How to emulate the classic Pokemon game on Android phones

Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm, attracting new players and bringing a strong sense of nostalgia to longtime fans. This is due to the small influence from the game with the original creature in Pokémon Red and Blue (released in 1998).

If you’ve missed out on some old Pokémon games, don’t despair. In fact, you can easily play them on your new Android phone or tablet.

List of Pokémon games that can be played on Android

Currently, every game from the original Game Boy to the famous Nintendo DS titles can be emulated on Android, including:

• Game Boy (GB): Red, Blue, Yellow
• Game Boy Color (GBC): Gold, Silver, Crystal
• Game Boy Advance (GBA): Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald; FireRed and LeafGreen
• Nintendo DS (NDS): Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum; HeartGold and SoulSilver; Black and White; Black and White 2.

In addition to these main games, you can still emulate spinofff games like Pokémon Pinball if you like.

As you might think, the newer the console, the harder it is to emulate. Although there are some beta versions available, 3DS emulation is still not possible on Android. That means newer titles like Pokémon X and Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire and Sun and Moon can’t be played on Android yet.

How to play Pokémon game on Android

Once you are sure about the game Pokémon you want to play, you need to prepare:

• An emulator That original gaming system.
• ROM of the game.

An emulator is software that mimics certain game systems. If you want to experience GB, GBA and NDS games, you need a separate emulator for each game because even though the consoles are backwards compatible, that doesn’t mean the emulator does.

Most emulators support custom save state (save state) and forward or fast-forwarding (fast-forwarding). Both are extremely useful for the Pokémon series. Customizable save states allow you to use multiple saved files at the same time, saving games at times that are not normally allowed, for example in the middle of battles.

Fast-forwarding in addition to handling the character that speaks too slowly, also allows you to run quickly without having to hear a message like “this is not a cycling place”.

Basically, a ROM is a file that holds all of the game data. If you want to play Pokémon Red and Pokémon HeartGold, you need a Pokémon Red ROM & Pokémon HeartGold ROM.

Now you are ready to emulate the old Pokemon game. Next, we will learn which emulator to use and how to find ROMs.

Emulator software should be used for Pokémon

The answer depends on the console you want to emulate the game from, so we’ll evaluate each program individually. If you don’t see an emulator in this list, it’s best to avoid it. In fact, the Play Store hides a lot of junk emulators. They’re just duplicates of existing emulators and have ads in every corner of the screen. The options below have all been tested to ensure they work well on Android smartphones.

Game Boy and Game Boy Color

The only candidate who can emulate both Game Boy and Game Boy Color is My OldBoy. It has both free and paid versions. The Free version is for general use only. It allows to save normal game state, double fast forward speed, enter cheat code and customize controls.

An app upgrade for $ 4 allows you to link with other users to swap Pokémon, rewind 2X faster, and save games at any time. If you are going to play some games then spending a little money to upgrade is completely worth it.

Both the free and paid versions have excellent performance as their system is out of date and contains no ads to play with.

Game Boy Advance

Quite similar to GB / GBC, GBA actually has an outstanding game emulator app: My Boy !. Both are by the same developer and are mostly identical to My OldBoy !, except that it is exclusive to GBA games.

Though no longer free, the full, paid version of My Boy! allows you to save games at any time, 16 times faster transition speed, even link exchange or battle with friends.

If you want to play GBA Pokémon for free, try switching to John GBAC.

Nintendo DS

First of all, the free option: nds4droid. This emulator app does not charge you any extra. It is open source and has no advertising. nds4droid offers customizable controls, so feel free to position the button or the D-pad where you want it to be. While performance is not enough to please you, nds4droid runs well enough on most devices. Unfortunately, for several years now, the application has not added any new updates.

Like every emulator, it supports custom save state and cheat code input but no fast forward. However, if you only play games at normal speed, nds4droid is not a bad choice.

On the other hand, if you’re willing to spend a few bucks on your favorite game, you should definitely give DraStic a try. Not only is the performance significantly better, this app supports fast forward as well.

DraStic is still in active development and runs on Android TV platforms, smartphones, and tablets.

How to get old Pokémon game ROMs

The article does not provide information on where to find the game ROMs because they are available on the Internet. However, note that downloading a gaming ROM that is not yours is piracy. Nintendo is particularly against the use of ROMs, so at your own risk.

However, there are some tips for ROM analysis that you can apply:

Make sure to download the correct version for your region. Behind most ROM names always have characters (J), (U), (J), (U)… depending on the game. For example: J stands for Japan – Japan, U stands for United States – America, E stands for Europe – Europe.

An emulator can work in any region, but you will want to choose the best fit for your home because if you do not speak Japanese and download the game in this language, you definitely cannot understand it.

Also, pay attention to the downloaded file. ROMs are in ZIP files that you usually don’t need to unzip, some are in the form of RAR files. If a web site provides an APK or EXE file, delete it. It’s malware waiting to spread to your device.

The ROM file has a small size due to the age of the console. Pokémon Red weighs only 380KB, while Pokémon Black is around 110MB.

Now you know the job play Pokémon games on Android devices how easy it is What are you waiting for without playing the game you missed or “reliving” the unforgettable childhood moments.

Hope the article is useful to you.