9 Best Pokemon GBC ROM Hacks of 2024

The Game Boy Color was home to some of the most beloved classic Pokemon games released. These days, we can relive those nostalgic titles in ways never before possible thanks to Pokemon GBC ROM hacks that fans have created over the years.

In this list, we’ll be covering the best Pokemon ROM hacks for the Game Boy Color, why each of these Pokemon fan games deserves to be on this list, and what sets these GBC Pokemon ROM hacks out from the rest of the pack.

That’s enough of an introduction, let’s get into the games!

9. Pokemon Crystal Kaizo

Pokemon Crystal Kaizo is a sequel to another infamous Pokemon ROM hack game, Pokemon Blue Kaizo. Both are great GBC ROM hacks, however, Crystal Kaizo makes the list and is definitely worth playing even if you’ve never had a chance to play through the original game yet.

This hack follows the story of Pokemon Crystal so it’s set in Gen 2 technically. There are some pretty neat features here. There are 252 Pokemon total to battle, train, and catch, as well as one additional secret Pokemon that you’ll have to search for in order to find.

This game can be a bit tricky at times and leave you stumped, but overall it feels fair and is a lot of fun if you’re up for a good challenge. Evolution Stones make an appearance in Crystal Kaizo which means that you can obtain all of the different Eevee forms. You can evolve all Pokemon that originally could be evolved strictly from battling and leveling up except for Slowking who will need a Water Stone in order to evolve.

You can also find an Odd Egg in the game which guarantees you a Shiny Pokemon. All Gym Leaders that you battle along with the Elite Four members have teams of 6 unique Pokemon which include 1 single shiny in their squad.

Some notable features:

• 252 Pokemon in total (Gens 1-2)
• Trade evolutions aren’t necessary
• Evolution Stones can be purchased
• Odd Egg guarantees a Shiny Pokemon
• Unable to use Revive items in battles
• Difficulty level is ramped up, challenging but fair gameplay overall

8. Pokemon Red – Battle Factory

Pokemon Battle Factory is a ROM hack made from the original Pokemon Red game. The project is a recreation of the Battle Factory from the Battle Frontiers in Gens 3-4 games. Most of the original features make a return in this hack.

You start with 6 initial Pokemon of which you can pick 3. These 3 Pokemon are then used to battle 7 trainers in a row. After each trainer is defeated, you may swap out one of your Pokemon with one of the Pokemon from your opponent’s team that you beat.

After you’ve defeated all 7 trainers in a row, you’ll move on to the next class of trainers. Each class of trainers becomes more difficult and their Pokemon get more powerful. While this does increase the battle difficulty levels, it also means that you now have access to more powerful Pokemon if you can beat them in battles.

There are a total of 9 classes in this ROM hack. The bosses in the game are known as Factors Heads and they will challenge you once you get through the first 2 rounds of classes.

Pokemon Battle Factory is a unique take on the classic Pokemon formula. It is a purely battle system which makes it a fun challenge and leads you to want to continue progressing to get to the end.

7. Pokemon Red – Proud Eyes Edition

In Pokemon Red – Proud Eyes Edition, the original Pokemon Red game has been updated to Gen 2 graphics. All casino prizes have been edited, every Pokemart has been edited, all in-game rival battles have been edited, and so much more!

As you can tell, this game has had a ton of editing and reworking done on the original Pokemon Red version. They’ve gone in and reworked everything from Exp gains from battles, the Pokemon levels in the overworld, starting move sets, and even changed the number of TMs you receive after obtaining a gym badge.

If you’re someone who really enjoys playing through Pokemon Red, but you’d like a bit more of an extra challenge and you want an experience that feels just different enough than the original, Pokemon Red Proud Eyes Edition is definitely worth giving a shot.

It takes the core formula and gives it an updated move to Gen 2 along with tons of quality-of-life improvements.

6. Pokemon Gold and Silver 97 Reforged

Pokemon Gold and Silver 97 Reforged is a ROM hack that’s a reimagining of the original Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver games. In this hack, you’ll explore the Nihon Region set to a completely new storyline and a plethora of beta Pokemon created from the ground up in the style of Pokemon Crystal graphics.

You’ll go off on a brand new Pokemon adventure to catch and battle wild Pokemon, working to overthrow the evil Team Rocket. Pokemon Reforged has two main versions available, both Gold and Silver. Every single Pokemon is catchable in either version you choose.

5. Pokemon Pink Version

Pokemon Pink has some lore that we feel needs to be touched on before expanding on this particular ROM hack. There’s a rumor that Nintendo was originally going to release a Gen 1 version alongside Red, Green, and Blue named Pokemon Pink, but that it was scrapped and never ended up seeing the light of day.

