I have recently been looking into and playing a lot of fan games, the quality of many of these games is downright amazing, and it surprises me how little fanfare these games get. Many fan games surpass the quality of the originals and are made by people who truly love the series, often far more than the original company that produced them. They are also all completely free to play, but since many of these games are completely unknown I thought we should have a thread where we discuss fan games that we have played and recommend them to others. Here are some of my favorites and I will add them as I discover more.
Streets of Rage remix: Are you one of the many people who believe that streets of rage 2 is the best beat em up ever made? If so, you are objectively wrong. Streets of rage remix takes everything you love about 2 and expands on it exponentially, every character from the series is playable, branching paths, a new story, some new bosses, tons of unlockables, and a level editor combine into a game that surpasses streets of rage 2 in every conceivable way. An absolute must play for any fan of the series.
Mega Man Unlimited: IMO, this is the best Mega Man game I ever played, full review here:
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=51854&start=1120
Mega Man Rock Force: Great fan game that lets you play as various robot masters in addition to mega man, review here:
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=51854&start=1190
Mega Man x street fighter: A mega man game where all the robot masters are street fighter characters, not the greatest game but it is a good game and very cool if you are a big fighting game fan as well.
Openbor engine: An engine used to create beat em ups, fans of beat em ups absolutely must look into some of these games, some of my favorites:
Art of fighting: beats of rage remix 3: A beat em up that follows the storyline of the first art of fighting, very deep and fun combat, unlockable characters, and a hidden boss make this one of my all time favorite beat em ups.
FInal FIght super gold plus: A game that plays similar to final fight where every character from all 3 final fight games are playable as well as the entire cast of street fighter 2, very fun.
Has anyone else played any fan games? What are some of your favorites?
Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never played
Re: Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never play
I love Streets of Rage Remix, but I think SoR 2 is better. It is better paced and balanced. Throwing in everything, including the kitchen sink, is a great way for fan games to go, but there’s something to be said about how game designers make choices within their limitations.
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Re: Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never play
Streets of Rage Remix is incredible and feels completely authentic. Being able to play as Shiva or Mr X, etc, is awesome. It's a mix of all three games, even with options to make the mechanics, collisions, etc, mimic specific games if you want. Tons of unlockables too and a killer original OST.
AM2R, having run through it twice now and Zero Mission several times over... I put them on the same level. Yes, a fan game is as good as one of the best remakes in the business. AM2R is as close as it gets to being authentic and official.
Speaking of, I'm going to throw out a few romhacks here. Metroid: Rogue Dawn I played earlier this year and still think about it months later, even the music. It's quite possibly the best romhack I've ever played and I've loosely paid attention to the scene since 2002 or so.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3280/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqDEDNtO_go
Super Mario Bros. 3Mix is also amazing.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2068/
AM2R, having run through it twice now and Zero Mission several times over... I put them on the same level. Yes, a fan game is as good as one of the best remakes in the business. AM2R is as close as it gets to being authentic and official.
Speaking of, I'm going to throw out a few romhacks here. Metroid: Rogue Dawn I played earlier this year and still think about it months later, even the music. It's quite possibly the best romhack I've ever played and I've loosely paid attention to the scene since 2002 or so.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3280/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqDEDNtO_go
Super Mario Bros. 3Mix is also amazing.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2068/
Re: Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never play
Never heard of Super Mario 3mix, looks pretty cool, just downloaded it and will probably play it pretty soon.
Re: Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never play
Streets of rage remix looks awesome, same goes for that Mario Brothers remix. I never played them before,it's actually my first time ever seeing them. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a copy of either one of them.
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samsonlonghair
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Re: Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never play
I played Strrets of Rage Remix years ago when it first hit the scene. I was disappointed at the time because I found a game-breaking bug. There’s a section where you have to jump over a pitfall, but no matter how you jump, the character sprite always falls. I gave up on the game after that frustration. I hope the devs fixed that bug. I haven’t played SoRR since then.
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RigglesGiggle
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Re: Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never play
Interesting thread title my friend, had to double read it for a second as I thought it said that you HAVE played at first. Heh.
Radaxian Rumble seems pretty cool, and I've never heard of it let alone played it. I checked it out for the first time after reading about it on here, quick seach on Google gives you links to more information as well as you can find youtube video showing the game play in action. I might have to see if I can get my hands on it one of these days.
