One of the most dear things to my gaming hobby is modification of older games from cartridge based systems. In particular I’m talking about the 8-bit to the 64-bit era of gaming. Those systems would include the NES, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast, Saturn, N64, and PSX/PSOne. One of my favorite type of games from those eras was the side scrolling “beat ‘em up.”
This genre is largely neglected and dismissed now, and indeed many times co-op is not included with games at all – a veritable travesty. However on occasion I do stumble upon attempts to modify these older games (sometimes referred to in those communities as ROM hacking).
One of these modification projects actually ended up going far beyond a typical small modification and spawned a full on PC remake of a Genesis classic Streets of Rage. Featuring all the characters from the entire series, more enemies, more levels, multiple branching paths, and a slew of other
features plus their own mod tools this may be the most impressive and extensive project I have ever witnessed (in regard to 16-bit games).
If you have ever played the Streets of Rage series before then you would do yourself a favor by checking this game out. Made by BoMbErLiNk this polished remake of an old classic game comes full with character profiles, a separate downloadable soundtrack, mod tools, and a manual. In effect this is a perfect example of what a modification project or indie game should have at release. You can view the game and download it at Streets of Rage Dot Net.
