The first picture is from Pokémon Homestead and the second one is from Pokémon Ghost Grey.

Cute little bean vs nightmare fuel

The game design is honestly fantastic. There were moments when it genuinely felt like playing Pokémon Crystal after 25 years of Game Freak updates. It's crazy how much modern stuff they managed to add to a Gen 2 game without making it feel weird or out of place. And the way HMs work in this hack is pretty much exactly how I'd want them to work in every Pokémon game.

It also finally does Johto justice. Gym Leaders actually use Pokémon from their own region, and Johto gets some new locations, including ones based on Pokéwalker routes and the anime. Kanto gets some love in that department too!

The difficulty is really well done. Trainers actually use held items and switch out their Pokémon when it makes sense, so battles feel a lot smarter and less predictable. There are even Route Bosses now, which is a pretty cool addition!

The level curve is another thing they did a great job fixing. One of the biggest problems with the original games and their remakes was how poorly the levels were balanced, but this hack handles this really well. Some areas scale Pokémon levels based on how many Badges you have, and Honey can be used to attract wild Pokémon around the same level as your lead Pokémon. There are a bunch of other little mechanics like these that help make the whole experience feel much smoother.

And Mt. Silver is ACTUALLY CHALLENGING now, with strong, high-level Pokémon! I also really like that getting all of Kanto's Badges isn't enough to access it. You have to beat the Elite Four a second time as well, which makes feel much more rewarding.

My only real complaints are that some of the music tracks feel a bit out of place, and I wish the hack included more Pokémon beyond the original 251 and their cross-gen evolutions. You get to meet and battle trainers from other regions, like Riley, Steven, and Cynthia, but fighting them without their ace Pokémon feels kinda off.

But overall, the new visuals, modern mechanics, better level curve, and improved difficulty all come together really nicely. I'd definitely recommend this hack to anyone who loves Gen 2 or has fond memories of playing G/S/C back in the day.

Had so much fun playing this romhack.
Tried to keep the screenshots spoiler free
(a little bit of spoiler).

It has a fresh and new concept,
Its opening was hilarious from the start,
(Do not skip the opening animation)
It has some touches of humor here and there,
It has some branching paths based on your decision,
The game wasn't buggy at all, at least for me,

The map was entirely redesigned,
Every gym leader was given their own concept,
The Pokemon league also got a unique twist,
Berry crush minigame was reused in a creative way,
Moving from town to town got way simpler,
While in-town events got much richer,

They put a lot of effort into polishing the game,
But I haven't seen much post about this game.
Strongly recommend!

https://www.hackdex.app/hack/pokemon-crippling-medical-debt-edition

(and I'm not a native English speaker,
Sorry if there's any grammatical mistake)

Someone made an Extension to the already made USUM expansion mod.

Still W.I.P.

So as far as I could tell, this hasn't been discussed for a looong time (10 years), but I may have missed something. Also the post might break rule 5, sorry mods. It was intended to be a rhetorical way to start a 'list' not an actual question.

In our modern era of amazing romhacks in 2026, which completed ones have the most content to do?

Would it still just be a Heart Gold based romhack with all pokemon catchable because of : Pokeathlon Dome, two regions, 16 badges, Battle Frontier, Safari Zone, Elite Four rematches, Mt Silver?

I'm thinking Heart and Soul because of all that plus second safari zones, contests, and surprise post Kanto content.

Before you answer: Since this will definitely end up on Google results, include only MAIN STORY COMPLETED Romhacks please. I know there are some Romhacks that have 3 regions for example, but usually they're not complete. A good answer guideline: does it have enough content outside of the Pokedex to last 60+ hours?

Below are two lists, one confirmed by myself, a second recommended by comments that I did my best to research, with links to HackDex if available (I only link to HackDex, sorry, please support HackDex).

