ROM hacks & vintage video games

So for the uninitiated, I grew up during the golden age of video games, the 1980s, which includes the era of the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). By current standards, the pioneering games of that era were graphically and logically quite primitive. Coupled with the fact that many of those games have imperfections and areas that could stand for improvement in one form or another. However, with the modern tools and the vast documentation available on the internet, vintage 8-bit systems such as the NES are prime candidates for new indy games and fan-created modifications.

A few years ago I discovered that there is indeed a vibrant ROM hacking community that is producing some really awesome work on a wide range of vintage games. The quality of these hacks along with the tools and documentation is quite astonishing and broad. I’ve been recently playing around with a whole slew of ROM hacks for a number of games and I have come to favor hacks that add quality of life and other improvements to the original game. I mainly focused my attention on marquee games of the 8-bit era or games that I have discovered a general fondness for.

I find that there are three types of ROM hacks out there, or at the very least these are the types I find the most appealing:

1. Hacks that change/fix aspects of a game or basic quality-of-life improvements, but the core game remains intact
2. Hacks that essentially create a new game of the same style by changing level designs, tiles and sprites
3. Hacks that add language translations, there were many games of that era that were exclusive to the Japanese market

Below is a short list of a few NES ROM hacks that I find quite interesting in one way or another. The number denotes the type of hack from the list above:

Legend of Zelda I & II

• The Legend of Zelda Redux¹
• Zelda II: Adventure of Link Redux¹
• Zelda II: Amida’s Curse²
• Zelda: Ancient Dungeon²

Super Mario Bros. 3

• Super Mario Bros. 3Mix²
• Super Mario Bros. 3+¹
• Super Mario Bros. 3 – Definitive Edition¹
• Mario Adventure²

Metroid

• Metroid Enhanced¹
• Metroid: Rogue Dawn²
• Metroid Mother²

Other Games

• Mother 25th Anniversary^{1 3}
• Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest Updated¹
• The Terminator (Journey to Silius hack)²
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return to New York¹
• Final Fantasy III Tweaks^{1 3}
• Evil Dead (Splatter House hack)²

The titles above I believe can be found on ROMhacking.net or on SMW Central. This is of course just a small sampling of the ROM hacks that are available on the internet. There are plenty more hacks out there for the NES and virtually all other vintage game systems as well.