Pokémon Final Flames Revamped is one of those GBA ROM hacks that actually feels polished—like someone took FireRed and cranked up the heat (literally). You start off with a wild choice of starters, including some you wouldn’t normally see, like Houndour or Bagon. The maps are redesigned, so even if you’ve played Kanto a hundred times, you’ll still get lost in Viridian Forest.

Battles are tougher early on, and trainers actually switch out their Pokémon like they’ve got a brain. Found myself grinding way more than usual, but in a good way—like the game’s not just handing you wins. And yeah, the fire-types get some love here, but it’s not overkill. You’ll still need a balanced team unless you want to get wrecked by the first Surf user you meet.

If you’re tired of vanilla FireRed but don’t want a hack that goes completely off the rails, this one’s a solid pick.