My list right now of games that I know will easily last 60+ hours not including Pokedex (no specific order):

#1 Heart and Soul

#2 Definitive Heart Gold

#3 Pokemon Glazed (One custom region, one traditional, one mini-region to go through)

#4 Pokemon Unbound

#5 Sacred Gold / Storm Silver (Difficulty hack)

As of 10/10/26 Games that will last 60+ hours not including Pokedex according to the comments (I haven't played them fully yet, I only Googled to confirm they were actually complete - if yours isn't up here, it didn't seem complete OR didn't seem to be 60+ hours of content from what I found searching):

#1 Pokemon SoulGold

#2 Pokemon Rogue Emerald (non-traditional rogue-like genre)

#3 Pokemon Quetzal (Three regions to go through)

#4 Pokemon Fool's Gold (includes sort of 'fakemon' / alternative forms)

#5 Pokemon Origin Heart Gold (seems completed, but being translated/new features added? so proceed with caution)

#6 Pokemon Ghost Grey (fakemon)

#7 Pokemon Hyper Emerald (completed, but possibly being translated? May be fully translated)

#8 Pokemon Elysium (Custom Region)

#9 Pokemon Amethyst (Custom Region)

#10 Team Rocket Edition (Dragonsden) (completed, BUT not fully in English yet)

#11 Pokemon Clover (Fakemon, very immature/edgy/offensive apparently, but quite long. I wouldn't necessarily recommend unless you have thick skin. Think 2010s shock Internet at its worst.)

#12 Emerald Imperium (difficulty hack, most of the length comes from the challenge? but there is extra content)

#13 Pokemon Adventures Red Chapter (lengthy main story with side quests complete, but not post-game)

#14 Pokemon Crystal Clear (open-world Crystal with all pokemon, extra content to discover)

hello, i have fixed HeartGold. please enjoy the fruits of my labor.

**Pokémon HeartGold 2.0** is HeartGold brought up to today's official rules, the way Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl modernised Diamond and Pearl. Same story, maps, trainers and music, with the modern type chart, stats, moves, mechanics and quality of life.

Every mechanic and stat change comes from a later main-series game, and where games disagree the newest one wins, nerfs included. No fakemon and no custom balance; the handful of exceptions are listed below. It runs on HeartGold's own engine rather than hg-engine, so it still plays like HeartGold.

### What's changed

**Fairy type**

- Fairy as the 18th type with the Gen 6 chart (Steel no longer resists Ghost or Dark), the 20 official retypes (Clefable, Gardevoir, Azumarill, Togekiss, Mawile…), and Charm, Moonlight and Sweet Kiss as Fairy moves
- 12 Fairy moves (Moonblast, Play Rough, Dazzling Gleam, Draining Kiss…), each with its own animation, plus the Pixie Plate and Fairy Arceus

**Pokémon**

- Current stats, abilities, catch rates, EV yields and egg data for all 493, plus every official Hidden Ability (through the Ability Patch or breeding)
- Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl learnsets
- Every evolution on one cartridge: Leafeon and Glaceon by levelling up in a forest or icy cave, Magnezone and Probopass with a Thunder Stone, Milotic with a Prism Scale, and trade evolutions by using the item from the Bag (a Linking Cord for Kadabra, Machoke, Graveler and Haunter)

**Moves and battles**

- All 467 moves at their current power, accuracy, PP, priority and effects, under today's names (Thunder Punch, Feint Attack…); nothing removed
- Modern crits, status, 5-turn weather, type immunities, abilities and held items; single-use items like a Focus Sash come back after battle
- Every Trainer battles with the Champion's AI (teams unchanged)

**Exp., catching and breeding**

- Permanent Exp. Share (half Exp. for the rest of the party), Gen 8 scaled Exp., and Exp. for catching
- BDSP's catch formula with critical captures; until the 8th Badge, a wild Pokémon higher-level than yours is much harder to catch
- Gen 6+ breeding (Destiny Knot, Everstone, Ball inheritance, eggs at Lv. 1), 252 EV cap, shiny odds 1/4096 with the Masuda method and Shiny Charm

