ROM Hacking Competitions

SM64 ROM hacking competitions involve having participants create a new hack usually based around a theme. A common rule is that it must be a new creation, and not one that was already being worked on prior to the competition taking place. This is to keep it fair between participants.

Some competitions award cash prizes to winners, though many don't. In recent times, these competitions are usually hosted on romhacking.com, however, competitions have also been hosted on Discord servers including the SM64Romhacks Discord server. romhacking.com now has a separate set of pages deidicated to ongoing and concluded competitions which can be viewed here.

As of March 2024, there has been (at least) 30 competitions hosted since 2018, although this list may not be complete. To date, the most well-attended SM64 ROM hacking competition was SimpleFlips' Slide Hack Competition (2024) ft. PirateSoftware, which has received 95 submissions.

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Year	Run Time	Title	Host	Theme	No. of Entries
2024	28th Feb - 15th Apr	SimpleFlips' Slide Hack Competition (2024) ft. PirateSoftware	SimpleFlips	Slide	95
2023	6th July - 12th Aug	SimpleFlips' Troll Hack Competition (2023)	SimpleFlips	Trolls	82
2023	17th Mar - 26th Mar	Mario Jams Façade Competition	Mario Jams	Façade	16
2022	11th Nov - 20th Nov	Mario Jams One Competition	Mario Jams	One	15
2022	10th Aug - 11th Sep	Dream Themed Level Competition	SimpleFlips	Dream	44
2022	12th May - 22nd May	Mario Jams Shell Shreddin' Competition	Mario Jams	Other (see article)	10
2022	7th Jan - 8th Feb	Crossover Themed Level Competition	SimpleFlips	Media crossovers	40
2022	TBA	scuttlebug_raiser's 3rd Hacking Competition	scuttlebug_raiser	TBA	TBA
2021	5th Nov - 14th Nov	Mario Jams Disaster Competition	Mario Jams	Disaster	19
2021	TBA	scuttlebug_raiser's 2nd Hacking Competition	scuttlebug_raiser	TBA	TBA
2021	6th June - 27th June	Music Themed Level Competition	SimpleFlips	Music	45
2021	7th May - 16th May	Mario Jams Evolution Competition	Mario Jams	Evolution	10
2021	TBA	S NDBB Media Competition	Nathaniel Bandy	Media	TBA
2021	TBA	scuttlebug_raiser's 1st Hacking Competition	scuttlebug_raiser	TBA	TBA
2021	6th Mar - 13th Mar	Mario Jams Duality Competition	Mario Jams	Duality	11
2020	September-ish?	S_NDBB Atmosphere Competition	Nathaniel Bandy	Atmosphere	TBA
2020	August-ish?	S_NDBB Competition Competition	Nathaniel Bandy	Competition	TBA
2020	15th Apr - 1st Nov	Zelda Hack Competition	SimpleFlips	The Legend of Zelda (franchise)	21
2020	March-ish?	S_NDBB Thwomp Competition	Nathaniel Bandy	Thwomps	TBA
2019 - 2020	29th Nov - 19th Feb	Mystery Hack Competition	SimpleFlips	Mystery	19
2019	18th Sep - 3rd Nov	Halloween Competition TWO	SimpleFlips	Halloween (Holiday-themed)	19
2019	9th July - 9th Sep	Linear Hack Competition	SimpleFlips	Linear levels	26
2019	20th May - 26th June	Creepypasta Competition	SimpleFlips	Creepypastas	14
2019	14th Mar - 23rd Apr	Retro Hack Competition	SimpleFlips	Retro gaming	22
2019	14th Jan - 19th Feb	Troll Hack Competition	SimpleFlips	Trolls	8
2018	8th Dec - 31st Dec	Christmas Competition	SimpleFlips	Christmas (Holiday-themed)	18
2018	2nd Nov - 2nd Dec	Reimagined Level Competition	SimpleFlips	Reimagining an SM64 level	27
2018	4th Oct - 31st Oct	Halloween Competition	SimpleFlips	Halloween (Holiday-themed)	13
2018	25th June - 30th Aug	Slide Level Competition	SimpleFlips	Slide	26
2018	22nd Apr - 23rd May	Nathaniel Bandy Competition	Nathaniel Bandy	Nathaniel Bandy	21
2018	TBA	Arthurtilly's 1st Hacking Competition	Arthurtilly	TBA	TBA
2018	TBA	Arthurtilly's 2nd Hacking Competition	Arthurtilly	TBA	TBA
2023	October-ish	BeverlyBean's Verticality Competition	BeverlyBean	TBA	TBA

Previous Competition Winners

The individuals who have achieved the highest in ROM hacking competitions include the following (listed alphabetically):

• anonymous_moose, with three wins.
• ArcticJaguar725, with three wins while collaborating in teams.
• falcobuster, with three wins.
• Felegg, with two consecutive wins, and another win shortly after.

Other creators who have won on multiple occasions include (listed alphabetically):

• furyiousfight, with one win, and another win while collaborating in a team.
• Mel, with two wins while collaborating in teams.
• PablosCorner, with two wins while collaborating in teams.
• spk, with two wins.

Despite the number of seasoned creators and multiple-competition winners in the SM64 ROM hacking community, it bears emphasising that reputation and prior experience are not factors considered in the choosing of each competition's winners. The winner of the most well-attended hacking competition to date was someone (YamakoEra) new to the SM64 ROM hacking scene, and their first ever hack managed to beat out 93 other competitors. On the other hand, teams tend to score higher overall compared to solo creators.

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2018

• Nathaniel Bandy Competition
• Slide Level Competition
• Halloween Competition
• Reimagined Level Competition
• Christmas Competition

2019

• Troll Hack Competition
• Retro Hack Competition
• Creepypasta Competition
• Linear Hack Competition
• Halloween Competition TWO
• Mystery Hack Competition

2020

• Zelda Hack Competition

2021

• Mario Jams Duality Competition
• scuttlebug_raiser's 1st Hacking Competition
• S_NDBB Media Competition
• Mario Jams Evolution Competition
• Music Themed Level Competition
• scuttlebug_raiser's 2nd Hacking Competition
• Mario Jams Disaster Competition

2022

• scuttlebug_raiser's 3rd Hacking Competition
• Crossover Themed Level Competition
• Mario Jams Shell Shreddin' Competition
• Dream Themed Level Competition
• Mario Jams One Competition

2023

• Mario Jams Façade Competition
• SimpleFlips' Troll Hack Competition (2023)

2024

• SimpleFlips' Slide Hack Competition (2024) ft. PirateSoftware

Unknown Date

• Arthurtilly's 1st Hacking Competition
• Arthurtilly's 2nd Hacking Competition
• BeverlyBean's Verticality Competition