Radaxian Rumble seems pretty cool, and I've never heard of it let alone played it. I checked it out for the first time after reading about it on here, quick seach on Google gives you links to more information as well as you can find youtube video showing the game play in action. I might have to see if I can get my hands on it one of these days.
Re: Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never play
I'm going to necro an old thread of mine since I have been playing tons of rom hacks lately and here seems like a good place to post them.
So I just finished Superstar Mario World, a rom hack of Super Mario World that was released this year(April I believe). This is actually my first Mario world hack that I have ever played, which is weird because mario world is probably my favorite 2d mario game, and in my top 3 of favorite snes games.
Superstar Mario world is a complete ground up hack of Mario world, every level is completely new, new music, completely new backgrounds, new environments, all totally new. Sure the game has some tropes, you have an ice level and a bowers level is appropriately a fire level but you also run through a desert and a graveyard among other locales. The graphics are bright and colorful and look like they belong in a mario game. The soundtrack is also brand new, which is very surprising and rare for romhacks, especially given how good the mario world soundtrack is. Of course you have familiar sound effects, but the music is all new and is very catchy.
There are also new enemies, of course this is a mario game so the series staples need to be here, so you get the series staples such as goombas, thwomps, boos, and koopa troopers among others, but you also get some enemies from other mario games that you would not expect to see, along with some completely new enemies and obstacles.
The game plays like you would expect, it controls exactly the same as the original. My only gripe is that the only power up in the game is a fire flower, no cape, no yoshi, which was a little sad. The other twist is that you have infinite lives so everytime you collect your 100th coin you turn invinicible for the duration of what a normal star would last. This is a cool feature and using this to your advantage can make getting through difficult parts much more feasible.
The difficulty of this game is high, but not extreme, and follows a smooth difficulty curve. The game starts out very easy but by the end of the game you will be put to the test, but this is not a kaizo or cheap hack, it is hard, but fair, and gets harder in a progressive way that prepares you for the challenge. The only exception to this rule is one ludicrous level in the middle of the game, it is an ice level with a speed run element to it and it is a fucking nightmare. I almost quit the game because I saw this level as an omen of things to come but I stuck it out and I'm glad I did because the rest of the game is much more manageable. Each world also ends in a boss battle, the boss battles are not at all your standard mario fare, all of them require different strategies to beat, none of them die in 3 hits, and most of them will challenge you. You are always given a mushroom and a fire flower prior to the boss so you will always have 3 hits before you die which makes them much more manageable.
Overall, this is an excellent hack, it really plays like an all new game and if nintendo released this and called it Super Mario World 2, I would believe it is a legit nintendo product. A definite must play.
So I just finished Superstar Mario World, a rom hack of Super Mario World that was released this year(April I believe). This is actually my first Mario world hack that I have ever played, which is weird because mario world is probably my favorite 2d mario game, and in my top 3 of favorite snes games.
Superstar Mario world is a complete ground up hack of Mario world, every level is completely new, new music, completely new backgrounds, new environments, all totally new. Sure the game has some tropes, you have an ice level and a bowers level is appropriately a fire level but you also run through a desert and a graveyard among other locales. The graphics are bright and colorful and look like they belong in a mario game. The soundtrack is also brand new, which is very surprising and rare for romhacks, especially given how good the mario world soundtrack is. Of course you have familiar sound effects, but the music is all new and is very catchy.
There are also new enemies, of course this is a mario game so the series staples need to be here, so you get the series staples such as goombas, thwomps, boos, and koopa troopers among others, but you also get some enemies from other mario games that you would not expect to see, along with some completely new enemies and obstacles.
The game plays like you would expect, it controls exactly the same as the original. My only gripe is that the only power up in the game is a fire flower, no cape, no yoshi, which was a little sad. The other twist is that you have infinite lives so everytime you collect your 100th coin you turn invinicible for the duration of what a normal star would last. This is a cool feature and using this to your advantage can make getting through difficult parts much more feasible.
