7 Must-Play Pokemon DS ROM Hacks (2024)

This post was last updated on June 1, 2024

Pokemon games have a special place in a lot of our hearts, so it’s no surprise that so many fans have created amazing new versions of the classic Pokemon games we know and love. Today, we’re looking at the absolute best Pokemon DS ROM hacks out there so you can jump into an all-new journey.

Whether they’re fresh takes on classic games or entirely new stories and worlds, we’re so excited to show you what the world of ROM hacking has done with Nintendo DS Pokemon games. Without any further adieu, let’s get into it!

Top 7 Pokemon DS ROM Hacks

7. Pokemon Pheonix Rising

Pros

• New forms
• Character customization
• Common RPG features (quests, skill trees, choices that impact the story, etc.)

Cons

• Still in development

Who Is This DS ROM For?

This is a game for fans of Pokemon who want to engage in a more typical RPG experience.

Summary

Pokemon Pheonix Rising is a gorgeous game that allows players to engage in a genuine roleplaying experience. Sure, Pokemon in general is considered an RPG but it notably lacks the choices that define most of this genre. Instead, they end up becoming simulators for catching and battling, and that’s totally fine.

However, if you do like chasing down quests, talking to numerous NPCs, customizing your character through skill trees, and making decisions that affect the world around you, this just might be the game for you.

It is important to note that this game is still in active development. Fortunately, we can include the word active, since the team is still providing regular updates through their discord server. Unfortunately, active is a bit of a stretch with it being 2 years since we’ve received any actual updates.

6. Pokemon Silver Yellow

Pros

• An updated version of Pokemon Yellow
• Mega pokemon
• Level balancing

Cons

• Roughly hacked over Pokemon Soul Silver

Who Is This DS ROM For?

Long-time fans who enjoyed the classic Kanto story of Pokemon Yellow.

Summary

Pokemon Yellow was an amazing chance for players to dive into the story of Ash Ketchum. Having a Pikachu as your starter pokemon and facing off against Jessie and James along the way really made you feel like the main character in a story, not just some random pokemon trainer.

This fan-made game seeks to recapture that experience using Soul Silver as a base. There are definitely some changes to Soul Silver’s rendition of Kanto that make this game feel more like its predecessor, but all-in-all, a lot more could’ve been done to achieve this goal.

That being said, there is a bit of that Pokemon Origins feel here. Playing through the story as Red, you’ll get to encounter many of Kanto’s original pokemon and trainers, forging your own path through the region.

What’s more, this game even includes a special ‘God’s garden’ event that allows you to face off against Team Rocket, encounter Arceus, and capture plenty of ancient and legendary pokemon.

5. Pokemon Omega Paradox

Pros

• New forms
• Plenty of popular characters
• New rivals and new gym leaders.

Cons

• Roughly hacked over Pokemon White
• Poorly edited dialogue

Who Is This DS ROM For?

Poke fans looking for exciting new pokemon and various different monsters to fight against.

Summary

Pokemon Omega Paradox is a ROM hack built on top of another ROM hack that was ultimately built on top of Pokemon White version. If that’s a bit confusing, don’t worry too much. All you need to know is that this hack is the result of several different creators.

This ROM hack takes us through the same basic story of Pokemon White, although many of the NPCs are replaced with popular characters from the Hoenn Region and Sinnoh Region.

The main changes bring us an updated storyline centered around the mysterious masked man and a phenomenon known as omega evolution. As the main character, you have a rare ability to omega evolve your pokemon, a process that is similar to mega evolution but is permanent.

With the addition of some of the coolest evolutions fans have come up with and even a few original fakemon, this is definitely a ROM hack you’ll have to try out.

4. Pokemon Blaze Black and Volt White

Pros

• Catch all pokemon from generations 1-5
• Increased difficulty
• Stat and typing changes

Cons

• Stat and typing changes

Who Is This DS ROM For?

Fans of Black and White looking to replay the games in a more challenging format.

Summary

Pokemon Blaze Black and Pokemon Volt White are hacks of Pokemon Black and White, respectively, that takes the classic ROM hack approach of adding in more pokemon and leaving most everything else the same.

The original Nintendo DS versions of these games were great, but as with most pokemon entries, they were ultimately made for kids. Now that the kids who grew up with these have grown up, it’s time to hop back in and face an all-new challenge.

