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?
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.
Does the “New 3DS” still have backwards compatibility with the DS? It might be safer to go with a 3DS/3DSXL/2DS.
The New 3DS is backwards compatible. It’s essentially on overclocked 3DS.
Your plan will work great I think.
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.
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
Get the EZ Flash Parallel for DS, can be used with the 3DS. You can mod a 3DS really easily for the newer titles.
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.
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.
You could play all of them with a modded 3ds. It’s fairly easy (imho) to mod a 3ds.
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.
