 Ssssssssssssss Ne Bestake! Hello, it's Halloween, so I thought I would put together a quick video of some of the ROM hacks I have been playing lately that are all Halloween-themed one way or another. Most of these are Super Nintendo, but there's a few here that are on other systems. If you're not familiar with how to get these to work there's links in the description to help you out. To summarize, you have to use a utility program to join two files together... The original game ROM and the patch file. Once they're joined and the game works you can play it on an emulator like SNES-9X 9x or BSNES or whatever, or you can throw them on a flash cartridge or potentially on your SNES classic assuming you've put the RetroArch emulator on it with the appropriate core. We'll start out with a few Super Mario World hacks like a Halloween Walk. As many of you have found out the hard way, the trouble with most Mario World hacks is that they're brutally, laughably difficult, and not in a fun way. What's nice about a Halloween Walk is that it's still accessible and approachable and still somewhat challenging without being a kick to the balls. There's nothing too crazy here. It's pretty faithful to the traditional Mario approach, only with some cosmetic changes here and there to fit the Halloween motif. I guess the one thing that stands out is the trick or treat nature of the question boxes. Some you get coins, some you get power-ups, but most give you just nothing. There's only seven exits here so it's a short game and it's a bit glitchy, as you can see, but hey, it fits the Halloween theme well. The Halloween Island is another Mario World hack, only this one's a bit darker. As you can see with the blood on the ground and on the pipes and stuff, this one's got some unique ideas like the second level here having the orange-brown colored surfaces bouncy or the third level here where there's water you gotta deal with along with axe-wielding hammer brothers. That's cool. This one's really well-designed in every aspect. You've got zombie Koopas here, the music borrows a bit from other games which is pretty cool, and while there's only nine exits here, one of them is a secret switch palace and that's a really nice touch. This is one of the better hacks I've played because it does a nice job providing a challenge without feeling cheap. Well, except maybe the last level in the castle. Geez, Louise, that one's tough. But yeah, the Halloween Island is really good and well worth checking out. If you want more of a full game you can sink a few hours into, then there's Mario Game version 1.0. Now, this is more of a traditional rom hack as the game starts out with Mario traversing through the typically styled Mario World levels where you hop and bop through bright and cheerful colorful settings, but the further you progress, the darker the settings and themes like a forest, a swamp, ghost houses, castles, and even the auto-scrolling ship levels from Mario 3. Eventually, you'll get to World 7, which is what you're looking for here. You've got a really sparse soundtrack, enemies throwing their skulls at you, lakes and waterfalls of blood, and Yoshi heads? Toad killing himself? Are you freaking serious? Yeah, this is pretty dark, and while it may take a while to get there, it's well worth it. This is one of the best rom hacks that I've played. Then, of course, there's the Super Metroid hack starting with this one titled Super Metroid Hallow Eve. This is another short one that's only got three areas, but it's still well done and it fits the horror motif well. There's some interesting changes here to the physics and some of the power-ups as well, like, for example, there's sections here where you have to use your anti-gravity spin to kind of float over areas. It's pretty interesting design, and as you might expect, it's really freaking tough, and the ending is kind of disappointing. You might get a laugh out of it, but still, Hallow Eve is worth checking out. If that one's not hard enough for you, then check out Super Metroid Hell, otherwise known as Super Metroid YP Hell, YP being the name of the person who designed this. I really like the backlit setting here to start out with. It makes me feel like I'm playing Super Metroid Limbo Edition or something, and it just gets creepier and creepier the further you progress. That is IF you can progress, because this one is really tough. I mean, it's named Hell for a reason, right? You better have Wall Jumping Down without thinking, otherwise don't even touch this one. It's a well-made ROM hack, but it's not for everyone. If you're looking for a Super Metroid hack that's a little more approachable, there's Super Metroid Dark Home Hospital, which takes place three years after Super Metroid, with Samus coming back to Earth to investigate some strange goings-on at this old abandoned military hospital. It's a good idea because the setting definitely fits the Super Metroid structure, and again, the further you progress, the creepier it gets. There's plenty of puzzles here, and plenty of stuff to figure out, and you actually have time to do so. You're not constantly struggling to stay alive, unlike some of the other hacks, so I appreciate that. So yeah, if you're not a hardcore Super Metroid fan, but you'd still like to try out a Super Metroid ROM hack, this is a great place to start, and of course, it fits the whole Halloween thing as well. Moving on to other games, many of you know of the Earthbound Halloween hack, which I've talked about a couple times before, but if that one's not to your taste, then there's also Earthbound Hallows End, and it's made by the same person who worked on the Earthbound Zero remake revival hack several years back, so there's quality stuff here. There's an all-new story, new scenarios, new characters, new enemies, new music, which is great, and most impressively, there's all-new maps with 13 new areas to explore. It's not as big as the original Earthbound, of course, but still, it is really cool to see. The story is that it's Halloween night and a gal named Sally and her two friends Craig and Clyde, no, not that Clyde, are out trick-or-treating before they find themselves in a world filled with monsters and creatures and all that good stuff. This is a really well-made and well-thought-out hack, and you can tell the creator, H.S., put a ton of time into this one, and it's well worth playing. Finally, I love playing through Super Castlevania IV this time of year, but unfortunately, there aren't too many ROM hacks of that game out there for whatever reason. I guess that game just doesn't lend itself well to hacks or something. But fortunately, there are tons of NES Castlevania hacks out there, and I wanted to point out two I've been playing. First, there's Castlevania Blood Moon, and this one's interesting because the mechanics and the physics here have been altered a bit. Like, for example, you can jump higher and you can use the whip while walking. Unfortunately, this one's a bit rough around the edges when it comes to level design, and there is some really cheap enemy placement here. Pretty typical nonsense for a ROM hack, really. But I wanted to make sure I pointed this one out because it's one of the most popular NES ROM hacks out there. And I will say I do like the revamped visuals, I like the new mechanics, and the first two levels are okay, but after that, your mileage can vary a bit. And last, I have to mention Castlevania the Holy Relics, and this one is really good, and it's made for more casual players, which I really appreciate. And honestly, it does feel at times like a true sequel to the original Castlevania. There's new levels, new visuals, new settings, new enemy designs, new music while keeping some of the old music, new features like being able to collect rosaries or invincibility power-ups and using them when needed, and there's some structure changes here as well, like a stage select screen to start out with, which I really appreciate. And you also have to explore each area until you find a key, which unlocks a door and leads to the next area. This is one of the most well-made ROM hacks I've ever played on any platform, and it's a must-play if you're a fan of Castlevania. Alright, I want to thank you for watching, and I hope you have a great rest of your Halloween!