf}}, while the Chinese version (which starts on Level 1, as with the source game) crashes after the first level is complete, likely for the same reasons as Pokémon Jade.
[[File:Pokémon Uranium screenshot.jpg|thumb|right|Screenshot from Uranium]]
{{-}}
Pokémon Uranium appears to be a highly modified version of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. It is distributed under the name "Uranium Team" and features many fake Pokémon that replace previous sprites. It is not known to have been sold via cartridge, only by ROM. The game features a new region known as "Tandor", a tropical archipelago somewhat similar to Hoenn. The player's starter is determined by a quiz the local professor gives them. Similar to Gold and Silver's PokéGear, Uranium features an application called "PokéPod"--which has all the programs contained in the Pokégear.


Pokémon Uranium has been known to distribute their games as early as 2008, but an official date is unknown.
===Pokémon Pearl===
"Pokémon Pearl" (Unaffiliated with the real game) is a hack of a bootleg [[Game Boy Color]] game called ''Digimon 02 Jade Version''. Once again, it is developed by Makon Soft.


There is also an executable version of the game.
In the game, the player, as an anthropomorphized {{p|Pikachu}}, must fill up a gauge by defeating enemies to complete the level. Pikachu can defeat enemies by jumping on them or using Poké Balls as projectiles. The sprite of Pikachu is more detailed than in the other Makon Soft titles.
{{-}}


==NES==
==Pokémon Uranium==
===Pokémon 4-in-1===
[[File:Pokémon Uranium logo.png|thumb|left|Title screen of Pokémon Uranium]]
"Pokémon Uranium" was made using the {{wp|RPG Maker XP}} engine and, while not a ROM hack, it similarly attempted to emulate the core series formula with its own spin. It was released in 2016, after 9 years of development.<ref>[http://archive.today/20160812115033/http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/09/pokemon-uranium-is-a-brand-new-game-made-by-fans-6057505/ Pokémon Uranium is a brand new game made by fans] (Metro.co.uk, August 9, 2016)</ref><ref>[http://archive.today/20160812115800/http://www.cnet.com/news/fan-made-pokemon-uranium-launches-after-9-years-of-development/ Fan-made Pokemon Uranium launches after 9 years of development] (CNET, August 11, 2016, by Daniel Van Boom)</ref><ref>[http://archive.today/20160812120021/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2016/08/10/fans-come-together-to-create-the-original-unofficial-pok-233-mon-uranium.aspx Fans Come Together To Create The Original Unofficial Pokémon Uranium] (Game Informer, August 10, 2016, by Kyle Hilliard)</ref> The game adds 166 [[Fake Pokémon|original Pokémon]] alongside a new region, Tandor. Similar to the official games, Uranium contains both online trading and online battling.<ref>[http://archive.today/20160816081233/http://kotaku.com/despite-takedown-pokemon-uranium-creators-say-its-more-1785304146 Despite Takedown, Pokémon Uranium Creators Say It's 'More Alive Than Ever'] (Kotaku, August 15, 2016, by Patricia Hernandez)</ref> In August 2016, after one and a half million downloads, the download links for the game were taken down from the official website because the developers wanted to "respect Nintendo's wishes", after learning other sites that offered the download received DMCA takedown notice letters from lawyers representing Nintendo.<ref>[http://archive.today/20160816081443/http://www.polygon.com/2016/8/14/12472616/pokemon-uranium-taken-down-nintendo Fan-made Pokemon Uranium is shelved by its creators after Nintendo notices] (Polygon, August 14, 2016, by Owen Good)</ref><ref>[http://archive.today/20160827033112/http://www.pcgamer.com/pokemon-uranium-interview/ How Pokémon Uranium and a community of amateur developers is walking the line between love and theft] (PC Gamer, August 27, 2016, by Steven Messner)</ref><ref>[https://mobile.twitter.com/PokemonUranium/status/778696965542387712 Important Message from the Uranium Team] (Twitter)</ref> The following month, the developers announced that they had officially ceased development of the title and shut down the website and servers.<ref>[http://archive.today/20160827033112/http://www.pcgamer.com/pokemon-uranium-interview/ How Pokémon Uranium and a community of amateur developers is walking the line between love and theft] (PC Gamer, August 27, 2016, by Steven Messner)</ref> Following the announcement, community members created a new website and continued to develop patches for the base game, including bug fixes and new features.<ref>[http://www.pokemonuranium.org/info.html Info - Pokemon Uranium] (www.pokemonuranium.org)</ref>
{{-}}


