Pokemon Yellow Legacy

Download Pre-Patched Pokemon Yellow Legacy GBC ROM Hack

• Creator: TheSmithPlays
• Version: 1.0.9
• Hack of: Yellow
• Updated: May 14, 2024

Pokemon Yellow Legacy is a GBC Rom Hack by TheSmithPlays based on Pokemon Yellow in English. And it is now available to download. It was updated on May 14, 2024.

Description

The Yellow Legacy project is a prequel to Crystal Legacy by content creator Patrick Smith (TheSmithPlays) and the second installment in his planned Legacy series. It’s based on the Pokémon Yellow disassembly. The Legacy project is focused on changing the base game in a way that improves quality of life and balances it with the benefit of twenty years of experience. The primary goal of each mod is to maintain the game’s original feel while also making meaningful improvements for the player. This means that some of the quirks of the first generation of Pokémon games will remain, as they are regarded as essential to the overall experience.

Pokémon Yellow holds a unique position in the franchise, being the first major overhaul influenced by the anime. It introduced color, tougher battles, access to all three starters, and Pikachu as a companion. Yellow Legacy aims to enhance the game while preserving its original charm, ensuring each Pokémon has a unique role. It maintains the essence of the original Generation 1 games, with balance changes designed to keep gameplay faithful while not altering core mechanics like sleep status or critical hit chance.

While not a “Kaizo” project, Yellow Legacy increases the difficulty of Pokémon trainer battles, particularly bosses, to enhance engagement without simply being hard for the sake of it. The goal is to provide a challenging yet rewarding experience, with major trainers having Pokémon and movesets tailored to counter players relying on single super-effective Pokémon. Players are encouraged to build diverse teams for these challenges. Pokémon availability adjusts as players progress, ensuring appropriately powerful encounters. Additionally, all 151 Pokémon can be obtained in one playthrough, and some post-game content is included.

General Changes

Quality of life changes are abundant in Yellow Legacy. Here is a list of changes that we have implemented to make the game more enjoyable to play through.

Menus

• Ask to reuse Repels
• HMs can be used from the overworld
• HMs can be forgotten
  • To avoid softlocks, HMs cannot be stored in the PC
• Extended bag with more slots
  • Items can be sorted with Start
  • Items now have descriptions
• Party menu now shows StatEXP and DVs
  • Press Select/Start respectively when selecting STATS
• TM names are shown in menus
• Updated Pokedex functionality (See Encounters & Learnsets for more details)
  • Level-up and TM learnsets now displayed
  • Location menu now includes gifts and fishing

World & NPCs

• Running Shoes added
• Faster Nurse Joy
• Faster Saves
• Updated Marts to include TMs and other rare items
  • All TMs can now be repurchased
  • Use Left/Right to change items by 10 when buying or selling
• You can now obtain the Old Rod from an NPC in Viridian City Mart
  • The Old Rod’s original location has been replaced with the Good Rod
  • All rods now have improved encounter tables
• Game Corner Pokémon & TMs prices lowered
  • Coins can also be bought in bulk
• Enabled easier access to Fuchsia Pokécenter
• Surge’s Trash Puzzle no longer resets after every check
• Faster spinning tiles 
• A Move Reminder and Move Deleter have been added to Cinnabar Lab
• The Cerulean City Jynx trade has been re-added in Saffron City
• Miscellaneous dialogue changes have been made
  • Some story and character moments have been updated
  • Several NPCs now hint at gameplay changes

Visuals & Music

• Female character option for Green
• Pokémon Palette changes
• Various backsprite updates
• Unique Party Icons
• Overworld sprites for Pokémon and Gym Leaders
• Improved Battle UI
  • EXP bar
  • Already Caught icon
  • Full Box reminder Text after catch
  • EXP. All text shortens non-participants to “Party gained…”
• Seafoam Islands now uses a blue pallet
• Elite Four battles now use more fitting battle music
• A previously unused song in the game has been added to Viridian Gym
• The buttons in Victory Road now make a sound when pressed

Battle Changes

Here is a list of changes to the battle system, evolutions, and trainers. In addition there are links to various documents listed below for more details.

Battles & Difficulty

• Improved AI
• Dynamic scaling level teams for gyms 4-6 (Similar to Crystal Legacy gyms 5-7)
• Removed items from gym leaders and Elite 4
  • The only trainers who can still use items are Cooltrainers
• Hard mode: Forced Set mode, Items disabled in battle, Level caps by gym.
• Damage Over Time effects increased to 1/8 of max HP
• Most status moves are now neutral against all types (for AI)
• Removed boosted enemy chance to miss status moves
• Removed 1/256 chance to miss from normal mode
  • The chance is still present in Hard mode
• Removed catch requirement to acquire EXP. All
• Buffed efficacy of Rocks/Bait in the Safari Game
• Buffed efficacy of Safari and Ultra Balls

Pokémon, Types, & Moves

• TM04 Whirlwind has been changed to Flamethrower
  • TM04 Flamethrower replaces TM02 in the Rocket Hideout
  • TM02 Razor Wind has moved to Whirlwind’s old location on Route 4
• Alakazam and Gengar evolve at 42, and not by trade
• Golem and Machamp evolve at 38, and not by trade
• Poliwhirl evolves at 18
• Pikachu has been given extra boosts to extend its viability into late-game
  • Now receives 25% stat bonus from badge boosts (instead of the normal 12.5%)
  • Can now learn all 5 HMs (yes, this enables the Surf minigame)
• Ghost is now Special, and is super effective against Psychic.
• Bug is no longer super effective against Poison.
• Psywave now works the same for AI as it does for the player (Deals 75%-150% of level)

Battle System Bug Fixes

• Pokémon can skip learning moves when gaining multiple level ups at once
• Focus Energy quarters the critical hit chance instead of quadrupling it when used
• Substitute may leave the user with 0 HP after it’s used
• Dual-type move effectiveness may be misreported
• Fly and Dig do not remove the invulnerable status when prevented from reaching their second stage by Paralysis or Confusion triggering
• Healing moves will fail if max HP is 255 or 511 points higher than current HP
• Haze can prevent a Pokémon from attacking after curing freeze

Note: There might be slight differences between these and actual gameplay, depending on when they were last updated. These are the most detailed Docs on each subject though and are updated quite frequently.

Useful Stuff

Downloads

Previous Versions

Credits

Special thanks to those who have contributed to the project:

• Patrick Smith (TheSmithPlays) for his vision and leadership of the project.
• Craig for his technical skills and willingness to wade through the cosmic horrors of Generation 1 assembly
• Weebra for her editing of all Legacy YouTube videos which help detail the project and promote the hack.
• The Discord admin team: Aero, Karlos, Regi, and ZuperZach who help lead the Discord.
• The playtesting team: JanitorOPplznerf, Disq, Isona, Obelisk, Reader Dragon, Rwne, Sable, Talos, Tiberius, and Alakadoof.
• The various other members of the Romhacking community that assisted with this romhack. Please click on Credits from the doc outline to see the full list, their tutorials, and links to their various rom hacks as well. We would also like to thank the PRET Discord community.