Play This Set July 2025 - RetroAchievements/RANews GitHub Wiki

Play This Set is a showcase for our passionate community members to write about the games and achievement sets they love. Our inbox is always open, whether you're an achievement developer looking to promote your work or a player wanting to spread the word about your favorite hidden gem. If interested, submit your write-up as a private message to {% rauserpic RANews %}. Please note that we currently have a large backlog of submissions, so it may take a long time before yours is featured.

Game	Console	Genre
Wacky Races	NES/Famicom	2D Platforming

• Set by: {% rauserpic feifabricio %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic TheCrobatMan %}

Going into playing Wacky Races, I had very little knowledge of the game, only knowing that it was a late stage NES game with a fairly pricey cartridge in the collector's market, but I have to say that it was a very pleasant experience. The game is reasonably forgiving as NES platformers go, allowing you to continue in levels even after running out of lives, and does not overstay its welcome, only lasting a short and fun 10 levels, each with their own boss fight. The boss fights are not overly challenging, though this set's hardest achievements come from beating each one with a full health bar at the end of the fight (a task that can seem daunting for a handful of the fights, though entering the boss fight with proper preparation in the form of an item you bring currently equipped allows you to heal yourself mid-fight). This is a set you can fairy easily run though in a couple hours, walking away having experienced a decently uncommon but also very polished NES game that honestly deserves more name-recognition in the retro-gaming community. Wacky Races won't revolutionize your NES platforming experience, but it will provide a solid few hours of fun, polished platforming with a achievement set difficulty level simple enough for anybody to enjoy to the fullest.

Game	Console	Genre
~Hack~ Holiday Hex	SNES/Super Famicom	Turn-Based RPG

• Set by: {% rauserpic Brandovsky %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Realzameer %}

Holiday Hex is a short (1-2h) Christmas-themed hack of EarthBound. It's very charming as the writing seems to mirror the humour of the original EarthBound, featuring a funny set of villains once the plot unfolds. If someone hasn't played EarthBound before, it may take a few minutes to adjust to some of the game's quirks - using ATMs to withdraw money won from battles, saving through telephones, resting in beds, and checking items/skills for what they do (ex: Healing curing status ailments, Lifeup for health recovery). Overall, it is a cute introduction to how the original series plays.

The achievement set is pretty easy, even Unboxing Day is not too bad if you check each area fully before continuing. In addition to regular progression, it features three conditional encounter challenges with various exploration and completion ones centred around items from the hack. For those having trouble with the missables, there are a few tips on each page and the set's comments. There may be slight grinding involved for the boss encounters, but I believe I was around level 17 or so when I got to Serious Bunny. I beat Hectic Hare at around level 21 with a generous stock of healing items and max gear for both party members.

Game	Console	Genre
Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix	PlayStation 2	Action RPG

• Set by: {% rauserpic FBernkastelKues %}, {% rauserpic Delmaru %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic baradras %}

If there's one game I think people should play, it's Kingdom Hearts. Not just because it's a PS2 classic, but because it offers an experience unlike any other. At first glance, it might seem like a bizarre crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy, but beneath the surface lies an emotional story about friendship, loss, and the eternal struggle between light and darkness. The game's combat system is dynamic and rewarding, the worlds are full of nostalgia and wonder, and the soundtrack — composed by the legendary Yoko Shimomura — is pure magic.

The set of achievements might seem intimidating at first, but it's actually well thought out. It pushes you to make strategic decisions and discover things about the game that you might never have known otherwise. Some challenges will truly test your patience (looking at you, What Doesn't Exist Can't Hurt You) but the satisfaction of finally overcoming them makes it all worth it.

Whether you're here for the story, the gameplay, or simply to get lost in its world, Kingdom Hearts is a journey worth taking. And trust me: once you hear Dearly Beloved, you'll never forget it!

Game	Console	Genre
~Hack~ Legend of Zelda, The: Echoes of the Past	SNES/Super Famicom	Action-Adventure

• Set by: {% rauserpic siouxerskate %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic authorblues %}

Despite what the comments on the game page might have you believe, I'm here to set the record straight: this hack is a beautiful love letter to A Link to the Past. Structured like an elaborate "Master Quest" style hack, Echoes of the Past takes everything familiar about ALTTP and changes it slightly. Dungeon items have been rearranged to challenge what you know about the game. Every dungeon room has been modified in small but creative ways. Puzzles have become more complex, and in many cases bigger, and thankfully never require glitches.