Pokémon 4-in-1 is a pirated NES game which included four mini-games, "PicaClick", "PicaSlot", "PicaDance" (called 'PiraDance' in game) and Pac-man. "Pika" is notably misspelled. PicaClick is a [[wp:Collapse (video game)|Collapse]] clone featuring {{p|Pikachu}}. {{wp|Pac-man}} was replaced with a Pikachu face and the ghosts with {{p|Vileplume}}. PicaSlot is a slot machine mini-game including Pikachu, {{p|Marill}}, {{p|Clefable}}, {{p|Psyduck}}, {{p|Chikorita}}, (7), and apple (with worm) icons.  PiraDance involves the player stopping Marill and {{p|Cleffa}} on spinning Poké Balls, to the beat of one of three songs, "butterfly", "Babylon" or "sunrise". It used the animated sprite of the title screen Pikachu from {{game|Yellow}} in the background.
==See also==
* [[Fake Pokémon]]


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://wikifang.meowcorp.us/wiki/Wikifang Wikifang - A wiki about Telefang, the game that became Pokémon Jade and Diamond] (includes information on the fakes)
* [http://wiki.telefang.net/Wikifang Wikifang - A wiki about Telefang, the game that became Pokémon Jade and Diamond] (includes information on the fakes)
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
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{{-}}
{{Project Fandom notice}}
{{Project Fandom notice}}
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[[zh:附录:改版游戏]]

Latest revision as of 01:16, 18 April 2024

Pokémon Prism redirects here. For the TCG mechanic, see Prism Star (TCG).
Jade redirects here. For the Key Item associated with Rayquaza, see Jade Orb.
A warning to users about bootleggers included in Pokémon rijonAdventures

ROM hacks, also known as hack games or ROM patches, are video games that have been edited or altered by enthusiasts. The hackers achieve this by changing the code of the Read-Only Memory of a published video game to create something new.

The core series Pokémon game system is considered very versatile and lends itself well to modification, giving hackers a lot of creative freedom together with a solid, well-tested game engine. These factors, as well as Pokémon’s notable popularity throughout the world, has lead to the creation of thousands of different games spanning multiple generations, ranging from minor adjustments to additional new features and, more and more frequently, entirely new fan-made Pokémon games. Though the core-series is by far the most popular series to hack, there are also many fan-created Pokémon games that do not use these as basis, and instead are, for example, modified versions of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series and Pokémon Conquest.

There is a distinction between ROM hacks and "bootleg games". These are unauthorised copies of published games which are sold to consumers, often flashed onto after-market game paks or game cards and lacking the official Nintendo Seal. However, since ROM hacks are often distributed over the Internet for free, they are regularly sold as bootleg games, usually against the hacker’s wishes. The reliability of these bootlegs are often poor, and has become such a problem that hackers have started to introduce warning screens into their games, cautioning users that if they paid for it, they may have been scammed.

History

Pokémon Brown's title screen

Early Pokémon ROM hacks date back to the late 1990s with modified editions of Pokémon Red. These were often relatively minor adjustments such as sprite or dialogue changes, and would generally follow the flow of the original game. These early ROM hacks were infamous for being particularly crude in nature, ranging from swapping Pokémon and human sprites around to replacing the dialogue with obscene text.

This trend continued until the release of Pokémon Brown by user Koolboyman in the early 2000s, one of the most notable Pokémon hacks in history. This was the first hack to completely re-invent the game, with a brand new region and completely new plot. Later editions included an expanded Pokédex (including Pokémon from Generations II, III, and IV), additional dungeons and additional plot tweaks. It is one of the few completed hack games and was successful enough to warrant a sequel (Pokémon Prism, a Pokémon Crystal-based hack) and a Generation III version (Pokémon rijonAdventures) based on Pokémon FireRed.