Years later, a ROM hack of the Pokemon Blue USA version was released named Pokemon Pink. It features new improvements to the original Blue version of Pokemon with some new features added:

• There’s a new protagonist in the game named Kris (the same one from Pokemon Crystal)
• 3 new types make an appearance here from later gens – Dark types, Steel type, and Fairy type
• The Type chart matches post Gen 6
• New starters show up – Pikachu, Vulpix, and Jigglypuff
• The Unknown Dungeon is updated and now is identical to Pokemon Yellow’s
• External tilesets are updated to match Pokemon Yellow’s
• Full GBC colorization has been added as an option

4. Pokemon Pyrite

Pokemon Pyrite is a ROM hack of the Gen 2 Pokemon game, Pokemon Crystal.

This hack will force you to think outside of the box while playing it. You’ll need to figure out strategies that you never before had to use in a Pokemon game. It’s quite difficult in nature, but still somehow feels overly fair and doesn’t end up coming across like a never-ending grind. Its difficulty isn’t to the point where you’ll feel like giving up, but rather will want to push through to actually beat it.

For fans of Pokemon Crystal, this hack is for you! It takes the original Crystal formula and gives it a much-needed hard mode. Aside from the minor map changes made, this hack stays true to your memories of the game.

It feels balanced overall due to all of the work on wild Pokemon. There’s fishing, headbutting, rock smashing, and all new types of Pokemon added including trainer parties and 100 extra trainers throughout the region.

Items have been reworked as well, both ones found in the wild and sold in Pokemarts. Additional events have been added and existing events have been modified. Several routes and caves have been remodeled and feel fresh, you’ll never know where new trainers have been added until you come across them.

This ROM hack is a welcome upgrade to the original Crystal version and is definitely worth a play-through.

3. Pokemon Green in English

As someone who grew up in the US, I always was fascinated with Pokemon Green as a kid. I wanted to play the game so badly, but because it was only released in Japan, I was forced to look at images of it in Nintendo magazines and dream of what it was like.

Fast forward to today and I now can live out those dreams thanks to the Pokemon Green in English ROM hack. It takes the game that wasn’t released anywhere outside of Japan and translated the original Japanese version of Green into English.

The original creator of this ROM hack bought an original copy of Green for similar reasons to me and as they were playing through it realized that the world needed a properly translated version. Previously translated versions of Green all suffered of cut-down names for Pokemon and attacks because the original version had a limited amount of characters available for names back then.

This is a hack of Pokemon Blue that is meant to recreate the original experience of Pokemon Green. Almost everything has been changed back to what they were like in the original Green version. So, if you like me always wanted to play through Green, but never had the chance due to language limitations, now’s your chance!

2. Pokemon TRE: Team Rocket Edition

Pokemon Team Rocket Edition is a unique ROM hack of Pokemon Red where Giovanni is having a competition to decide who will become his successor and will lead Team Rocket. The competition ultimately ends up being between you and your rival sister. You have to work to battle through and beat all of the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four to become crowned the next heir to the proverbial throne.

This hack features new maps, updated text, and new sprites and tiles. A lot of changes were made to this hack.

You can watch an intro for Pokemon Team Rocket Edition here:

if you’re a fan of the OG Pokemon Gen 1 games, then you will love Team Rocket Ediition. It takes that original nostalgia and really ramps it up, giving it a brand-new experience of gameplay that feels quite polished and is fun to play through.

1. Pokemon Brown

Coming in at the number one spot on our list is one of the best Pokemon ROM hacks, none other than Pokemon Brown. This game is a ROM hack of Pokemon Red and takes place in a new region called Rijon. Rijon is just a bit south of Johto and contains all 151 original Pokemon in the Rijon Pokedex (the same as the Kanto Pokedex obviously).

Pokemon Brown was then remade again in 2009 and the Pokedex was expanded to include 224 total Pokemon. Then in 2014, Pokemon Brown got another update which also added Sylveon to the Dex and has five new Elemental Types.

Some notable features in Pokemon Brown are:

• 225 total Pokemon in the Pokedex
• New Pokemon Evolutions
• New types
• New TMs and HMs
• New Pokemon moves
• A brand new music track with some tunes from the Johto Region
• A brand new post-game quest included

Summary

We’ve covered what we think are all of the best Pokemon GBC ROM hacks. Some of these are classics that many hardcore Pokemon fans know and love, while others a bit more obscure. Regardless of the games that you decide to go with, you be sure that you’ll have tons of fun playing through them.

It’s very impressive the level of passion and how much hard work goes into creating and perfecting each of these hacks. Many fans put years of their lives into creating these masterpieces all just to share their love of Pokemon games and give others an opportunity to play something they love as well.

This list wouldn’t be possible without the dedication from all of the folks who put in the hard work to create these titles. So for that, we say thank you to all of the creators of these hacks. Happy playing all!

Be sure to also check out our list of the best Pokemon GBA ROM hacks.