As a former ALTTP speedrunner, I found myself skipping rooms that are typically empty, only to have to go back and search more thoroughly to realize that when they said that every room was modified, they meant it. Sometimes I would solve a puzzle in one room only to realize that I needed to go back and solve it in a totally different way because it was unexpectedly connected to a puzzle in a different room. And if you think that it's only the dungeons that are different here, you'll be surprised to see the ways that they've modified the overworld to make you rethink how you traverse the world. This hack is doing so many interesting things, all without creating an inaccessible level of difficulty like some other well-known ALTTP romhacks (such as Parallel Worlds).

The set contains a variety of challenges, mostly focusing on beating each boss damageless. Many of the boss rooms have been modified to add additional challenges, so players might find that aspect a bit frustrating, but overall, the set offers you light guardrails to give you a guided tour of this awesome romhack. If you're looking for a familiar game with a twist, take a look at this set. The puzzle aficionados among you will be eating good!

Game	Console	Genre
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past [Subset - Glitch Showcase]	SNES/Super Famicom	Action-Adventure

• Set by: {% rauserpic Delmaru %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic kalonZombie %}

I am not a speedrunner. I am not a glitch hunter. In the last ten years before playing this set, my personal experience with this game has been two randomizers, both played extremely vanilla, one of which I quit in a rage when I realized I was missing a key from the basement in Ganon's Tower. This isn't even my favorite 2D Zelda (though before you form the mob, it's up there).

All this to say that when I started playing this set, I had no intention to master it. Maybe do a few of the easy ones for a couple thousand easy RetroPoints and call it a day. However, even that wouldn't have been possible without the EXCELLENT guide by our own {% rauserpic DududeDude %}. The more I followed the guide, the more I was loving this subset. It was around the time I learned how to spawn only 2 of the 4 Stalfos in Eastern Palace in that one room where I realized something. This guide was so good, that I wasn't just going to stop at a few achivements. I was going to aim to master the set.

If you are a Link to the Past expert, and you know all the glitches already, you'll love this set. If you play it every couple of years and know a few tricks, you'll love this set. If you are like me, a total newcomer to the game or you've barely touched it in a decade, you'll love this set. For anything you don't know how to do, just let {% rauserpic DududeDude %}'s guide lead the way, and you'll do just fine.

...Maybe play the vanilla experience first though.

Game	Console	Genre
Faxanadu	NES/Famicom	Action RPG

• Set by: {% rauserpic Thundard %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic WanderingNewbie %}

Faxanadu is a really cool and captial J JANKY game. I went in with no idea what this game was minus the knowledge that it was a Famicom port of Xanadu, hence the name. Playing it during a stream I learned it's exactly the kind of game that I adore - weird hints from villagers, running around the areas trying to piece things together, and getting hit by the every now and then rude NES "was the style at the time" difficulty. This all said, I think it is definitely the kind of game more people need to experience. I recommend going in with nothing to reference outside of the manual for a real fun one session playthrough. The game only takes about 7 hours to beat, completing the whole set. The set does ask you to do everything in the game, which will get you a good experience of the whole thing. Nothing in the set is "hard" per se, but it will require some more exploration and walking off the beaten path. Just remember, "Don't have negative thoughts, remember your mantra".

Game	Console	Genre
Lucky Luke	Game Boy Color	2D Platforming

• Set by: {% rauserpic MMTDjidane %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Kingsombra %}

In the wide prairie of the Old West, where law and order has not spread yet, there is a courageous cowboy that rides on his trusty horse, who will bring these criminals to justice. Lucky Luke, the man who shoots faster then his own shadow.

Lucky Luke started life in 1946 as a series of Belgian comics that are still published all around the world, and are especially popular in the European countries. In the comics, Lucky Luke rides through the West in search for people who need his help. He faces off against famous western bad guys like Jesse James and Billy the Kid, but it's mostly the Dalton Brothers that cause him the most trouble.

This game is a colorized version of the original Game Boy version that came out 3 years before. It's a 2D platformer with run and gun elements. You go through 12 levels with locations based on the comics or general western media, while you hunt down the biggest bad guys in the West. The soundtrack of this game is a very underrated gem, and I still hum it in certain moments to this day.