Since Brown, Pokémon hacking’s notoriety has expanded exponentially, with developers creating many software tools for desktop operating systems to help create maps, edit sprites, graphics and even developing scripting languages specifically for the Pokémon game engine. It has also inspired many hackers to learn how to edit the games' source code directly (known as ASM hacking). Numerous hacks have been released, often using FireRed as a base, such as Pokémon ShinyGold, Pokémon Naranja and the Pokémon Ruby Destiny series, just to name a few. While directly editing the binary data of one of the games was previously necessary to create a ROM hack, it's now far more common to work from community decompilations of the games, as source code (Z80 assembly for Generations I and II, C thereafter) is far easier to write and debug.

There are many websites dedicated to Pokémon ROM hack development. Notable examples include Skeetendo, PHO, and PokéCommunity’s ROM Hack section, the largest known English-language Pokémon ROM hacking community. Many of these sites hold award nominations and ceremonies to showcase some of the best talents of their community.

Nintendo's stance on ROM hacks

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Reason: needs better sources

Nintendo is against the practice of ROM hacking and has taken action against it in the past, issuing DMCA takedowns to some ROM hacks.[1][2]

Game types

Pokémon ROM hacks tend to fall into five vague categories, though due to the huge versatility of the Pokémon engine, some hacks will transcend several categories at once.

Pokédex hacks

An NPC that gives a season-dependent first partner Pokémon in Pokémon Blaze Black 2, a popular 649 hack. He can only give one first partner Pokémon per game, and the evolved forms of the rest are to be caught in Hidden Grottoes.

These hacks are designed to make all Pokémon available in-game, including first partner Pokémon, event Pokémon, version-exclusive Pokémon, and Pokémon that can only be obtained or evolved through trading, thus allowing the Pokédex to be fully completed in a single playthrough of the game. More advanced hacks will include Pokémon from later generations, often also adding the Fairy-type, newer moves and abilities, and other quality of life features to older games as well. They are often, though not always, named by simply appending the size of the National Pokédex (depending on the generation) to the end of the base game's name, as in "Pokémon Red 151" or "Pokémon Emerald 386". Such hacks will often not deviate too far from the official game story, and are often used in Nuzlocke runs and, more notably, for several runs in Twitch Plays Pokémon.

Difficulty hacks

These hacks, such as Pokémon Radical Red and Pokémon Expert Emerald, also rarely differ from official game in terms of story. They instead have a significantly higher difficulty than usually experienced in regular Pokémon games. They often include extended Pokédex availability and other quality of life features, much like Pokédex hacks. These types of games too are popular amongst Nuzlockers as an additional challenge on top of Nuzlocke rules. Many fans see Pokémon Black 2 and White 2’s Challenge Mode as an acknowledgement of these hacks, though no official link has been made.

ROM bases

Late evening in Pokémon Liquid Crystal as a result of the fan-developed Day/Night System

These hacks are often designed to be used as a base for other ROM hacks, and often include major revisions to the game’s base code through ASM hacking to add new features such as additional types or a completely re-vamped tileset. Notable features include the introduction of a playable female character into Pokémon Gold, the addition of a Physical/Special split and the real-time clock into Pokémon FireRed, which gives way to a full Day/Night system, a feature that was missed by many fans in Generation III.

Another noteworthy feature is the development of the UPS patch format, which allows the expansion of Game Boy Advance ROM hacks from their original 16MB format to 32MB. This has the advantage of effectively doubling the space available for new maps and graphics, but means the game is only playable under emulation and will crash when played on official Nintendo hardware.

Language hacks

A Chinese fan-translation of Pokémon Emerald

Since the core series games prior to Generation VI were regularly released first in Japan, sometimes months ahead of their international releases, amateur enthusiasts would often translate Japanese-language Pokémon games into English and other languages so they could be played by international audiences. Since the translation was often performed by one or a small group of people, the quality of these translations were often dubious to say the least, the most humorous example being Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal. Nonetheless, these hacks were generally translated well enough to be played and were very popular amongst YouTubers.

