If you've been following us for a while, you'll know we're big Pokémon ROM hack fans. The classic games just hit different, and the ROM hack community is growing and growing, so much so that one of the best ROM hacks of the past, known as Pokémon SORS, is getting a sequel, and they just dropped a story trailer that reveals a playable demo.
This demo (which can be downloaded here) gives you a first look at the Fire Red ROM hack, playable for up to 5 hours, allowing you to explore the new storyline and the new features before hitting Fourth Rank, which is where the demo ends.
SORS 2 takes place a few years after the original. "The International Police swiftly intervened in Hupest following the tumultuous events of Pokémon Sors. Siara’s faction was apprehended, leading to the dissolution of their organisation. Even Asher’s circle faced legal scrutiny. Although Asher and Valora escaped charges, Jackson (Asher’s father) and Prof. Ivo were not as fortunate. However, a pact struck between Asher and the IP secured their exoneration in exchange for their expertise on Eclipsing and cooperation in research, along with surrendering Asher’s Eclipsing-related artifacts" states the developer, Vytron.
ROM Hack Features
- A new region to explore, Aclyn!
- The Complete Fire Red Upgrade as the game engine (Items, moves, abilities, Pokémon, PSS split, etc. Updated to Gen 8/PLA standards, proper battle AI)
- Multiple modes to play the game in! (Randomizer, Level Scaling, Hero Mode. These modes can be combined as you please!)
- Toggleable Exp. All
- Regional and National Dex
- DexNav
- Side Quests & Achievements
- PokéNests to conquer
- HMs replaced with Field Moves not requiring HMs
- Eclipsing (Tech doesn't feature this yet)
- Day/Night System and possible D&N events (the emulator needs to support RTC)
You will obviously need a GBA emulator alongside the need to patch a Pokémon Fire Red (Squirrels) ROM file, which makes it the legal way to play this hack. There are plenty of ways to obtain this, though I legally cannot say how; a quick search online will give you answers. It's pretty simple. It seems like it's compatible with mGBA and Afterplay on PC, RetroArch on Android using the mGBA core, alongside PizzaBoy (which is a cumbersome app that we don't recommend), and it also works with RetroArch on iOS. Check it out, it's completely free, and you can follow the developer on Discord here, or support them on KoFi here. Thansk Vytron!
How To Patch Pokémon SORS 2 Story Demo On Window
- Download NUPS on Windows (UPS patcher) or visit
- Get a clean Pokémon FireRed (Squirrels) v1.0 ROM.
- Open NUPS.
- Select the .ups file as the Patch File.
- Select your Pokémon FireRed (.gba) ROM as the Base ROM.
- Rename the output file if you'd like.
- Start the patching process and wait for it to finish.
- If you get a ROM mismatch error:
- Tick "Ignore" and continue.
- If needed, rename your ROM to:
1636 - Pokemon Fire Red (U)(Squirrels).gba
How To Patch Pokémon SORS 2 Story Demo On Android & iOS
- Open https://www.marcrobledo.com/RomPatcher.js in your browser.
- Get a clean Pokémon FireRed (Squirrels) v1.0 ROM.
- In the patcher:
- Select your FireRed ROM (.gba) as the ROM File.
- If needed, rename it to:
1636 - Pokemon Fire Red (U)(Squirrels).gba
- If needed, rename it to:
- Select the game's .ups file as the Patch File.
- Select your FireRed ROM (.gba) as the ROM File.
- If you see "Source ROM checksum mismatch", simply ignore it and click Apply Patch.
- Rename the output file if you'd like, then wait for it to download.
- You're ready to play!
