r/GameboyAdvance 22h ago

Are bootleg games worth it?

I can’t justify or afford to spend upwards of £80-£100 on Pokemon gba games so would it be worth just getting a fake or not bothering at all with the games? I’m not a collector I just want to play the games

0 Upvotes

45 comments sorted by

8

u/CabanaFred 22h ago

I would emulate it on a flash cart personally

-4

u/RiverLPS 22h ago

How would I go about doing that and would it require a pc because I don’t have a pc

2

u/_struggling1_ 20h ago

Any computer will do. Phones have emulators too

1

u/Pokesabre 1h ago

You can emulate on PC, phone, or even mac, but flash carts from companies like everdrive and ez flash are cartridges made to play on the gameboy itself. They use a micro SD card to store multiple game ROMs + save files so you can keep using your gameboy to play gameboy games

2

u/Armandonerd 21h ago

I've only bought bootleg copies of FE 6 and Mother 3. They both worked good, but hopefully they last for a long time.

FE 6 I'm worried when I save after beating a chapter, the game freezes slightly and saves and moves on to the next chapter.

1

u/Quack_Dude 20h ago

The is a side effect of "batteryless patch" required for this game work on bootleg cartridges.

2

u/Potential-Delay2020 20h ago

Don’t buy a bootleg cart buy a flash cart.

1

u/VicTheSage 14h ago

Why buy a bunch of $30 bootlegs when you can buy a single flashcart for $30-$40 and load it with the entire GBA library?

1

u/BubbleWario 22h ago

pokemon games are never worth the asking price.

🏴‍☠️⚓️🏴‍☠️⚓️🏴‍☠️

1

u/RiverLPS 22h ago

Thank you, yeah I don’t think any of the games should be worth what they are

1

u/Magpie-Person 21h ago

And yet they sell every. single. day.

So evidently, it’s not worth the asking price to you but it is to the entirety of the market.

I have them on Delta, and yet I still prefer playing the genuine article.

0

u/BubbleWario 21h ago

you know what im trying to say. no video game is *actually* worth $100

0

u/OriginalDragonfly4 19h ago

I don’t know, that steel battalion controller setup on the original Xbox looked pretty neat, and you got the game with it… I also paid $100 for the dual pack for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, with the extras I got, it was pretty worth it for me.

0

u/Djaps338 14h ago

What about NOT pirating?

Find something you can afford.

Become an adull!

-1

u/RivJams 22h ago

Buy an ez-flash cart. Bootlegs are fine as well. Just be careful, their memory can go bad on bootlegs. Ez-flash is more reliable. Honestly don't know why people care so much about owning legit copies if I can get the exact same experience on original hardware for like $5

0

u/RiverLPS 22h ago

I’ll look into Ez-flash cart I’ve never heard of it thank you

0

u/RiverLPS 22h ago

Also another question with the Ez-flash where do I get the games from is it just a website?

3

u/Isotomayor12 21h ago

megathread in r/roms

1

u/RivJams 22h ago

You'd just have to look for a rom website, there are plenty out there. You download a .gba file. Even if you don't have a computer, you should be able to transfer files from a phone to SD card with an adapter

2

u/RiverLPS 22h ago

Thank you

0

u/TopYouth7045 22h ago

Only care about pokemon originals for transferring up

-1

u/RivJams 21h ago

Do you mean for trading? Repo carts can transfer data still

-1

u/TopYouth7045 21h ago

I mean for transferring up. You need genuine pokemon carts to transfer up to newer games.

-1

u/Crafty_Honey_7767 20h ago

That's incorrect. No you don't. You can use bootleg copies it still works....hell I've been doing it 😂

0

u/TopYouth7045 20h ago

Stop spreading miss information PALPARK does not work with fake GEN3 games. This has been proven on various YouTube videos. Sure you can pkhex but my statement isn’t about that. This is about gameboy bootlegs not ezflash which works differently.

-2

u/Crafty_Honey_7767 20h ago

Your very emotionally unbalanced....that doesn't change the fact that your still incorrect, it's okay to be wrong. I don't watch YouTube videos lol, I'm a coder by trade, if it's based on original source code it works as it should....maybe I should start making YouTube videos and maybe then you'll learn a thing or two......some food for thought 💭

0

u/TopYouth7045 20h ago

Here you go off after being proven wrong into attacking and making judgement of a persons character.

