A look back at: Pokemon Timeless Diamond/Spaceless Pearl

First of all, I'm not actually done playing through this hack yet. I'm currently writing an NPC trainer guide, including rematch teams for post-game stuff. This is my first ever ROM hack dealing with Generation 4 though, so things had to be set up in detail. DesMuMe is not good at handling the WiFi stuff in the Underground, but thankfully I DON'T need to mess around with this too much. But of course, the nature of Pokemon Diamond (I went with Timeless Diamond for this) means there's a ton to consider. Anyways, I went through with a decent team: Raichu (a gift Pichu from a mystery gift password, with Surf and Volt Tackle), Crobat, Mamoswine, Lopunny, Gyarados, and Leafeon. Plus Bronzong for some time before I needed Mamoswine for Rock Climb (somehow the only one I could use that Rock Climb). My starter was Chimchar but I was pissed about how the RNG dictates both the starter gender and even the level and gender of the wild Starly I battled.

Gameplay and story of TD/SP is going to be the same as regular D/P. So nothing on that regard. What's important is what's improved. You've got the Platinum mons in the regional dex here, thankfully allowing for better use of those types, plus a few others added like Pinsir, Gulpin, Hoppip, Vulpix, and Smoochum for further variety. Version exclusives aren't a thing to worry about, you can actually encounter all Pokemon necessary in either version. This also does mean that trainers in the game not only have higher-level Pokemon after the first few routes, but much nastier teams to tangle with, to make the game better. After all, with more experience comes more challenge. But also perks. Ability to change HMs easily, unlimited TM usage, better surfing speed, an Advance Radar mechanic to mitigate the dual-slot cartridge issue, move tutors scattered about, wait what's this? Honey tree mechanic overhauled? Makes getting a Munchlax actually doable in this game! Yes!

Of course, the waiting does still have its issues. Some trainers are only battled on certain days or times. Some swarm Pokemon only happen on random days, along with the daily encounters in the Great Marsh and all. Small prices though, as the game itself is a nice return to Gen-4 Sinnoh in a better limelight than what the original games held. Sure, Platinum also exists too, but this set of hacks is like the Legacy hacks, improvements to the original games that inspired it.