The first generation of Pokémon games are important titles, launching one of the biggest media franchises in the world. But the first go-around is definitely a bit janky and lacks more modern quality of life features. Game Freak themselves have remade these games twice for a reason! Fans have also taken it upon themselves to clean up these classics, though most of the biggest efforts focus on Red/Green/Blue. How about the version that stars the Pokémon mascot?
Enter Yellow Legacy, the latest in TheSmithPlays' series of hacks for classic Pokémon games. You got pretty standard quality of lfe improvements - all 151 Pokémon available, gender selection, running shoes, more inventory space, better access to rare items in end/postgame, that kinda thing. More significant are the efforts to rebalance the game. Certain Pokémon have received stat buffs (such as your Pikachu), moves have been tweaked to buff weaker types, Bug no longer beats Poison, Psychic is now weak to Ghost, learnsets have been updated across the board, and Pokémon availability is adjusted for more diverse team options at earlier points in the game. Battle mechanics are generally the same, in the effort to keep that Generation I feel, but the options made available to the player are improved. Trainers and especially boss fights have been updated to match this increased standard, with better movesets and tougher rosters, but this is not strictly a difficulty hack - just bringing things up to the options you also have at your disposal.
Pokémon Yellow offers a specific Kanto experience with its partner Pikachu mechanics and Pokémon anime inspirations. These aspects are retained in Yellow Legacy, and I think these are the reasons why (or why not) you should play this over other Generation I QoL hacks. While I usually will go for the more traditional Kanto experience, be that in Gen I or Gen III, this is now my preferred Pokémon Yellow experience.
Enter Yellow Legacy, the latest in TheSmithPlays' series of hacks for classic Pokémon games. You got pretty standard quality of lfe improvements - all 151 Pokémon available, gender selection, running shoes, more inventory space, better access to rare items in end/postgame, that kinda thing. More significant are the efforts to rebalance the game. Certain Pokémon have received stat buffs (such as your Pikachu), moves have been tweaked to buff weaker types, Bug no longer beats Poison, Psychic is now weak to Ghost, learnsets have been updated across the board, and Pokémon availability is adjusted for more diverse team options at earlier points in the game. Battle mechanics are generally the same, in the effort to keep that Generation I feel, but the options made available to the player are improved. Trainers and especially boss fights have been updated to match this increased standard, with better movesets and tougher rosters, but this is not strictly a difficulty hack - just bringing things up to the options you also have at your disposal.
Pokémon Yellow offers a specific Kanto experience with its partner Pikachu mechanics and Pokémon anime inspirations. These aspects are retained in Yellow Legacy, and I think these are the reasons why (or why not) you should play this over other Generation I QoL hacks. While I usually will go for the more traditional Kanto experience, be that in Gen I or Gen III, this is now my preferred Pokémon Yellow experience.