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Question about playing all the mainline Pokemon games on original hardware. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) by neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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I got my old game boys and have been playing pokemon gold on the gameboy color. I also have red and blue.

But, I want to play through the rest of them on original hardware up until the switch. I plan to use flash carts or some kind of mods to play the games as they are quite expensive.

Please let me know if there are any flaws in my plan.

Gameboy Advance SP (I like this as it’s backlit and will let me play my other gameboy games)

  • Pokemon Emerald

New 3dsxl/2dsxl

  • the rest of the games I’d like to play them all using flash carts or software mods. Since these games are not as old I’ll buy the original if they are under $100

Is it as simple as picking up these two consoles to play all the pre-switch pokemon games? Is there a better non-emulation option?

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[–] kratoz29@lemm.ee 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I just want to say I admire your patience, I do know a lot of folks who would go crazy with the older games without rewind or fast forward functions.

With that said, if I were you I'd use a relatively cheap Chinese emulator that mimics as an older Nintendo handheld (check out Anbernic) and go with a DS and or a 3DS (either hacked or with a flashcart) to enjoy the two screen games properly and then just jump with the current series in the Switch.

I am actually on a similar quest right now, slowly advancing, but advancing nonetheless, this has been my journey so far:

  • Beat Pokémon Yellow in a Miyoo Mini half through and finished it in my RG351V

  • Pokemon Soul Silver was finished with my DS Lite, New Nintendo 3DS XL and finally my DSi XL (all progress kept with my R4 2015)

  • Currently playing Pokémon Omega Ruby in a New Nintendo 3DS (the battery of the XL is kinda busted, and I wanted to give some use of my Black Friday edition for once!)

  • I am gonna skip the 4th gen altogether as I "recently" finished it in my DSs.

  • The fifth gen won't be skipped though, plan to use the same hardware.

You can figure out the rest, a combination of 3DS and Switch, I am honestly not excited about the Switch line though.

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 hours ago

I grew up with these games although I never played gen 4. But I think I played the rest up until the one that takes place in the past and the current gen.

[–] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 4 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Does the “New 3DS” still have backwards compatibility with the DS? It might be safer to go with a 3DS/3DSXL/2DS.

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 hours ago

Looks like it does.

[–] mememuseum@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

The New 3DS is backwards compatible. It's essentially on overclocked 3DS.

[–] capc8m@lemmy.world 7 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

You could play all of them with a modded 3ds. It's fairly easy (imho) to mod a 3ds.

[–] Baaron87@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

This is what I did personally. Definitely the easiest route to go as no additional hardware is needed outside of an SD card.

For me personally I took it a step further for gens 1-3 and installed the Pokemon Legacy rom hacks to get a “definitive” experience. No complaints so far.

[–] the16bitgamer@programming.dev 1 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

Since doing things legit is off the table. All you need is a modded 3DS.

With a GBA injector you can play emerald and leaf green/fire red on your 3DS.

With an R4 you can play the DS games, but the Twilight menu++ you can play the DS games on system, and with cia installers you can get the 3DS games too.

If you want to keep things….. authentic. A DSLite plus 3DS is all you need since Everdrive for gba and R4 for DS works. Plus you can transition early and keep playing the same saves on 3ds.

Only considerate is if you need the IR from Heart Gold or Black 1 or 2. Twilight Menu I think allows you to use non Pokemon games with IR as a substitute… can’t remember what game. But I think it works.

[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Note for the IR, a Flipper Zero works too and the pokemon silver mystery gift files are already in the Flipper-IRDB (here's the data if anyone wants the IR file)

Filetype: IR signals file
Version: 1
#
# Mystery Gift for Pokemon Silver captured from Game Boy Color 
#
name: PkmnSlvrMystGftLink
type: raw
frequency: 38000
duty_cycle: 0.330000
data: 241 551 340

Also you can use it to trade in any pokemon with a separate board using the GPIO with a link cable and app, which can be handy if you don't have two consoles but do have a flipper or friend with one.

There's also a rom that, if you have two GBC and a flash cart, you can use to manipulate mystery gifts and choose what you want, and a way to do it with a rPi. https://projectpokemon.org/home/forums/topic/43930-mystery-gift-reverse-engineering-of-ir-protocol/

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 hours ago

Thanks. I kind of want the option to buy the original carts later and thought the gba would be better since it plays gameboy games.

Then the 3ds should handle all the ds stuff.

I figured this way I could get maximum compatibility and have the option of buying original game carts down the line.

[–] Skkorm@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

Your plan will work great I think.

[–] Guitar@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

If you want to get a little wild and still play on OG hardware, you could play the Gameboy titles on a SNES Super GameBoy or the Gamecube GameBoy Player. I think the Gamecube one is basically a GBA so it would support all the GB titles. But I'm pretty sure the Super GB only supports original GB, not GBC or GBA. Kinda fun to play them on official hardware hooked up to a big screen, although it will probably look not great lol. Otherwise, you really can't do better for GB titles than a GBA sp. As for the DS ones, any 3ds/2ds should work just fine for any of those titles. Although gen 6 and 7 run like shit on an og 3ds/2ds. Not sure about modding or flash carts as I've only used original hardware or occasionally emulation. To answer your question, you can play all of the titles from gen 1-7 between just a GBA and a 3ds. Those are the easiest way to play them on official hardware.

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 hours ago

I actually already have those things, but they are in America and I don’t live there any more. I’ll transport them to where I live at some point, but until then…

[–] LongboardingLad@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Mod a 3DS and you're off to the races. I just went through a spree of buying cartridges from each generation and I kind of regret it. The 3DS will play every game you want and will be cheaper in the long run. No need to buy a flash cart. Not trying to be overly pedantic but flash carts are still emulation, just hardware emulation instead of software.

Good luck on your Pokemon journey! Currently burning through SoulSilver myself

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I like getting the original hardware partly as I may get the original carts down the line, and the console prices are not too bad at the moment.

[–] LongboardingLad@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Absolutely. It's a little hand wavey, but I agree with the sentiment. If you mod the 3DS it's an all in one solution. If you want the cartridges, I would start collecting the DS ones sooner rather than later. Heart Gold/Soul Silver and Platinum specifically. The 3DS games are still quite reasonable

[–] EX1T@literature.cafe 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Get the EZ Flash Parallel for DS, can be used with the 3DS. You can mod a 3DS really easily for the newer titles.

[–] ClipperDefiance@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

The Parallel has a number of issues and generally isn't a cart I can recommend. Here's a guide on what carts are and aren't recommended.

[–] EX1T@literature.cafe 1 points 14 hours ago

Odd, I've had mine for a while now, I use it often and haven't had an issue but I suppose user experience varies.