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Super Hydlide - Refined and Rebalanced

Original game : Super Hydlide

Platform : GEN

Author : Mentil

Release date : 16 December 2022

Category : Improvement

Patch version : 1.1

Modifications : G, T, P

Downloads : 1015

ROM Information

Database match: Super Hydlide (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Genesis (v. 20210226-213851)
File/ROM SHA-1: 5FF65139C7E10539DD5A12BDF56073504C998471
File/ROM CRC32: 1335DDAA

Hack description

This hack aims to be a layer of polish on a notoriously rough game.
Originally released in late 1987 on the MSX as Hydlide 3, it attempted to distinguish itself from other action-RPGs released that year (such as Ys, Sorcerian, and Zelda 2) by emphasizing its more realistic game mechanics. In particular, that included the need to eat, sleep, and watch how much you carry and what you kill. Unfortunately, since these distinguishing features were effectively gameplay limitations, this emphasis made the game overly arduous.

There are two patches provided to choose from: the Refined patch contains a partially-redrawn font, correction of Engrish/grammar/spelling errors, and various wording changes in the UI to reflect modern RPG terminology. Some spells were additionally renamed to better reflect their function. It's not a retranslation, although Japanese sources were consulted for some changes. A few hints were improved/added, so players should be less stumped. Furthermore, the vague ending had some additional text added, inspired by the fuller MSX ending, to better explain what transpires.

The Refined and Rebalanced patch contains all of the above, and also a broad rebalance of items and monsters. The general aim was to make the game less grindy via increase in rewards, to make monsters less unfairly difficult, and to tone down the aforementioned game mechanics to be less onerous. The early game in particular was made far less frustrating, and the final boss has been toned down so that abuse of an exploit (which is fixed in the rebalance patch) is no longer a near-requirement in order to defeat it.

The overall gameplay experience remains unchanged, however.

Screenshots

Contributions

ContributorType of contributionDescription
MentilHackingText changes, ASM hacking, Balance changes, Font redraws

Reviews

A must have for people wanting to try the game!XtremePrime2022-12-08Version 1.0

As a disclaimer, I've played the game using the 'complete' edition of the romhack (the Refined+Rebalanced patch) to better experience the changes made to the game.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is the ultimate way to play Super Hydlide for the Genesis for anyone remotely interested in the game. Even with just the refined part, the game is much more understandable by itself alone without having to rely on an external guide to be able to know where to go next or how to progress, as well as understanding what your stats do, and what items you have.

The Rebalanced part is where the romhack shines. Most of the changes were shifted towards making the game less tedious or grinding, things such as reducing the inn cost to $100 per night rather than $1000, or making hunger hurt 50% less, encumbrance only slow you down 50% as much as before, and higher base carry capacity. There's more changes but I'll not go into them specifically since they're listed in the file bundles with the romhack. These balancing changes really help the game's fun factor as it means you need to spend less time mindlessly grinding monsters for XP and cash due to the adjusted prices and rewards. I was also able to beat Varalys without needing to do the 100 Karma light collecting due to just being properly equipped and highly leveled.

NOTE: The biggest change from the rebalanced part is the speed fix during the dragon and Kaizack encounters, meaning you will not be able to cheese them the way most speedrunners or guides will recommend, and the only way to do them is strategy, leveling, and using proper equipment for your character. There is currently an overleveling bug that can make the fight with Kaizack close to impossible to beat. For me it was as a lv.22 Monk, but this might not occur on a different class character. My only advice is to try to beat Kaizack about the time when your healthbar is pretty much full in the UI, meaning it didn't scale yet, so anywhere before lv.20. I want to thank the romhack developer Mentil for helping me after I've encountered this problem!

I recommend this hack to anyone wanting to give this someone innovative game a chance, it makes the experience that much better. Outside of that one problem I encountered with the Kaizack boss due to overleveling, this pretty much is the best way to experience this game!

Makes it worth trying this cool but frustrating game.jabedoben2021-11-17Version 1.0

I played and beat this game a few times back when it came out. This hack allowed me to play it again without all of the nagging frustrations of the original. Great work~!