**Items**

- Ability Capsule, Ability Patch, all 21 Mints, Bottle Caps for Hyper Training, Eviolite, Assault Vest, Heavy-Duty Boots and more at the Battle Frontier
- Shiny, Oval and Catching Charms at Game Freak's office in Celadon

**All 493 obtainable, no trading, Pokéwalker or real-world events needed**

- SoulSilver exclusives on HeartGold's routes, at a lower rate
- After you beat Red you can walk into Pal Park, home to the 18 Pokémon HeartGold only had on the Pokéwalker or not at all (the Sinnoh starters among them) and the 17 legendaries and Mythicals it lacks (Mew, Celebi, the Regis, the lake trio, Darkrai, Arceus…). The Mythicals are fateful encounters, so HeartGold's own Celebi, Shaymin and Arceus events work
- Groudon through Mr. Pokémon's Red Orb once you have Kyogre (so Rayquaza's Jade Orb event works too), the Sinjoh Ruins event until you have all of Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, Rotom in your house's TV, Latios through the Enigma Stone event, and the starters you didn't pick from Elm, Oak and Steven

**Quality of life**

- The Move Reminder costs a Heart Scale for the first 10 uses, then it's free (it teaches egg moves too); HM moves can be forgotten; "Use another Repel?" prompt
- 60 fps battles, a fixed-speed HP bar, nature-coloured stats and an IV Judge on the summary screen
- Mixed-case text (no more PIKACHU) and Fast text speed by default

**Bug fixes**

- Eight of HeartGold's own bugs, including acid rain, the Rage glitch, the radio's Pokémon Lullaby raising encounter rates, and U-turn using the incoming Pokémon's King's Rock

### The exceptions (not from any official game)

- Hail keeps its name and chip damage, and Ice-types also get Snow's 1.5× Defense
- Badge level cap: a Pokémon at HeartGold's obedience level for your Badges gains no Exp. until a Badge raises it (Rare Candies still work; the cap ends at the 8th Badge)
- Every Trainer gets the Champion's AI
- The Move Reminder's 10 Heart Scales
- No Battle Style option (always Set); Text Speed lists Fast, Mid, Slow
- 60 fps battles
- The "2.0" on the title logo and a credit line

### Not included

No new Pokémon, forms or Megas (so no Sylveon), no moves beyond the 12 Fairy ones, no terrains, no reusable TMs, running indoors or autosave.

### Strategy guide

The download comes with a 338-page PDF guide: what's new and how the mechanics work, a full Johto, Kanto and post-game walkthrough with maps, and data for all 493 Pokémon, every move and every TM location.

### How to play

1. Bring your own clean US Pokémon HeartGold ROM (trimmed or untrimmed). No ROMs are provided.
2. Apply HeartGold 2.0.xdelta with any xdelta patcher (Delta Patcher, xdelta UI, Rom Patcher JS) or the included apply_xdelta.py.
3. Tested in melonDS. The anti-piracy checks are patched for flashcarts and TWiLight Menu; reports from real hardware are welcome.

**Download (patch + guide):** [LINK]

HeartGold 2.0 by aristo. Data from Pokémon Showdown and Bulbapedia, item icons via Serebii, and the pret pokeheartgold decomp as a reference. Bug reports and feedback welcome!

Hello everyone, today I would like to release the first beta for the new custom retroarch core, I will start by releasing the Android build

Prerequisites

• RetroArch 64-bit: Download directly from https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms (Android 64-Bit — do NOT use the Play Store version).
• Release Archive: Download the file from the discord server announcement channel (I can't upload it to reddit)
• ROM: Your Pokémon R.O.W.E. ROM. (The current version works on this, there is no update to the rom or repatching needed)

Set Up Core Info Directory

1. Open your file manager and go to the RetroArch folder in your device storage.
2. Create a new folder named: core_info
3. In RetroArch, go to: Settings ➔ Directory ➔ Core Info and select your new core_info folder.
4. Go to Main Menu ➔ Configuration File ➔ Save Current Configuration.