In recent years, the core series games have begun releasing simultaneously around the world in more languages and as a result the need for language hacks has somewhat diminished. It does still happen for languages that the Pokémon games are not yet available in, most notably Chinese prior to Generation VII.

Full/complete hacks

These hacks are complete overhauls of the games, with new characters, plots, regions, and features. They often overhaul the game’s graphics, incorporating those seen in later generation games including battle backgrounds, sprites, and map tiles. They will regularly include Pokémon, moves, and types from later generations, and will sometimes include brand new ones created by the hacker. Some hacks, such as ShinyGold and Liquid Crystal, are remakes of entire previously released games, in the same way that FireRed and LeafGreen were remakes of Red, Blue, and Yellow.

Because of the extraordinary amount of work involved by a voluntary hacker or hacking team, few of these games are finished in their entirety and are usually playable in the form of a beta. Most of the notable hacks below are considered to be part of this category.

Notable core series hacks

With the release of easy-to-use hacking tools for the core series games, there are thousands of ROM Hacks available. What follows is a few notable examples, each with a brief explanation.

Pokémon Quartz

Pokémon Quartz, created by Baro, is considered one of the first complete overhauled ROM Hacks. Though its story is very similar to the original Pokémon Ruby's story, it does have its own original story, locations, and characters. It was also one of the first to include custom tilesets, as well as a completely custom Pokédex of 368 original Pokémon (though they often reused canonical Pokémon's stats).

Pokémon ShinyGold

The player at his house, in New Bark Town

Pokémon ShinyGold was a Generation III remake of Pokémon Gold and Silver using the Pokémon FireRed engine, echoing how FireRed is a remake of Pokémon Red. Whilst not the first of its kind, it is amongst the most well-known Generation III hacks, despite it never leaving the beta stage. It is also one of the most illegally sold ROM hacks, with many bootleg versions of ShinyGold available as pre-patched ROMs or flashed game paks. ShinyGold's creator, username Zel, included a warning in later editions warning users about this problem and to demand their money back if they had paid for it.

ShinyGold is one of a number of Generation II remakes developed by hackers. Other examples include Pokémon Liquid Crystal and Pokémon CrystalDust, both of which include expanded areas and features, amongst others.

Pokémon Ruby Destiny series

Surfing cinematic in Life of Guardians, an example of the 'side-scrolling' perspective sometimes used in hack games

Pokémon Ruby Destiny is a popular series of games based on the Pokémon Ruby engine created by PokéCommunity user destinedJaGold. The series consists of three completed games: Reign of Legends, Rescue Rangers, and Life of Guardians. This series is of particular note, as it is one of the longest running completed hack series available, particularly for its in-depth gameplay and plot. It, like other popular hacks, has even drawn interest from Let's Play creators. The series is also known for incorporating the Fairy type into the Generation III game engine, as well as a user-created "Chaos type", alongside several user-created Pokémon.

A fourth game in the series, Broken Timeline, was in development and would've involved the Eon duo, Latias and Latios, but development for the game has since been cancelled due to destinedJaGold losing interest after going through several plot changes to the story and never getting past the beta stage, and since been done with ROM hacking in general.

Moemon

The Kanto first partner Pokémon, represented by Moemon

Moemon (short for "Moekko Monsters", 萌え擬人化 ) is a prominent hack of Pokémon FireRed that changes all Pokémon into gijinka. It is a simple change of FireRed, but with additions such as the ability to catch the three first partner Pokémon, Eevee, and a mix of both LeafGreen and FireRed Pokémon (thus making it simpler to obtain all Pokémon). The game still receives a fair amount of attention, as a patch was released solely for the FireRed hack that updated both the sprites of the Pokémon as well as their menu sprites, functioning like DLC would for any game.

A ROM hack of Emerald has been released as well. Like the FireRed hack, it's a simple change of Emerald, replacing all Pokémon with ginjika counterparts, however, a few aesthetic changes have been applied to both Route 101 and Littleroot Town, adding many puddles to the town, and the Oran Berry has, curiously, been renamed the "Weed Berry", possibly for comedic effect.

