Top 12 Pokemon Advanced ROM Hacks Every Fan Should Try
If you’re a fan of Pokemon and love to explore new experiences within the franchise, ROM hacks offer an exciting way to enjoy the games in a fresh, personalized way. Gameboy Advance ROMs Pokemon hacks take the classic games to new heights, custom storylines, unique regions, and new gameplay mechanics.
Looking for the best Pokemon Advanced ROM hacks? You’re in the right place. This article provides the seven must-try Pokemon Advanced ROM hacks that every fan should experience.
Prerequisites Before You Get Started!
Before getting started with the best Gameboy Advanced Pokemon ROM hacks, it’s essential to understand what they are and how to get started. A Pokemon Advanced ROM hack is a modified version of the original game that offers new content, features, and experiences. These hacks can include custom regions, storylines, Pokemon, and game mechanics, giving players a fresh take on the classic game.
To begin with a Pokemon Advanced ROM hack, you’ll first need a base game ROM, which is the unaltered version of one of the original Pokemon GBA games. From there, you can download and apply the ROM hack patch using patching tools like Lunar IPS to transform your base game into a modified version.
Top 1. Pokémon Advanced Adventure
Base Game: Pokémon LeafGreen
Pokemon Advanced Adventure is a fan-made game in the Pokemon series. It offers an exciting experience with fresh twists on familiar mechanics. The game has a custom storyline, original maps, and a wide variety of Pokemon to catch. This ROM hack allows players to travel through different towns, cities, and dungeons, battle new rivals, and face off against a new evil organization.
Features:
- ✔Offers a custom-built world with different cities, towns, and environments to explore.
- ✔The game introduces a range of new creatures, characters, and regions to discover.
- ✔A new Pokedex to fill with the Pokemon found in the game world. The wild encounters have been redesigned to add variety and challenge.
- ✔Ability to customize their Pokemon teams and make choices that influence the game’s direction and ending.
📌Notes:
- ⚠ Requires Pokémon LeafGreen (USA v1.0) ROM.
- ⚠ Use mGBA emulator to avoid bugs like visual glitches on VisualBoyAdvance.
- ⚠ Known bug: PC boxes may show “Bad Eggs” or “Invisible Pokémon,” which can be fixed by releasing them.
- ⚠ Playtime: Approximately 15-20 hours, ideal for players who enjoy new stories.
Top 2. Pokémon FireRed Advanced
Base Game: Pokémon FireRed
Pokemon FireRed Advanced is a GBA ROM Hack by Devlain based on Pokemon Fire Red. This is an FR Hack Rom with a lot of balance to make all Pokemon relevant and useful with the addition of more interesting and challenging double battles. The ROM hack is popular for those who want to explore Kanto with new gameplay mechanics, more diverse Pokemon, and enhanced battle strategies. The game offers an improved experience for both new players and veterans of the series.
Features:
- ✔FireRed Advanced introduces new Pokemon and, in some cases, altered types, moves, and abilities.
- ✔Allows you to enjoy new and challenging double battles with new movesets and items.
- ✔All abilities commonly considered boring or useless were replaced.
- ✔Dark Tunnel doesn’t require Flash.
- ✔All Pokemon received up to one egg move in their learn sets.
📌Notes:
- ⚠ Requires FireRed (USA v1.0) ROM.
- ⚠ Suited for players seeking a tougher Kanto experience.
- ⚠ Use mGBA for compatibility.
Top 3. Pokémon Advanced Red
Base Game: Pokémon FireRed
Pokemon Advanced Red is a small version of FireRed v1.0 with a small goal: to bring the aesthetic of Kanto in FireRed closer to that of RBY. It introduces various changes, making the experience feel fresh while retaining the core elements that fans love.
Features:
- ✔The standout feature of Pokemon Advanced Red is the inclusion of Pokemon from Generation II (Johto).
- ✔Hack introduces various new features to enhance the gameplay experience, including small tweaks and updates.
- ✔All abilities commonly considered boring or useless were replaced.
- ✔Pokemon Advanced Red raises the difficulty of the game, making it more challenging compared to the original Red version.
📌Notes:
- ⚠ Requires FireRed (USA v1.0) ROM.
- ⚠ Orange Islands section is weaker but main story is strong.
- ⚠ Recommended for manga fans and story-driven players.
Top 4. Pokémon Ruby Advanced
Base Game: Pokémon Ruby
Pokemon Ruby Advanced is an enhanced version of the classic Pokemon Ruby. It features an updated roster of Pokemon, better battle mechanics, and enhanced difficulty. The game stays true to the core mechanics of the Pokemon series while providing new challenges and experiences.
Features:
- ✔Pokemon Ruby Advanced included Pokemon from later generations, expanding the available roster.
- ✔The ROM hack offers a more challenging experience compared to the original Ruby.
- ✔Visual style and battle animations have been updated, providing a cleaner and more modern aesthetic.
- ✔Hack may introduce new locations, hidden areas, and side quests, offering additional content beyond the main storyline.
📌Notes:
- ⚠ Requires Ruby (USA v1.0) ROM.
