You need an emulator to play Pokemon games on your Android, iOS, Windows, or Mac OS devices. There are already dozens of available Pokemon emulators out there, most are free, while some are not. These are available for different platforms such as mobile devices and computers, so there’s no excuse for you not to play your favorite Pokemon games.
Also read: How to Play Pokemon GBA and GBC Games on Android
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Emulation is not new to everyone; using these applications, players can conveniently play GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS games, including Pokemon rom hacks with ease.
Listed below are the most recommended and top-rated Pokemon emulators categorized according to device category (PC, MAC, Android, iOS) and emulation capabilities.
Pokemon Emulator List
| wdt_ID | Emulator | Platform | Emulates for | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mGBA | Windows, MAC OS, Ubuntu | GBA | Click here |
| 2 | My Boy! Free - GBA Emulator | Android | GBA | Click here |
| 3 | My Boy! - GBA Emulator | Android | GBA | Click here |
| 4 | John GBA Lite - GBA emulator | Android | GBA | Click here |
| 5 | Citra | Windows, Mac OS, Linux | Nintendo 3DS | Click here |
| 6 | OpenEmu | Mac OS | GBA/NDS/GBC | Click here |
| 7 | Visual Boy Advance | Windows | GBA | Click here |
| 8 | GBA4iOS | iOS | GBA | Click here |
| 9 | DraStic DS Emulator | Android | NDS | Click here |
| 10 | John GBA - GBA emulator | Android | GBA | Click here |
| 11 | My OldBoy! Free - GBC Emulator | Android | GBC | Click here |
| 12 | John GBC Lite - GBC emulator | Android | GBC | Click here |
| 13 | My OldBoy! - GBC Emulator | Android | GBC | Click here |
| 14 | John GBC - GBC emulator | Android | GBC | Click here |
| 15 | VBA-M for Mac | MAC OS | GBA/GBC | Click here |
| 16 | VBA-M for Windows | Windows | GBA/GBC | Click here |
| 17 | DeSmuME | Windows | NDS | 32-bit (x86) |
| 18 | No$GBA | Windows | NDS | Click here |
| 19 | iNDS | iOS | NDS | Click here |
| 20 | RetroArch | Windows, Mac, Linux | GBC,GBA,NDS, etc. | Click here |
Best Pokemon Emulator for PC
There are many good Pokemon emulator for PC, but Visual Boy Advance is our most favorite and what we use when playing Pokemon GBA ROM hacks and DeSmuME for Pokemon DS ROM Hacks. These Pokemon emulator for PC fully support cheating, so we highly recommend using them for players who wish to use cheats in their game.
Best Pokemon Emulator for Android
There are dozens of emulators on Android play store, many are good while some aren’t. But what we use is MyBoy, it works very well. You can cheat with ease using MyBoy and gaming experience is smooth.
Cheating with Emulators
Emulator cheating is a lot of fun! It allows users to skip some game boundaries, making games more engaging and simple to complete. There are both free and paid emulators available, and many of them support cheating.
However, if you’re interested in gaining premium features, we recommend purchasing the paid emulator version, which is rather inexpensive. To make most of the cheats, use emulators. In many cases, cheating can’t be done on regular consoles.
Paid Emulators
Using a free version emulator is enough for you to enjoy your favorite game. However, if you seek full gaming enjoyment, you need to unlock premium features by getting the paid version. People choose to pay for such obvious reasons.
Free Emulators
Paid GBA emulators are excellent since they provide all of the necessary settings and capabilities, as well as additional settings and customizations. However, if you are on a tight budget, the best option is to use free GBA emulators. There are several good and free GBA emulators for Android; try them out or read reviews for that particular emulator if feasible.
In most cases, free version applications have limited capabilities.
Also, with MyBoy free version, you can only save a few states of your game while paid version lets you save multiple states at a time. For PC and MAC users, no need to spend on an emulator, OpenEmu, and VBA are enough, and it works for many.
APK Emulator Download
You might be familiar with APK files. Most of the time, this method works but we do NOT recommend. However, if budget is your primary concern, head over to your favorite APK website, but proceed at your own risk.
Conclusion
Pokemon is no doubt one of the best games in the world. With emulators, fans can play some of the popular Pokemon games conveniently on mobile devices and computers.
It can be expensive to purchase Gameboy Advanced, Gameboy Color, and Nintendo DS game consoles. Thanks to the developers responsible for creating these applications.