J stands for Japan, U stands for United States, and E stands for Europe.Īny region should work with an emulator, but you'll of course want to get one that matches where you live. After most ROM names, there will be a (J), (U), (E), or some other letter depending on the game. Make sure that you get the appropriate version for your region. We can, however, give you a few tips for parsing through ROMs. Nintendo has a strong stance against the use of ROMs, so you do so at your own risk. While they're readily available across the internet, know that downloading ROMs for games that you do not own is piracy. We can't provide information on where to find game ROMS.
Next, we'll look at what emulators to use and how to find ROMs. If you want to play Pokémon Red and Pokémon HeartGold, you'll need a Pokémon Red ROM and a Pokémon HeartGold ROM. Custom save states let you use multiple save files at once, and you can save at times the game doesn't normally let you, like in the middle of a battle.įast-forwarding solves the issue of characters talking too slowly, and also allows you to run around quickly without being told "this is not the place to ride your bicycle."Ī ROM is essentially a file containing all of the game's data.
Most emulators support custom save states and fast-forwarding, both of which are extremely useful for Pokémon games. Just because the consoles were backward-compatible doesn't mean the emulators necessarily are. If you want to play GB, GBA, and NDS games, you'll need an emulator for each.
While you could emulate newer games like Pokémon X and Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and Sun and Moon on Android, this article focuses on the classics.īy the way, we've looked at how to play Pokémon games on iPhone and iPad if you have those devices as well. You can emulate the 3DS on Android, but it's currently unstable. These are the main series games, though you can also emulate spinoff titles like Pokémon Pinball if you like.Īs you'd expect, the newer a console, the more difficult it is to emulate. You'll need a separate emulator for each system.
Game Boy Color (GBC): Gold, Silver, and Crystal.There's no one-size-fits-all Pokémon emulator, but everything from the original Game Boy games to the Nintendo DS titles are available to emulate on Android. Which Pokémon Games Are Playable on Android?
It's actually quite easy to play them on your Android phone or tablet today. If you're missing some of the old Pokémon games, don't despair. While there are Pokémon games for Android, many of the mobile games don't have the same feel as the originals. This is in no small part thanks to the title featuring the original set of creatures from Pokémon Red and Blue that debuted way back in 1998. Pokémon Go took the world by storm, attracting new players and instilling a powerful feeling of nostalgia in others.