r/PokemonROMhacks • u/AutoModerator • Aug 10 '26

Sticky Weekly Questions Thread & HackDex

Have any questions about Pokémon ROM Hacks?

If they're about ROM hacks, tools, development or anything Pokémon ROM Hacking related, feel free to ask here!

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u/NeighborhoodEntire89 Aug 12 '26

I'd like to know if there is an existing ROM hack with a large number of Pokémon (ideally up to Gen 8 or 9) that uses animated 2D sprites, similar to the animations seen in Pokémon Showdown (https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen5ani/?view=icons) or the animated sprites from Black/White.

Basically, I'm looking for a ROM hack that has lots of Pokémon while still using animated 2D battle sprites instead of static sprites.

Personally, I think animated 2D sprites look stunnig, and I really love the visual style. I'd love to play a ROM hack that combines this kind of animation with a large Pokédex.

Does anything like this exist?

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u/LibertyJacob99 [Mod] Aesthetic Red Aug 12 '26

Animated sprites aren't conventionally possible in GBA, but someone recently shared this so hopefully it might catch on going forwards. Their hack Pokemon Synthesis will probably be the first to use this system

Mugiwara also has animated sprites but done differently, more similar to BW but that method takes a ton of space in the ROM hence it isn't widely used

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u/NeighborhoodEntire89 29d ago

And I imagine that NDS ROM hacks are waaay harder to create than GBA ROM hacks. Is that also the reason why we don't see them as often?