Pokémon fans can finally transfer their critters from Game Boy cartridges to modern systems, thanks to some clever homebrew. Of course, this is assuming your old cartridges are still in a playable state, allowing you to bring them forward into new titles.
Revealed in a Reddit post, this new homebrew software can be used to transfer Pokémon from Game Boy or Game Boy Color to the Game Boy Advance. Players will need a hacked Game Boy Advance to do so, but that shouldn't be too hard for retro gamers.
Believe it or not, Game Freak didn’t make this feature available when they released Ruby and Sapphire on GBA. This led to the release of FireRed and LeafGreen, allowing fans to re-catch old Pokémon in the Kanto remakes.
Granted, the chances of fans having their old Game Boy catrirdges and multiple Game Boy or Game Boy Advance systems are slim. Even then, you would need a DS or DS lite with Poké Transport, a 3DS with Pokémon Bank and a Switch with Pokémon Home to bring your Kanto creatures into modern games.
We realize that a lot of old-school game collectors probably have some or all of them in pristine condition, so they should be happy with this. It’s another option to bring your critters to modern systems, especially with Nintendo closing the 3DS eShop next week. Still, we don’t expect too many gamers to use this method, given the amount of old technology and systems needed.
Fans are hoping that Nintendo and Game Freak start porting the older Pokémon games to the Switch soon. Many were hoping that the most recent Pokémon Direct would do that but all of our hopes and dreams got dashed. Sure, they could always do that after the 3DS eShop closes but that just feels mean.
Overall, it’s always good to have more ways to preserve classic gaming content. It can be argued that this is just bits and pieces of older gaming hardware but that doesn’t make it any less interesting.
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Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are now available on the Nintendo Switch. DLC will be coming soon, along with Pokémon Home support, which should allow for more classic critters on modern games.