If you’re anything like me, you’ve sacked off work this afternoon to just play Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen on Nintendo Switch.
Wait, Nintendo Switch? Don’t you know you’ve been able to emulate these games for 20 years now?
It’s so easy! All you’ve got to do is find and run emulator software, install every C++ Redistributable known to man, legally “borrow” a BIOS file from a game you definitely own, that you definitely got from your old console, tuck it into the emulator’s system folder, create a folder directly on your C: drive to avoid Windows permissions throwing a tantrum, unzip your game files until you see an .iso or .rvz, plug in your controller and manually click every button in the Input Settings, cap your framerate at 60fps, double-click the game title, cross your fingers and pray, boot up the title screen, take a picture of the title screen to post online so you feel better than the people you went to high school with, then close your emulator with a smug sense of satisfaction as the mystical force that stops you from ever actually playing an emulated game takes over.
Has there ever been one of these emulation screenshots that’s like in the middle of the game and not like title screen or opening areas https://t.co/abiRf1ojJg
— Eaglit (Playing OG FF7 and DR2) 🇨🇩 (@GammaEaglit) February 21, 2026
Why Emulating Games Doesn’t Feel the Same as Before
I’m part of the crowd that’s felt this mystical force. I bought a Steam Deck at launch so I could finally replay these classic games I loved so much as a child. I’ve played them! I know I’ll have a good time.
Occasionally, I’ll pick it up, boot into my emulation software, and launch Pokémon Emerald. If I’m feeling spicy, maybe even a fan game like Kaizo or Radical Red. I really want to play, I do.
But the magic I’m trying to recapture just isn’t there.
Perhaps I’m burnt out. Perhaps the horrors of adulthood have stolen the only thing that ever made me happy. Perhaps I yearn for a time I can never reclaim.
I’ll take a picture of the title screen and never make it to Oldale Town.
But why spend that money on a legal port, when I could spend three hours troubleshooting a BIOS file on a handheld device that cost me $400 just to prove a point to a corporation that doesn’t know I exist?
Look, I can barely get two pints for £16.99/$19.99 where I live. If that’s what it costs to defeat this mystical force that stops me from ever finishing an emulated game, fine.
People are Posting Pictures of Their Emulated Games for Clout
What really winds me up is you never see a post talking about how great emulation is as they’re standing on Route 113 trying to collect soot for a glass flute two-thirds of the way through the game.
Why?
Because that would require actually playing Pokémon.
This is literally all you are getting with Pokémon Fire Red and Pokémon Leaf Green.
No changes, no online support.
This is easily emulated on extremely low powered machines.
$20 for a 20 year old Rom and Emulator is a wild price, buy what you want but don’t defend it please. pic.twitter.com/l3OfqiUz00
— Protomario (@Protomario) February 22, 2026
If you don’t want to spend money on a game because you can already play it for free, it seems like the solution is already built into your problem. The problem isn’t the price; the problem is that you’d rather have the idea of the game than the game itself.
Wait until the “Emulation Nation” kids realise you only get the Running Shoes after the first two hours of the game and still can’t run indoors in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. I was there in 2004, I remember.
Do you think the guy posting a blurry photo of his Odin 2 running a GBA emulator is prepared for that? Absolutely not – that would’ve required playing past picking a starter.
Stop trying to smugly educate people on emulation. Yes, I’m all for it. But £16.99 is a low, low cost for convenience, and it’s one I’m willing to pay.
Whatever ‘message’ it ‘sends’ to Nintendo, not everyone can be bothered to emulate, and don’t you feel special for that.