Moemon received a short burst of fame when gaming site Kotaku posted an article about it in late 2007.[3]

Pokémon Naranja/Orange

Battling Tracey Sketchit in Pokémon Naranja

Pokémon Naranja is a Spanish hack of Pokémon Ruby in which the player plays as either Ash or Misty and travels around the Orange Archipelago. Naranja is a Spanish word which means "orange". Celebi appears as this game's mascot. This game is based on the Orange Saga in the anime. The game starts after the player had won the Indigo League. Despite this fact, the player starts with only a Lv. 5 Pikachu. Many characters, plots and events in the Orange Saga are included in the game, such as the GS Ball, Ash's Lapras, the Orange Crew, the Crystal Onix, the Golduck from Bye Bye Psyduck, and Ash's Snorlax. This game is particularly well-polished and features a completely overhauled graphical system, and well as many hours of playtime. Other anime-based hacks include the popular Pokémon AshGray, a FireRed-based game depicting Ash's journey through the Kanto region in the original series.

Pokémon TPP Version

Boxart banner for the physical cartridge release of Pokémon TPP Version
Main article: Twitch Plays Pokémon/Season 2#R01: Pokémon Anniversary Red

Pokémon TPP Version is a hack of Red created for the Season 2 opening run of Twitch Plays Pokémon and developed by users pigdevil2010 and EliteAnax17. The hack was based on an earlier Dex hack named "Pokémon Red 151" by PokéCommunity user Blue, which featured significant level increases across the game as well as making all 151 Pokémon catchable in the wild. On top of the previous changes, Pokémon TPP Version includes additional challenges and features, such as legendary Pokémon respawns, Gym Leader and Elite Four rematches with higher-level teams, and level 100 event battles with Professor Oak and the original Red from the first Twitch Plays Pokémon episode. It also includes the Battle Tent, a Battle Tower-like facility intended for players to earn money without having to repeatedly rebattle the Pokémon League.

This hack is notable as the first ever to be specifically designed for live broadcast, as well as the first to be designed for Twitch Plays Pokémon's unique play style. For example, Mew's cave (a new post-game bonus dungeon accessible from the area of the S.S. Anne after pushing the infamous truck) is filled with numerous holes, making it not too difficult to navigate for a single player but extremely challenging with hundreds or thousands of players controlling the game at once. The game took 39 days in total to complete, with the patch only released after the Twitch community's completion. It is also one of the very few hacks that have been released on a physical cartridge with the hackers' permission as part of a community-led project.

Pokémon Prism

Pokémon Prism was a hack of Pokémon Crystal, created by a team led by Adam "Koolboyman" Vierra over the course of eight years. It is particularly notable for being one of the only Pokémon ROM Hacks Nintendo has issued a DMCA takedown against, merely days before its actual release.[4] This DMCA notice caused the hack infamy, leading to the hack's being released by pirates.[5]

Pokémon Unbound

Pokémon Radical Red

Pokémon Radical Red is a difficulty hack of Fire Red created by a team led by Soupercell and koala4 that increases the difficultly significantly compared to the vanilla version. Radical Red adds mechanics and quality of life features from future games in the series and additionally incorporates Pokémon from Generations IV to IX.

Bootleg games

Whilst technically speaking these are modifications of published games, the ROM hacking community generally considers these more as "bootlegs" rather than ROM hacks. The main difference being these games were likely designed to trick players into thinking they were official for monetary gain, something which most ROM hackers actively try to avoid. These games were often flashed to third party Game Paks and sold illegally. Bootleggers will oftentimes download a fan made rom hack from their repository then flash it onto a third party cartridge to make these. Below are some notable examples.

Pokémon Diamond and Jade

Title screen of Keitai Denjuu Telefang: Power Version
Title screen of "Pokémon Diamond", its bootleg.
Title screen of "Pokémon Jade", its twin

Possibly the most well-known bootleg "Pokémon" games are the notorious Pokémon Diamond and Jade (not to be confused with the official Generation IV games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl). These games are knock-off versions of the Power and Speed Versions of Keitai Denjū Telefang, respectively, which were only released in Japan for the Game Boy Color on November 2000, a year after Pokémon Gold and Silver and a month prior to Pokémon Crystal.