These ROM hacks do introduce a number of stat, typing, and ability changes in an attempt to match the creator’s idea of a balanced pokemon game. Fortunately, if you’re looking to play with the pokemon’s stats as intended, the official download does come with ‘clean’ versions that forego all of these changes.

3. Pokemon Sacred Gold and Storm Silver

Pros

• Catch all pokemon from generations 1-4
• Increased difficulty
• Stat and typing changes

Cons

• Stat and typing changes

Who Is This DS ROM For?

Fans of Heart Gold and Soul Silver looking to replay them in a more challenging format (sound familiar?).

Summary

If the pros and cons of this game sound similar to the last entry, that’s because the games are made by the exact same creator. These hacks come in slightly ahead of Blaze Black and Volt White since ROM hacker Drayano tackled them after Black and White.

Much of the same can be said for how these ROM hacks improve on their original games. The changes are however much more gracefully done, evidence of a creator growing in their skills over time.

There’s even a bit of additional story added in, although as of the most recent release, it isn’t fully completed. At the end of the day, Sacred Gold and Storm Silver are great experiences for fans looking to challenge themselves as they make their way through Johto and Kanto.

2. Pokemon Bloody Platinum

Pros

• Encounter more pokemon
• Improved time-based encounters
• Modified sprites

Cons

• Early Nintendo DS ROM Hack

Who Is This DS ROM For?

Sinnoh fans looking to play a spiced-up version of their favorite region.

Summary

You might see some sites claiming that Pokemon Bloody Platinum is a ‘Halloween-themed’ Pokemon ROM hack. That is patently false. Instead, the name is just a fun way to imply just how challenging this hack really is.

Bloody Platinum sends the player through the basic storyline of Pokemon Platinum, but this time, every trainer, gym leader, and rival battle is completely overhauled to increase the difficulty.

Probably the most exciting difference from the original game are the time-based encounters that take full advantage of the DS clock. Not only do we get some nocturnal pokemon thrown into the mix, we get diurnal too, shout out to all my biology nerds.

On top of that, there are also some fun sprite changes thrown into the mix to shake things up a bit and a lot of modifications that make this incredibly fun to play.

Honorable Mentions

These DS games didn’t quite make it into our top 7, but that doesn’t mean they’re still not worth playing.

• Pokemon Sun Gold and Pokemon Moon Silver – While Sun Gold and Moon Silver have nothing to do with Pokemon Sun and Moon, these are great hacks. They modify pokemon typings and abilities to make things more competitive and let you catch plenty more pokemon.
• Pokemon Renegade Platinum – Drayano brought us another entry in their ‘improvement hacks’ with Pokemon Renegade Platinum. This is definitely a great hack, we just happened to like Bloody Platinum a bit more.
• Pokemon Vintage White – Pokemon Vintage White is a ‘difficulty hack’ through and through. While the curve is incredibly hard to master, it’s perfect for fans of EV training, IV breeding, and crafting the perfect team to conquer any challenge.

1. Pokemon Moon Black 2

Pros

• New storyline that brings Alola to Unova
• Ride pokemon
• Mega evolve your pokemon

Cons

• Some bugs and glitches remain in the final version

Who Is This DS ROM For?

Fans of Sun and Moon who want to experience them in a more standard pokemon format.

Summary

Sun and Moon were avoided by a lot of fans and loved by others. They switched up the formula enough to turn off a large portion of the audience, but that doesn’t mean they were lacking in really cool pokemon and an exciting story.

Well, what if we brought those pokemon, the story, and all of the trainers and brought them into a beloved region? Well, then you get Pokemon Moon Black 2, a ROM hack that does an amazing job of merging existing plots to create a truly compelling storyline.

Travel through Unova and watch as Team Plasma and Team Skull go head to head, take on the gym leaders and the elite four, catch plenty of pokemon, and most importantly, have fun.

Final Thoughts

DS ROM hacks haven’t been around for as long as GBA ROM hacks have, and there are still a lot of kinks to work out. Fortunately, the dedicated community has already created some excellent games and we’re sure that even more impressive material is on the horizon.

After all, there are already some impressive 3DS ROM hacks out there for you to sink your teeth into, and we just barely got emulators for that system. So, keep playing, keep innovating, and as always, keep having fun.