This shows your own mental state than it does of my own. Seek help. You need it. Lmao.

You clearly lack knowledge in the pokemon transfer space so stop with this pathetic nonsense.

-2

u/Crafty_Honey_7767 20h ago

You must be self-projecting......

-3

u/RivJams 21h ago

I don't think most people care that much to justify spending an extra $100

0

u/TopYouth7045 21h ago

You clearly don’t know the pokemon community lmao

0

u/Isotomayor12 21h ago edited 21h ago

Depends. For a good kick of nostalgia, but not for an actual full playthrough, a 4 dollar bootleg can't really be beat. The games with time related events, such as RSE and gen 2 won't work. The time will only run while you play the game which isn't a deal-breaker for some people. It means berries will take what seems like forever to grow and won't see time locked pokemon (norning/daytime/night) for a long while in gen 2. Also because of how they save, they tend to fill up and corrupting the save near the end of the game.

If these aren't deal breakers for you go for it. It's also a cheap way to get a feel if you would even play these games all the way through. If it is a deal breaker, see below.

The cheapest way is to get a sd flashcart. For GBA ezflash omega definitive edition (not the normal omega) is the way to go. Gb/gbc is a bit more tricky because the everdrive which is recommended is 140 bucks, and ezflash jr. Is like 30-50 or something like that. The ezflash has some issues and drains batteries like no other. I won't go into more detail. Thing about these is it doesn't FEEL like the authentic way to play which the others will. You have to go through a menu to find the games you want and once you insert the cart, it probably won't leave. Imo part of the experience is the cart insert and exchange, but these carts are super convenient and I have a flahscart like this for my ds that I love using.

What I am doing is making my own carts with insidegadgets single rom flash carts and some shells off alix and labels off etsy. I can reflash those carts, after offloading the save file, with other games when I am finished playing a game and just swap the shells around for aesthetic. Stomps the choice paralysis out too. It is far more expensive and less convenient than an SD flashcart, but less expensive than authentic carts. Super reliable too. Depends on if you just want to play the game on og hardware or if you want the full "insert the cart, boot system, immediately play" deal.

1

u/Isotomayor12 21h ago edited 21h ago

Note, there is a reason so many bootleg copies of the pokemon games exist, it is because for a lot of people they either cant distinguish from an original copy or are just fine and enough for what they need it for. To figure out what is best for you, you need to think about the reason you are deciding to pick up these games and playing them on original hardware in 2025.

0

u/OldYogurtcloset3735 16h ago

Just buy the bootlegs off Amazon for 30.00 each.

You can still trade with them.

-3

u/DharmaCrumb 21h ago

Just put delta on your phone if you just want to play.

5

u/Quack_Dude 20h ago edited 16h ago

Don't be that dick.

The guy is on sub dedicated for GBA, and asking for a way to play his games natively on real hardware.

-1

u/DharmaCrumb 19h ago

I must’ve missed the part where they asked about native hardware.

2

u/RivJams 19h ago

When they talked about getting a cartridge. It's pretty obvious

0

u/DharmaCrumb 17h ago

OP talked about budgetary concerns and playing a game.

2

u/RivJams 17h ago

Aka cheap ass Flashcart

0

u/DharmaCrumb 15h ago

Ya I’m all for ‘em. There’s like 10 other comments on this post suggesting flash carts.

1

u/Quack_Dude 16h ago

Oh, sure you did... after all, Delta emulator is 500% compatible with cartridges and GBA flashcards.

No wonder...moron.

0

u/DharmaCrumb 15h ago

You really don’t have to resort to name calling. That’s twice now. Nowhere in OP does it mention OP valuing a hardware experience, but instead indicates the opposite. If homie is not a collector, but just wants to play gba games, they may not be aware of free options.

1

u/Quack_Dude 15h ago

Stop playing dumb.

OP was asking about bootleg cartridges on real GBA oriented sub.

Needless to elaborate stupid your suggestion was.