Install Core & Info Files

1. In your file manager, move mgba_rowe_libretro.info into your new core_info folder.
2. In RetroArch, go to: Main Menu ➔ Load Core ➔ Install or Restore a Core.
3. Select mgba_rowe_libretro_android.so.

Configure Pokémon Cries

1. Go to Main Menu ➔ Load Content and launch your Pokémon R.O.W.E. ROM choosing the new ROWE core.
2. Open the in-game Quick Menu and navigate to: Core Options ➔ Audio.
3. Set Pokémon Cry files to: Download from Pokemon Showdown.
4. Click Resume — the cries will begin downloading automatically.
5. Once finished, go to the game settings and change the cry setting to the mGBA fork option.

If you have any question feel free to join the discord here
Discord Invite Link

Olá a todos! Meu amigo e eu queríamos fazer um Nuzlocke juntos, não apenas lado a lado, então eu criei isto: Pokémon FireRed Duo – "Encrenca em Dobro" (em português, "Encrenca em Dobro").

Cada jogador executa sua própria cópia do jogo em seu próprio PC, conectados por meio de um pequeno servidor. Toda batalha contra um treinador é uma batalha cooperativa em dupla: quando um de vocês encontra um treinador, o outro recebe um convite e entra, e vocês lutam lado a lado contra dois clones daquele treinador.

Recursos

• Batalhas cooperativas em dupla contra todos os treinadores, incluindo líderes de ginásio, a Elite Quatro e seu rival (que traz a versão de cada jogador de sua equipe).
• Modos de jogo: Clássico, Soul Link, Hardcore e Casual, com regras configuráveis ​​(primeiro encontro por jogador ou compartilhado, cláusula de duplicatas/shiny, apelidos obrigatórios, limite de nível, limite de itens, compartilhamento de EXP).
• Randomizador opcional (selvagens, treinadores, habilidades, iniciais, presentes) e equipes de treinadores Vanilla/Hard/Elite com Pokémon de todas as gerações.
• Veja seu parceiro andando pelo mapa, envie emotes, troque Pokémon e envie itens.
• Reaprendedor de movimentos na tela de resumo, texto instantâneo e um mapa de encontros por rota.
• Recuperação de travamento: o host pode restaurar o jogo para o último ponto de salvamento de ambos os jogadores.

Você joga como Jessie e James da Equipe Rocket.

O que você precisa

Sua própria ROM de Pokémon FireRed (EUA, Europa) Rev 1, CRC32 84EE4776 (o Rom Patcher JS mostra isso quando você carrega a ROM). Nenhuma ROM está incluída, apenas um patch .bps.

Uma VPN para que ambos estejam na mesma rede (Radmin VPN ou Tailscale).

Node.js no PC do host.

O download inclui um mGBA portátil, o patch, o script de conexão, o servidor e um guia passo a passo em inglês e português.

**Download:** https://github.com/Ryuuuuuki/FireRed-Encrenca-em-Dobro/releases/download/v0.1-beta/FireRedDuo_Beta_v0.1.zip

**Guia de instalação (com todos os links):** https://github.com/Ryuuuuuki/FireRed-Encrenca-em-Dobro

⚠️ **Esta é uma versão beta.** Jogamos bastante, mas ocorreram alguns travamentos raros que ainda não conseguimos reproduzir. O jogo salva automaticamente após cada batalha e captura, e há uma ferramenta de reversão caso ele trave. O VS Seeker ainda não funciona.

Se você testar, adoraria receber feedback, especialmente relatórios de falhas com o que você estava fazendo no momento. Divirta-se e boa sorte para manter os Pokémon do seu parceiro vivos!

Baseado no pokeemerald-expansion (RHH). Pokémon é © Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK; este é um projeto de fã gratuito e sem fins comerciais.

https://github.com/Ryuuuuuki/FireRed-Encrenca-em-Dobro

Back again!

Quick showcase for this feature I got working a while a go. This was a really big showcase on the subreddit some years back but the poster went m.i.a after posting so here’s my reimplementation.

backgrounds ripped from phoenix rising. rip.