The difficulty of this game is high, but not extreme, and follows a smooth difficulty curve. The game starts out very easy but by the end of the game you will be put to the test, but this is not a kaizo or cheap hack, it is hard, but fair, and gets harder in a progressive way that prepares you for the challenge. The only exception to this rule is one ludicrous level in the middle of the game, it is an ice level with a speed run element to it and it is a fucking nightmare. I almost quit the game because I saw this level as an omen of things to come but I stuck it out and I'm glad I did because the rest of the game is much more manageable. Each world also ends in a boss battle, the boss battles are not at all your standard mario fare, all of them require different strategies to beat, none of them die in 3 hits, and most of them will challenge you. You are always given a mushroom and a fire flower prior to the boss so you will always have 3 hits before you die which makes them much more manageable.
Overall, this is an excellent hack, it really plays like an all new game and if nintendo released this and called it Super Mario World 2, I would believe it is a legit nintendo product. A definite must play.
Re: Fan Game discussion: the best retro games you never play
Just finished mega man eternal, which is a fan game and not a romhack.
The story is that Dr. Wily has kidnapped rush and the stolen the design of mega man and then sets off on his usual course of building a bunch of robots to destroy mega man and presumably take over the world.
The game plays like classic mega man, minus rush. Given the fact that the entire objective of the game is to save rush you never have access to him, so that means no coil, jet, or submarine, or any other tools to help you navigate. It also means there is no way to shortcut the inevitable annoying disappearing blocks sections. The game is laid out like a standard mega man game, you have 8 robot masters to defeat, then wily's castle, a store where you can spend bolts to buy things, there are also a few other levels thrown in. There is an intro stage and every 2 robot masters you defeat you have to play through a special stage with an end boss, that you don't have to beat, but if you do you get their weapon and I think if you beat all 3 you get a better ending.
The robot masters are all new, as are the levels and the weapons. For the most part the game is on the harder side, probably a bit more challenging than mega man 9, the robot bosses in this game are all very tough and it took me awhile until I beat one with my mega buster, in typical series fashion, once you get one weapon the game becomes much easier. Wily's castle is just insane, every section is very tough, and the level where you fight all of the old robot masters is done differently here. Rather than just have a chamber with all 8 bosses, you go through a level, fight 2 bosses, and repeat until the end. It is very long and really tests your endurance.
The weapons in this game are mostly meh, there is a cool homing weapon, a bomb weapon, and a clamp weapon which holds enemies and allows you to pass harmlessly through them, but alot of the weapons are just straight shot weapons and are generally not needed outside of boss battles.
Mega Man Eternal is not the best MM game I have played, but it is fun. I would not recommend it unless you are like me and just love mega man, have played all the other games in the series, and have played the better fan games. You definitely need to play mega man unlimited before you even think about playing this game.
The story is that Dr. Wily has kidnapped rush and the stolen the design of mega man and then sets off on his usual course of building a bunch of robots to destroy mega man and presumably take over the world.
The game plays like classic mega man, minus rush. Given the fact that the entire objective of the game is to save rush you never have access to him, so that means no coil, jet, or submarine, or any other tools to help you navigate. It also means there is no way to shortcut the inevitable annoying disappearing blocks sections. The game is laid out like a standard mega man game, you have 8 robot masters to defeat, then wily's castle, a store where you can spend bolts to buy things, there are also a few other levels thrown in. There is an intro stage and every 2 robot masters you defeat you have to play through a special stage with an end boss, that you don't have to beat, but if you do you get their weapon and I think if you beat all 3 you get a better ending.
The robot masters are all new, as are the levels and the weapons. For the most part the game is on the harder side, probably a bit more challenging than mega man 9, the robot bosses in this game are all very tough and it took me awhile until I beat one with my mega buster, in typical series fashion, once you get one weapon the game becomes much easier. Wily's castle is just insane, every section is very tough, and the level where you fight all of the old robot masters is done differently here. Rather than just have a chamber with all 8 bosses, you go through a level, fight 2 bosses, and repeat until the end. It is very long and really tests your endurance.
The weapons in this game are mostly meh, there is a cool homing weapon, a bomb weapon, and a clamp weapon which holds enemies and allows you to pass harmlessly through them, but alot of the weapons are just straight shot weapons and are generally not needed outside of boss battles.
Mega Man Eternal is not the best MM game I have played, but it is fun. I would not recommend it unless you are like me and just love mega man, have played all the other games in the series, and have played the better fan games. You definitely need to play mega man unlimited before you even think about playing this game.