Pokemon ROM Hack walkthroughs

It really does suck that we have lost the GBAHacks site. I guess due to the inactivities, broken links, and possible strikes, it had to happen. And I did have a number of walkthroughs for ROM hacks submitted to Knuckle San so that they can be of help to those who can't understand the crypticness of certain ROM hacks. In that case, I'll just have to post them on PokeCommunity and here. This post will of course be updated accordingly whenever I finish a walkthrough and a ROM hack.

Just to be clear, these are links to walkthroughs. I'm not here to distribute ROMs.

Full walkthroughs:

Pokemon Adventure Yellow Chapter + Blue Chapter + Gold Chapter + Green Chapter

Pokemon Altair and Pokemon Sirius

Pokemon Ash Gray

Pokemon Dark Cry: The Legend of Giratina

Pokemon Dark Crystal

Pokemon Dark Rising 2

Pokemon Dark Rising: Order Destroyed

Pokemon Dark Violet

Pokemon Gold & Silver '97 Reforged

Pokemon Grass Jewel

Pokemon Grass Jewel 2

Pokemon Hyetology

Pokemon Luria

Pokemon Metal Red

Pokemon Nameless

Pokemon Polka Aqua

Pokemon Polka Aqua 2

Pokemon Scorching Scarlet

Pokemon Sky Twilight

Pokemon Snakewood

Pokemon Stigma

Pokemon Sweet

Pokemon TDT

Pokemon Vega

Pokemon Victory Fire

Pokemon Voda Red

Touhoumon Cirno

Partial walkthroughs/Pokedexs/Other stuff

Pokemon Emerald Seaglass (general walkthrough only)

Pokemon Liquid Crystal

Pokemon Mega Power

Pokemon Nameless (battle arenas/department guide)

Pokemon Resolute

A look back at: Pokemon TDT

Detailed walkthrough here!

So I have seen my fair share of "play as the bad guy" hacks, but never really played any of them yet. I think this is an alright start though, since you only play with the original 151 Pokemon, through a heavily modified Kanto rife with some pop culture references, and starting in a different location going in a less logical progression. These are nice, overall. Yep, you deal with Team Rocket jobs, stealing from museums and caves, but also even committing worser crimes with your brother (who is the rival). And of course, a good Team Rocket is you in the end, since you see just how far things could get and run away. Meanwhile, your brother is brainwashed constantly, Giovanni makes a huge mistake calling Mewtwo a clone, and Mew, the actual mascot of this game, just joins your party and is required for one segment. My party by the way did use Mew for that one section, but it ended up being varied as best as I could: Machamp, Golem, Alakazam, Raichu, Pidgeot, and Vaporeon made up the core members. I should mention the Eeveelution because you can only get one in the game; the maximum you can get is 149 Pokemon as the other two Eevelutions aren't really available since there's no breeding or finding other Eevees.

And besides that, the game did go through quite fast. At least in-game time, since I only spent 13 hours. I played through much of it in February, took a long 2-month break to focus on other things, and then only two days in April I resumed playing this and already finished it. As for cons, there are two major game-breaking bugs that the creator acknowledges, and I put them in the walkthrough. The first one in the captain's room of the boat is significantly more egregious, but either way, you should definitely have lots of testing to ensure these things don't sneak through. Speaking of "testers", why are the Kanto gym leaders called this? They actually don't give badges (you just somehow get them randomly as the game progresses), but what bothers me is that they seem like optional trainers (you gotta talk with them to battle, they at least give a good reward like usual) yet these optional trainers are required for the finale, so you just gotta find them (these "Force" ladies just give vague hints as to where they are), and then they appear to cheer you on as you battle...the Quad Core. And while I always expect challenge in hacks, this finale was too easy, the first three trainers even have unevolved mons and their movesets are just not good. The rematch doesn't do a whole lot to improve other than levels and having Big Fudge battle you at the end either.

But if you put this aside, if you really are contemplating playing a "bad guy" hack (one where you turn good anyways), this could be a first one that works for you.

A look back at: Heroes of Might & Magic: A Strategic Quest

Okay buckle up, you'll be seeing me trudging through this franchise next, doing a lot for it and everything. And let me tell you, there's loads of customization from the first game alone. I have always had mixed feelings about turn-based strategy RPGs in general, and I just know I'm going to be doing a TON of these games soon enough, most in the HoM&M franchise. My initial thoughts about these games were sour due to Warsong not living up to expectations, but other games like Nippon Ichi titles have made me feel slightly better. And so approaching HoM&M, I'm actually liking it, a lot actually.

For a DOS game, the graphics are surprisingly superb, the navigation is easy to follow and the combat is also easy enough to understand. The idea of "unit stacks" is nice and allows for space to be saved. Not to forget the usage of your towns, always a key component of a turn-based strategy game but it really comes to view with this game and possibly franchise as well. The towns are EVERYTHING for your created heroes, you need those unique constructions after donating enough gold to get the best of the best troops and spells, and by the end of the game those griffins, dragons, minotaurs, etc. all with their own strengths and weaknesses, become your bread and butter as you conquer everything.

Yeah, that's another interesting selling point. HoM&M actually gives you plenty of replay value, as you only have eight scenarios to do and the ultimate goal is really to "conquer everyone". In other words don't get conquered yourself either, because your generals need to keep their composure and win everything, cause if they lose, they desert your cause. Of course, other units can be persuaded in various ways to avert such a travesty, but you really want the main heroes to be properly managed and composed so that you conquer everything well. I also appreciate how the game allows you to avert a canon sequence by allowing you to play as Ironfist's rivals; though the story is supposed to be on Ironfist himself, playing as the others is another factor for the replay value. I do look forward to the rest of the series, and hopefully with better understanding of mechanics too.