Pokémon Jade is sometimes found on the same cartridge as an illegally produced Pokémon Crystal cartridge but could also be found as a standalone cartridge. It was also mentioned in the Pokémon.com mailbag in 2003 as "the bootleg and illegally produced Pokémon Jade".

These bootlegs had numerous bugs that the real games did not have, such as the inability to load a save file properly. The game also contains broken English, profanity, and swearing, which is absent from all official Pokémon games licensed by Nintendo, with the British Gaming Blog describing the additions as "a healthy dose of Engrish and plenty of swear words."[6]

The creatures depicted on the box and title screen don't appear in the game, and are not Pokémon or Denjuu in that matter. Diamond depicts a snake-like creature of unknown origin, while Jade depicts an edited version of the forest spirit from the movie Princess Mononoke.

The real Telefang games do share conceptual similarities with the real Pokémon games. Whereas in the core series Pokémon games, players take the role of a Pokémon Trainer who travels through a specific region of the Pokémon world to obtain or catch Pokémon in Poké Balls and send them out for battles, in the Telefang games, players take the role of a T-Fanger who travels through the Denjū World to befriend creatures called Denjū and have them battle each other using a device called the D-Shot. However, unlike Pokémon, Denjū themselves have a D-Shot and call each other to battle. Other similarities between the two game series can be seen in the mechanics of each: the creatures in both share common stats such as HP, Attack, Defense, and Speed; both series have moves or attacks in common, like どくばり (Pokémon, Telefang), とっしん (Pokémon, Telefang), かえんほうしゃ/カエンホウシャ (Pokémon, Telefang), or じしん (Pokémon, Telefang), and both series also have natures for their creatures (Pokémon, Telefang), though the effects of moves are not necessarily the same in every case, and natures work differently.

Pokémon Diamond 2 and Jade 2

Title screen of Pokémon Jade 2

Similar to the first fake Diamond and Jade games, Diamond 2 and Jade 2 were hacked from Keitai Denjū Telefang 2. Also, like Diamond and Jade, the Power Version of Telefang 2 became Pokémon Diamond 2, and the Speed Version became Pokémon Jade 2. They are in Chinese, and their title screens have been altered to feature official artwork of Ethan and Kris from Pokémon Crystal along with the character Dragon from the film Shrek (possibly due to her superficial similarity to a Charizard). The similarities between the title screens of this and the original Diamond and Jade (as well as the fact that they have Pokémon names in the first place) suggest that these may be made by the same people. Diamond 2 crashes after the title screen, making it unplayable without a save state, and Jade 2 has graphical bugs. There is also a poorly translated English version of the Power Version of Telefang 2 called "Pokémon Ruby", which has no relation to the real one.

Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal

A poorly translated version of Professor Oak's opening speech; Pokémon are consistently referred to as "elf(s)" throughout the game

"Pocket Monsters Crystal Version" (popularly known as Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal) is a bootlegged version of Pokémon Crystal. Translated from the original Japanese to Chinese to English (and allegedly sold in Vietnam, giving the bootleg its popular name), the dialogue in the game (now Engrish) is often nonsensical and unintentionally humorous. All Pokémon, character, and location names are similarly badly translated, often resembling romanizations of Chinese transliterations of the Japanese names. The translation is so poor that the game has achieved a cult status, and is the subject of many popular Internet memes. It was made popular by various "Let's Play" video series on YouTube, with the most notable one being by DeliciousCinnamon. Another well-known playthrough is the one by Twitch Plays Pokémon.

Pokémon Adventure

Screenshot from Pokémon Adventure

"Pokémon Adventure" (Also known as Pokémon Gold 2) is a hack of the bootleg game "Sonic Adventure 7" for the Game Boy Color, produced in 2000 by developer Makon Soft. Pokémon Adventure is a platformer game in which the player plays as an anthropomorphized version of Pikachu. The only similarities the game has with Pokémon are the main character and the use of Poké Balls as a point system, similar to rings in the Sonic franchise. Many of the enemies do not resemble any Pokémon at all.

