5 Best Pokemon Black and White ROM Hacks of 2024 (2024)

If you’re looking for the best Pokemon Black and White ROM hacks, this is definitely the post for you! Since their release in 2010, Pokemon Black and White have been fan favorites of the Nintendo DS Pokemon games. These two games were notably darker than other titles that came before them and they touched on issues that the series hadn’t yet covered before.

Even with how much these games still hold up to this day, players still are looking for new ways to experience them all these years later. Certain Pokemon Black and White ROM hacks give a whole new life to the entries and are the brainchild of passionate Pokemon fans who devote their time to create new masterpieces from the original Black and White games.

These ROM hacks offer an entirely new take on the classics and include things like enhanced difficulty levels, never-before-seen Pokemon forms, and exciting new narratives and storylines.

We recently wrote a list of the best Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver ROM hacks as well, but today we’re sharing a list of the best Black and White ROM hacks that you need to try. Each one is unique in its own way. Without further ado, let’s get into the games!

What Are The Best Pokemon Black And White ROM Hacks?

1. Pokemon Black & White Deluxe

Pokemon Black and White Deluxe is a hack created by the well-known ROM hacker Drayano. Overall, its difficulty feels well balanced and it has updated some of the game’s gameplay mechanics. All 649 Pokemon from different generations are available, there are new moves, new abilities, and even an expanded regional Pokedex included.

You’ll notice that all trainers in the game have different Pokemon from the original. There are even new Trainer Classes included like the Picnicker or Camper.

You no longer need to trade Pokemon to get them to evolve. There are new evolution changes included that solve this.

The deluxe version is quite difficult, but not so much that it feels unfair. The difficulty level isn’t too ridiculously hard, however, you will need to use more strategy to win battles and progress.

You’ll see some already familiar Gym Leaders here including Brock from the Unova Region. Along with Brock, you’ll also find that some other special trainers also make an appearance. You’ll also need to battle and beat Cilan, Chili, and Cress in a triple battle.

There’s a new mysterious champion in the Unova region. There’s also a new mystic trainer in Undella as well.

There are no added Pokemon that have been edited in this Hack which means no edited types, no edited base stats, move sets, etc.

Some of the key features of this hack include:

• Updated graphics and sound
• The text speed is faster and item availability has been increased
• Additional post-game content
• The difficulty has been balanced and reworked
• Move sets and abilities have been updated
• All 649 Pokemon across gen Pokemon availability

2. Pokemon Vintage White

Pokemon Vintage White is a ROM hack that’s focused on increasing the game’s difficulty level. This game includes Pokemon from Gens 1 – 3. The Unova starter Pokemon have been replaced with the starter Pokemon from the Hoenn region.

You’ll notice that a lot of Pokemon have stat changes, move pool changes, and evolution changes as well. There are multiple quality-of-life changes that were added here like getting the Super Rod right at the very beginning and getting early access to the Cut ability. You can also use the Stone to evolve Pokemon like Tyrogue based on the stone that you give it.

It should be noted that this game is for players who really want a difficult challenge. It’s very hard. Pokemon can’t give EVs, certain moves have been removed from the game entirely, Trainer battles have more advanced and difficult teams, and the Gym leaders are also quite hard.

This ROM hack is one serious difficulty hack that is the perfect fit for Nuzlocke playthroughs.

Some features worth mentioning:

• A very hard ROM hack of White with the difficulty cranked way up
• Different Pokemon included
• Gym Leaders and Trainers updated to be harder
• Custom features and mechanics

3. Pokemon Horror White

Pokemon Horror White is a ROM hack created by Crash469 based on Pokemon White, the original game.

The game has an overall dark and spooky vibe to it as the name suggests and introduces a lot of changes to the original formula. If you choose to play as a boy at the start of the game, you will play as Reshiram, but if you choose a girl, you’ll be Zekrom.

You have the ability to get all Event Tickets (Eon, Mystic, Aurora, and the old Sea Map one). There’s a new boot screen for the game. Mega Evolution can be used at any time. Many Pokemon from gens 1 – 6 make an appearance. Also, you can select the protagonist’s gender.

Some of the key features of this hack include:

• A dark and eerie atmosphere to the game
• The creepy and distorted Pokemon designs
• Challenging battles

4. Pokemon Vicious Black

Pokemon Vicious Black is a difficulty hack that is based on the Pokemon Blaze Black hack.

All Trainers and Gym Leaders have Pokemon that are faithful to their movesets based on their levels. This means that you won’t find a level 5 Rattata with aeroblast, sacred fire, EQ, or draco-meteor. Some Pokemon also have had their movesets changed.

The motivation for this hack came from a fan playing through Blaze Black and envisioning the changes they’d like to see made to the game. They didn’t like that certain trainers at higher levels had stage 1 evolution Pokemon still. They wanted to try to improve on the original formula and offer another solid experience for fans of Pokemon Black.

Some features in Pokemon Vicious Black are:

• Every Trainer has at a minimum 2 Pokemon
• Every Trainer has has the ability to use at least 1 restore during battle
• Every Trainer has Champion level AI value of 7
• Every Trainer’s Pokemon has maxed out EV’s
• Gym Leaders have 6 Pokemon, 4 Full Restores, and their Pokemon have held items
• Team Plasma grunts are quite difficult
• Elite four and the Champion have Pokemon with competitive movesets
• N’s final fight and Ghetsis have a unique team

5. Pokemon Volt White and Blaze Black

Pokemon Blaze Black and Volt White are ROM hacks of the original Black and White versions of the game and have all 649 Pokemon included. The Trainers have also been edited in these hacks and give an increased level of difficulty.

These games are essentially the successors of Drayano’s other games, Pokemon Fire Red Omega and Spirit Gold.

These games were actually the first Black and White ROM hacks to be released to the community and still hold up to this day. While they may not be the best Pokemon ROM hacks ever created, these hacks are extremely dedicated to the original games.

The main Pokémon of a Gym Leader or Elite Four member isn’t changed and themes (including type and general appearance) are kept original.

Every Pokémon is generally available to the player as early as possible, although they do appear in appropriate places. Torkoal or Stunfisk do appear a bit later than the rest, but the majority are available before the sixth badge.

Blaze Black and Volt White also offer a ‘clean’ version, which is a relatively blank slate, keeping the 649 hack but eliminating all of the Pokémon changes.

Hack features that make this worth playing:

• All 649 Pokémon make an appearance
• All Trainer Pokemon have been edited
• Pokemon tactics have been edited as well
• Additions to Pokemon movesets
• Pokemon evolutions have been edited too
• Items have been changed and edited
• Every Pokemon has had its levels changed
• All five in-game trades have also been edited
• A small number of attacks have also been changed to make them more useful

Summary

These hacks of Pokemon Black and White let players experience an entirely new way to play the original games. These hacks are created by passionate fans who took the time to craft new experiences that were never previously available. Which from the list will become your new favorite?

Also, be sure to check out our list of te best Pokemon Crystal ROM hacks.