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?

  • the16bitgamerEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    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.comEnglish
      2·
      2 days 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.comOPEnglish
      2·
      2 days 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.

      • the16bitgamerEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Then you’ll definitely want an DS or DS Lite and the R4 since you can backup your cart and make your own ROM with it.

        The GBxCart is also another good value backup tool.

        3DS and DS games are best backed up on a modded 3DS

        • neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
          2·
          1 day ago

          I’m not sure if you will know the answer to this, but in my region 2ds, 3ds xl are at least $200 but the original 3ds is just like $90.

          Is there something about the original that makes it so much cheaper? I only plan to use it for pokemon. I have a steamdeck for everything else. It’s just the dual screens are kind of important for those titles.

          • the16bitgamerEnglish
            2·
            1 day ago

            I made a video a while ago going over the DS line if you want to watch my opinion: https://youtu.be/LAzUY1L0yOE

            If you want to go into the nitty gritty 3DBrew has a wiki for it: https://3dbrew.org/wiki/Hardware

            However to directly answer your question. 3DS, 2DS and 3DS XL do have minor differences between the versions, at their core are the same machines with an ARM 9 Processor.

            3DS was the original release, and while it’s hardware hasn’t aged well. The system sold well enough.

            2DS was a budget friendly option, going as low as $99 USD with game bundles. The system only had a single display pretending to be a dual screen.

            3DS XL was for those who wanted a bigger screen. Bigger didn’t mean more pixels. Just physically larger.

            The New Nintendo 3DS line N3DS, N3DSXL, and N2DSXL were the ones with hardware upgrades and are worth a pretty penny. If you were looking to emulate more than what Nintendo offered this is the one to get.

            However if you want more details I’d watch some videos going over them. It’s hard to understand their differences without seeing it.

            • neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
              2·
              23 hours ago

              Thanks! The video was great. Since I don’t plan to upgrade until I finish Pokemon gold, I’m going to keep an eye out for a 3dsxl. The “new” ones where I live are so expensive. You can get a switch for less 😂

              But I guess what I really learned is that I’d be happy with any of the 3ds versions.