Pokémon Jade

"Pokémon Jade" (Unaffiliated with the Telefang hack) was released in 2001. When compared to Pokémon Adventure, the graphics and music remain unchanged from Sonic Adventure 7 although the color tinting is different, and a story is added to the beginning. Once again, the player plays as an anthropomorphized Pikachu.

Unlike the other hacks of the same game, it suffers from a programming error that crashes the game once the first level is completed, making the game impossible to complete.

Pokémon Diamond Special Pikachu Edition

"Pokémon Diamond Special Pikachu Edition" (Once again unaffiliated with the Telefang hack and the real game) for the Game Boy Color is a hacked version of Super Mario Special 3, a bootleg Game Boy Color port of Super Mario Bros. 3, released in 2001, likely around the same time as Pokémon Jade. It is a simple sprite hack that replaces Mario with the same anthropomorphized Pikachu sprite seen in the other Makon Soft titles.

Two versions exist - one in English, and another in Chinese. Both versions are impossible to complete - The English version starts on the fourth level of the original game which a glitch prevents the end block from activating properly, instead summoning out a Super Leaf, while the Chinese version (which starts on Level 1, as with the source game) crashes after the first level is complete, likely for the same reasons as Pokémon Jade.

Pokémon Pearl

"Pokémon Pearl" (Unaffiliated with the real game) is a hack of a bootleg Game Boy Color game called Digimon 02 Jade Version. Once again, it is developed by Makon Soft.

In the game, the player, as an anthropomorphized Pikachu, must fill up a gauge by defeating enemies to complete the level. Pikachu can defeat enemies by jumping on them or using Poké Balls as projectiles. The sprite of Pikachu is more detailed than in the other Makon Soft titles.

Pokémon Uranium

Title screen of Pokémon Uranium

"Pokémon Uranium" was made using the RPG Maker XP engine and, while not a ROM hack, it similarly attempted to emulate the core series formula with its own spin. It was released in 2016, after 9 years of development.[7][8][9] The game adds 166 original Pokémon alongside a new region, Tandor. Similar to the official games, Uranium contains both online trading and online battling.[10] In August 2016, after one and a half million downloads, the download links for the game were taken down from the official website because the developers wanted to "respect Nintendo's wishes", after learning other sites that offered the download received DMCA takedown notice letters from lawyers representing Nintendo.[11][12][13] The following month, the developers announced that they had officially ceased development of the title and shut down the website and servers.[14] Following the announcement, community members created a new website and continued to develop patches for the base game, including bug fixes and new features.[15]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ https://kotaku.com/another-pokemon-fan-game-says-nintendo-shut-them-down-1790360365
  2. ↑ https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150911/06482132220/nintendo-hates-you-massive-takedowns-youtube-videos-featuring-mario-bros-fan-created-levels.shtml
  3. ↑ Kotaku - Pokemon Dressed Up in Moe
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ [2]
  6. ↑ British Gaming Blog » Bizarre Bootlegs - The Lighter Side of Piracy (archived copy)
  7. ↑ Pokémon Uranium is a brand new game made by fans (Metro.co.uk, August 9, 2016)
  8. ↑ Fan-made Pokemon Uranium launches after 9 years of development (CNET, August 11, 2016, by Daniel Van Boom)
  9. ↑ Fans Come Together To Create The Original Unofficial Pokémon Uranium (Game Informer, August 10, 2016, by Kyle Hilliard)
  10. ↑ Despite Takedown, Pokémon Uranium Creators Say It's 'More Alive Than Ever' (Kotaku, August 15, 2016, by Patricia Hernandez)
  11. ↑ Fan-made Pokemon Uranium is shelved by its creators after Nintendo notices (Polygon, August 14, 2016, by Owen Good)
  12. ↑ How Pokémon Uranium and a community of amateur developers is walking the line between love and theft (PC Gamer, August 27, 2016, by Steven Messner)
  13. ↑ Important Message from the Uranium Team (Twitter)
  14. ↑ How Pokémon Uranium and a community of amateur developers is walking the line between love and theft (PC Gamer, August 27, 2016, by Steven Messner)
  15. ↑ Info - Pokemon Uranium (www.pokemonuranium.org)


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