- ⚠ Ideal for Hoenn fans wanting a modernized experience.
- ⚠ May require UPS patch format, use MultiPatch tool.
Top 5. Pokémon Modern Emerald
Base Game: Pokémon Emerald
Pokemon Modern Emerald is the modernized edition of the original Pokemon Emerald game. It updated various aspects of the game to bring it in line with modern Pokemon mechanics, from improved battle systems to quality-of-life improvements. While staying true to the classic Emerald experience, it adds a lot of new content and reworks many elements to make it more challenging.
Features:
- ✔Pokemon Modern Emerald introduces Pokemon from later generations, including Gen IV and Gen V.
- ✔The game introduces new moves, types, and abilities that were not present in the original Emerald.
- ✔Visual style and battle animations have been updated, providing a cleaner and more modern aesthetic.
- ✔Includes better AI for opposing trainers, tougher Gym Leaders, and enhanced level scaling.
📌Notes:
- ⚠ Requires Emerald (USA v1.0) ROM.
- ⚠ Not a high-difficulty hack, suitable for relaxed play.
- ⚠ Use mGBA, avoid VisualBoyAdvance due to potential bugs.
Top 6. Pokémon Unbound (FireRed-based)
The story of Pokemon Unbound is set in the historic Borrius Region. Many years ago, the Borrius region fought the Kalos region in a critical battle. To defeat the Kalos region, the Borrius region unleashed a dark force to help them fight, but unfortunately, the Kalos summoned their ultimate weapon and ended up in the Borrius region in defeat.
Now, in the present day, a mysterious group known as The Shadows seeks to reawaken the ancient dark power to achieve their own sinister goals. As a younger trainer, your goal is to prevent the world from falling into darkness once again.
Features:
- ✔Pokemon Modern Complete original region filled with diverse environments — snowy mountains, deserts, forests, and cities.
- ✔Allows you to capture and train a massive roster of Pokemon from across multiple generations.
- ✔No need for HM slaves — ride Pokemon and access field moves without learning HMs!
Top 7. Pokémon Radical Red (FireRed-based)
Another ROM hack of FireRed, designed for players who crave a hardcore challenge, Radical Red overhauls the original game to offer a battle-focused, modern Pokemon experience that feels as tough — or tougher — than competitive battling.
Features:
- ✔Modern battle systems where moves are classified based on the type of attack improve battle strategy.
- ✔Ability to access efficient EV training routes and items early in the game.
- ✔Once you get a ™, you can use it infinitely without worrying about losing it.
Best Alternatives to Pokemon Advanced ROM Hacks
Here are the best alternatives to Pokemon Advanced ROM Hacks —perfect if you’re looking for a similar, upgraded, modernized, or adventure-packed Pokemon experience:
Alternative 1. Pokemon Clover
Pokemon Clover is a full parody hack featuring a completely made-up Pokedex, tons of humor, memes, and a very long, surprisingly well-balanced game.
Alternative 2. Pokemon Inclement Emerald
If you’re a fan of Modern Emerald, Inclement Emerald takes things even further. It brings in Pokemon from Gen 1-7 and adds difficulty options, quality-of-life features, and more.
Alternative 3. Pokemon Blazing Emerald
Remixed Hoenn adventure with custom starters, new story elements, redesigned routes, and a smoother game flow without extreme difficulty.
Alternative 4. Pokemon Vega
This alternative provides a brand new region, brand new Fakemon, very tough battles, creative-type matchups, and post-game adventures.
Alternative 5. Pokemon Crystal Clear
An open-world Johto and Kanto adventure where you can choose your starting location, customize your trainer, and explore freely in any order.
Additional Tip to Level Up Pokemon Experience with MocPOGO
As we all know, games like Pokemon Go use real-time location tracking to monitor your activities and help you level up within the game. But what if we told you that you could change your location without ever moving? MocPOGO is an amazing location spoofer that turns this impossible task into reality. With the help of this tool, you can travel anywhere in the world without leaving your comfort zone. The standout feature of this tool is that it supports all location-based apps, including Pokemon Go, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and more.
168,282 people have downloaded it.
- Change GPS location on iOS device without jailbreak.
- Simulate GPS movement with custom speeds.
- Change the location of all location-based games/apps.
- Support GPS joystick to play AR game on PC.
- Multi-Device control up to 15 devices.
- Support the latest iOS 18/Android 15.
Here is how to do it:
- ➔ Step 1. Launch MocPOGO on your PC and click on the “Start” option. Connect your Android or iOS device to your PC and select it.
- ➔ Step 2. Enable the USB debugging on your device and select the mode that best suits your needs.
- ➔ Step 3. Select “Teleport Mode,” enter the target location name in the search box, and hit “Search” to choose the location.
- ➔ Step 4. Now, you will see the “Go” option on the map. Click on it, and your location will be teleported to this place.
Now, you will see the “Go” option on the map. Click on it, and your location will be teleported to this place.
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of Pokemon ROM Hacks, you’re in the right place. In this guide, we have explored the top 7 highly rated Pokemon Advanced ROM Hacks to download. Further, we have also introduced you to the best location spoofer available online, known as MocPOGO.
