Speed Running Gen 1 and 2 Pokemon Games

Hi, I am CC. 

I have been a big fan of the original Pokémon Games. Red, blue and Yellow hold a special place in my heart and I wanted to bring this vintage gaming to life by making it more accessible. 

Without looking at Emulators and Roms, I will detail what I found.

The easiest way is to purchase a Gameboy, Gameboy color, Gameboy SP or Gameboy Advance, console and the cartridge and get to playing. However there are a few things to look out for. 

1. The original pokemon games had an internal battery and it will need replacing if it is flat/dead. There are guides and how to's videos on this.

2. Reproduction cartridges, these are a cheap alternative, however I would avoid this as they are illegal. 

3. Deciding which console to play it on. You will find the Gameboy, Gameboy color and Gameboy Advance have aged poorly without the back-lit screen. I would suggest the SP if your looking for a handheld console, without looking at the Nintendo DS range.

4. Are you looking for a casual playthrough or to be able to submit Speedruns. This will affect which setup you go for. 

Getting Pokemon on the Big Screen

With a SNES and a Super Gameboy 2 Cartridge you will be able to connect to most TVs. There is also a few different upscalers and adapters you can look at to get clean image quality.

A Super Gameboy 2 is a semi-transparent light blue color and it required if you wish to submit Speedruns (Via. Speedrun.com). You just do the customary cartridge blow and insert in. 

A Super Gameboy will also work, however this has a variable framerate and you cannot submit your World record runs.

Final Verdict

With this setup you will be able to play Pokemon Gen 1 and Gen 2 games (Gold, Silver and Crystal). You won't be able to play any others, without looking at more expensive setups.