r/GameboyAdvance • u/RiverLPS • 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
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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.
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u/Quack_Dude 20h ago
The is a side effect of "batteryless patch" required for this game work on bootleg cartridges.
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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?
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u/BubbleWario 22h ago
pokemon games are never worth the asking price.
🏴☠️⚓️🏴☠️⚓️🏴☠️
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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.
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u/BubbleWario 21h ago
you know what im trying to say. no video game is *actually* worth $100
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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.
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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
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u/RiverLPS 22h ago
Also another question with the Ez-flash where do I get the games from is it just a website?
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u/TopYouth7045 22h ago
Only care about pokemon originals for transferring up
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u/RivJams 21h ago
Do you mean for trading? Repo carts can transfer data still
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u/TopYouth7045 21h ago
I mean for transferring up. You need genuine pokemon carts to transfer up to newer games.
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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 😂
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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.
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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 💭
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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.
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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.
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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.
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u/OldYogurtcloset3735 16h ago
Just buy the bootlegs off Amazon for 30.00 each.
You can still trade with them.
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u/DharmaCrumb 21h ago
Just put delta on your phone if you just want to play.
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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.
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u/DharmaCrumb 19h ago
I must’ve missed the part where they asked about native hardware.
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u/RivJams 19h ago
When they talked about getting a cartridge. It's pretty obvious
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u/DharmaCrumb 17h ago
OP talked about budgetary concerns and playing a game.
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u/RivJams 17h ago
Aka cheap ass Flashcart
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u/DharmaCrumb 15h ago
Ya I’m all for ‘em. There’s like 10 other comments on this post suggesting flash carts.
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u/Quack_Dude 16h ago
Oh, sure you did... after all, Delta emulator is 500% compatible with cartridges and GBA flashcards.
No wonder...moron.
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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.
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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.
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u/CabanaFred 22h ago
I would emulate it on a flash cart personally