Once you beat and master this game, you'll feel like riding into the sunset on your trusty horse.

Game	Console	Genre
~Hack~ Pokemon Emerald Seaglass	Game Boy Advance	Turn-Based RPG

• Set by: {% rauserpic Schengo %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic jhonen124 %}

Pokemon Emerald was a game released back in 2005. It introduced the Battle Frontier, included an expansive story that combined elements of both Ruby and Sapphire, and followed Crystal's footsteps by adding animations and made a Trio Mon important to a narrative in the story. But what if Emerald was like its GBC predecessor? That's what the romhack Pokemon Emerald Seaglass aims to do.

It changes the sprites to match that of the Gen 2 style and gives it a fresh coat of paint. It also adds in many QOL improvements gained from later entries. Take for example the EXP Candies from Sword and Shield, the DexNav and Wonder Trade (as a Well in Rustboro) from ORAS, the Z-Moves from Sun and Moon, and many more. It also adds Pokemon from up to Gen 9 that have evolutions rooted in Pokemon that didn't have any in Gen 3 along with a few new Pokemon from the more recent gens. It has a level cap system and Hard Mode designed to keep players on their feet like most romhacks but also has plenty of goodies and options that make it beginner-friendly. The set by {% rauserpic Schengo %} is very well thought out and seeks to offer a fresh experience for those who are new to romhacks, while also having the difficulty of most romhacks. I very much enjoyed exploring the Hoenn region as much as I did exploring the Johto and Kanto regions in the Gen 2 games. As for the gym leaders, Tate and Liza in particular gave my team a very hard time.

I would say that overall, if you want an entry point into romhacks, then this set is for you. If you want to enjoy a GBC-style take on a timeless classic, then this set is also for you.

Game	Console	Genre
Dragon Egg!	PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16	2D Platforming

• Set by: {% rauserpic ThatAmericanSlacker %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic ElMullet %}

The TurboGrafx-16, or PC Engine, contains a an entire treasure trove of hidden gems most have overlooked, even moreso if the game never left Japan. Such is the case with Dragon Egg!, a breezy little platform game where you're a young girl bringing (what else) a dragon egg along with her in order to save her land. Along the way she can collect power-ups that will not only hatch the dragon, but allow it to grow and increase its attack. Eventually it will become large enough to ride on, and be able to nuke pretty much everything and anything on the screen. The game is a joy to go through and a solid hour or so of gaming...

...At least when you're playing on Normal mode. To master this game, you'll have to complete a run on Hard. And this is where the game removes its kid gloves and stops pulling its punches. When on Hard mode, every time you get hit, you lose power you've accumulated. This includes having the dragon turning you back into an egg with enough hits, leaving you pretty much in this state for most of the game. Everything becomes super hard without the might of a dragon backing you up, and bosses suddenly become killing machines that you'll be stuck on for hours. Only a select few have managed to master this game as of this writing, and we need more names for the list. Are you up to the challenge?

Game	Console	Genre
~Hack~ SM64: Decades Later	Nintendo 64	3D Platforming, Collect-a-thon

• Set by: {% rauserpic Dimedime %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Blushfulcorn %}

The magnum opus of Mario 64 hacks. Need I say more? Actually... yes. Thanks to the work of BroDute (known for his like 30 Star Revenge hacks I guess) and many others, they managed to make a hack that's so good that it makes the original look bland! Every single level is remade from the ground up and reworked completely, heck, sometimes even changed completely. Let's just say haters of Rainbow Ride will be happy. And unlike Mario 64, every star has substance! You might be aware of Mario Galaxy 2's Green Stars; if you liked them, you'll find them here too! You'll have a proximity radar, don't worry.

As for the set itself, be prepared for some of the hardest (but honestly fair) challenges you'll see in a Vanilla Normal 3D Mario hack. You'll have to do 3 firsties in a row, do wacky jumps, and collect nearly every single coin in a few levels. If you played the hack before you'd remember seeing Mr. Dute himself in the slide levels, flexing his PB. You're probably thinking, "there's no way I have to beat those times, right?". Haha yes you do. And I get that's not everyone's cup of tea, but I had a blast figuring out the time saves like C-Up sliding.

TL;DR: Amazing hack that everyone has to play until the silver dot. The mastery is not for the faint of heart, but if you can manage, you'll have tons of fun. Farewell. ;)