Envision yourself as a Pokemon purist who has sunk many hours into Pokemon Blue on their trusted Game Boy. You’ve spent many hours in training and bonding with your elite team of Pokemon, many of which are extremely rare and strong. It’s been 25 years since you first encountered Pokemon, and you’ve finally decided to pull out your old cartridge and recreate the experience.
But sadly, your elation immediately fades to sadness as you recall that after all these years, the save battery in your Pokemon Blue has finally died. Because of the battery’s failure, you can no longer access your Pokemon, including the Blastoise you’ve named Mizukame. It’s a knockout punch to the heart of your fond memories.
You decide to replace the battery and initiate a fresh save file in an effort to recover whatever data you can. But you know in your heart that there’s no way to restore your Pokemon Blue save data. It’s a tough pill to take, and you probably feel some regret at having to say goodbye to the digital friends who shared so many online experiences with you.
You are not alone in experiencing this misfortune. Many long-time Pokemon enthusiasts who play their old cartridges again may have the same problem, as the battery saves have degraded over time. In light of this, one may wonder if the original Pokemon games should be ported to current-gen consoles. For some, the release of old games on modern systems like the Nintendo Switch would be a welcome and hassle-free opportunity to relive their formative gaming years.
In addition, there may be intriguing new opportunities made available by porting the original Pokemon games to the Switch. Fans would be able to move their prized Pokemon to the state-of-the-art Pokemon Home service, where they could continue their virtual adventures and keep their Pokemon safe for the foreseeable future. The excitement of trading Pokemon from Game Boy to the Nintendo 64 release would be amplified if titles like Pokemon Stadium were compatible with both systems.
As for whether or not the original Pokemon games will be made available through Nintendo’s Switch Online service, that is still up in the air. Until then, Pokemon aficionados might want to double-check the safety of their archived save files from the first generation of Pokemon games.
