More often than not, we have seen fan-made games pop off and prove the notion that major industry studio-made titles aren’t the only ones capable of reaching amazing heights. Unfortunately, not many of them see the light of day, and some may get shut down.
So we undertook the job to create a list that would be all about discussing and recommending to you some of the best fan games over the course of history.
Best Fan-Made Games Ever
Nightmare Kart
Even though most will recognize what franchise this fangame is derived from, for legal reasons, neither the developer nor the creator can use the original title. Yes, of course, we are talking about Bloodborne Kartracer.
This was a running meme in the community for the longest time when people tried guessing the kind of fangames that could spawn out of the IP. A solo indie developer went ahead and just did that as a fun project.
Nightmare Kart takes from the iconic Bloodborne aesthetics and characters, rendering them in PlayStation 1 style, with the goofiness of popular kart racers.
The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds
In the day and age of emulation, it’s no surprise that non-PC games can also get modded. No matter the age, there are dedicated fanbases out there who will spend precious time modifying existing game ROMs with new content essential turning them into original fan games.
These are called ROM-hacks, and an example of one such popular ROM-hack would be The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds. Based on the original SNES game, Link to the Past, which is a fanfavorite.
The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds is one of the oldest fan games based on the IP and a lot of people love it.
Undertale Yellow
Sometimes, fan games are created because the community loves the lore and characters of a particular game and wishes they were expanded. So much like writing fanfics, some indie developers created a prequel spinoff to the hit indie RPG Undertale.
Much like the original game, Undertale Yellow has you, the player, go out on a mission connecting with other characters instead of trying to throw hands. You slip into the shoes of Clover and travel deep underground, where the monsters reside.
A2MR
Nintendo games have a lot of fans who are constantly working on remakes, but it’s a shame that most of them keep getting shot down by the company. One of the most important of these surviving fan games comes from the iconic Metroid franchise.
A game series that was responsible for revolutionizing the side scrolling search action genre. In 2016, a solo Argentine programmer, Milton Guasti, took it upon himself to make a fan remake of the original Metroid 2, released for Game Boy in 1991.
What fans eventually got was one of the best Metroid remakes ever created. A2MR went on to be nominated for the Game Awards 2016.
Black Mesa
Not everyone is Nintendo, and that’s a great thing for fans because sometimes there are fan remakes of video games that are so well-made that they become deserving of being held up on a pedestal.
Black Mesa is an example of that which sought to remake the original Half-Life, which revolutionized single-player first-person shooters. Developed by a Half-Life super fan group named Crowbar Collective.
It turned out to be one of the best FPS remakes, which was approved and supported by Valve themselves.
Pokemon Unbound
You probably have already assumed that a game like Pokémon is bound to have way too many fan games, which is very true. It is one of the prime franchises in the creature-collecting genre, which has inspired way too many indie games.
But unfortunately, not all of them see the light of day, because they keep getting shut down by Nintendo. Thankfully, the one we are talking about, which is Pokémon Unbound, is still supported by its community and is one of the best fangames ever.
In a sea of modern 3D Pokémon titles, Unbound takes the approach of dialing things back to the GBA days with charming pixel art and unprecedented possibilities in monster collecting.
Brutal Doom
Sometimes, the best fan games are always the ones that are built on top of the original games. In the case of Doom, id Software blessed fans with the source code, allowing for full mod capabilities, as well as creations of new games using the engine.
Brutal Doom was the result of that which takes the base game and turns it into a hack-and-slash bloodbath. The Doom guy can punch and kick demons and mow through swarms of demonic enemies at a speed that spikes adrenaline.
If you ever get to check out this insane fan game version of the classic FPS, then you will instantly notice how much modern Doom under Bethesda was inspired by it.
