Secret of Evermore was originally released on October 1, 1995. 25 years have passed since, during which time people have called it on its share of issues, one of which is broken balancing. Focus on its problems, however, while they are significant, is ultimately a gesture of people being glass half-empty, something you just know is the case when I’m pointing out as much, and it shows when Secret of Evermore still has its share of inspirational gameplay.

The 25th Anniversary Balance Patch is designed to highlight this very same inspirational gameplay to the best of its ability while curbing the game’s biggest balance issues with the design philosophies in mind. There’s even some core changes involved; try out the Axes, for example, because their damage output against defensive brick enemies might just surprise you.

This is only for the non-headered US version (as the ROM Information below would indicate), and compatibility, effective or otherwise, with other patches such as the 2 Player Edition Patch has not been tested. (It’s likely the 2 Player Edition works simultaneously without issue, but better safe than sorry.)

• Database match: Secret of Evermore (USA)
• Database: No-Intro: Super Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20180813-062835)
• File/ROM SHA-1: 79E7738630FFF5699217EF58ECC421BC8FCBCD89
• File/ROM CRC32: A5C0045E