Pokémon Fulldex

Your favourite DS and GBA Pokémon games on a PC (Windows and Linux), a Mac, a Steam Deck or other handheld PC, an Android phone, an iPhone or iPad, or a modded Nintendo Switch: one screen, widescreen, 60 fps, up to 4K on a PC and 720p on the Switch. No more squinting at two tiny stacked DS screens.

Downloads

Where you play	Download	Install
Windows PC, and Windows handhelds (ROG Ally, Legion Go, MSI Claw)	pokemon-ds-wide-pc-windows-x86_64.zip	PC
Mac with Apple silicon (M1 and newer)	pokemon-ds-wide-pc-macos-arm64.zip	Mac
Mac with an Intel processor	pokemon-ds-wide-pc-macos-x86_64.zip	Mac
Linux (glibc 2.38+) and the Steam Deck	pokemon-ds-wide-pc-linux-x86_64.tar.gz, or as an AppImage (Gear Lever)	PC
Android phone (64-bit, Android 7 or newer)	pokemon-ds-wide-android.apk	Android
iPhone and iPad (iOS 14 or newer, sideloaded)	pokemon-ds-wide-ios.ipa	iPhone
Nintendo Switch (homebrew)	pokemon-ds-wide-all-switch.zip	Switch

All seven DS games in every download: Pokémon Black 2, White 2, Black, White, SoulSilver, HeartGold and Platinum. The GBA games too, on Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iPhone, iPad and the Switch: Pokémon Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen and Ultra Violet (below). Pokémon Omega Ruby is in the works, as its own project: it is in the game list's 3DS tab, COMING SOON. What's new in each: Releases.

One program per platform: start it and pick the game from the list. The downloads are free of the games themselves: you bring your own ROMs, and the program reads what it needs from them when the game starts.

Updates

The game list checks for updates when it opens. When a new version is available, choose INSTALL or LATER; CHECK FOR UPDATES in SETTINGS > HELP remains available afterwards. Downloads are checked against SHA256SUMS.txt from the same release, and the previous program is kept. ROMs, saves and settings remain in place. Android uses its system installer; Mac and iPhone/iPad open the download page. A release without checksums is offered as a download page rather than installed automatically.

CHEATS in the pause menu has SEARCH (names, folders and descriptions), scrollable details, and DATABASE INFO. Type with the keyboard or use the letter chooser with a controller or touch. Choose a code for details, or use left/right to switch it on or off directly.

DS games also have SAVE BACKUPS in the pause menu. Choose a dated backup, review the confirmation, and RESTORE AND RESTART. The previous save is kept beside it with .before-restore.sav added to its name. An interrupted restore reports its recovery files instead of overwriting them.

Regional support - beta

Regional DS support is now in beta across the platform builds. Bring your own ROM; only the listed language/version profiles are recognised. This is not support for every language, revision or game, and complete playthroughs have not been verified.

Language	Games with added profiles
French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Korean	Black, White, Black 2, White 2, SoulSilver, HeartGold, Platinum
Experimental	Diamond: English, Spanish, German and Italian. Pearl: English, French, Spanish, German and Korean

The supplied collection contains 42 exact ROM versions. New profiles validate their fingerprint before loading a save. The earlier 41-ROM menu/settings checks passed; newly supplied Korean Platinum has startup/menu checks so far. Broader battle, adapted-screen and full-playthrough testing continues.

Regional versions use separate save names, such as heartgold-fr.sav, heartgold-es.sav and heartgold-it.sav; keep a backup when bringing an existing save across. GBA regional compatibility is unchanged: this update adds no GBA game translations, regional compatibility or widescreen patches. GBA game text comes from the ROM, and widescreen still requires an existing matching patch.

DISPLAY > LANGUAGE offers AUTO, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Japanese and Korean menus. AUTO follows a supported system language. The interface language is independent of the ROM language.

Thanks to the contributors of #41, #18 and #9. See regional support and controls for details.

Android also adds movable/resizable DS and GBA touch controls, a landscape launcher that allows portrait with auto-rotate enabled, larger settings menus, and inset FPS counters. The native libraries now support 16 KB Android memory pages; the previous APK crashed on our 16 KB emulator before drawing the launcher. Physical Odin 3 verification is pending.

Use your own save

Carry on from your own save: from another emulator, a flash cart or your real cartridge. Copy it in under the game's name, in this folder:

Where you play	Folder
PC (Windows, Linux, Steam Deck)	the saves folder beside the program
Linux AppImage	~/.local/share/pokemon-ds-wide/saves
Mac	~/Library/Application Support/Pokemon DS Widescreen/saves
Android	the saves folder inside the folder you chose for your ROMs
iPhone and iPad	Files app: On My iPhone (or iPad) > Pokémon Fulldex > saves
Nintendo Switch	/switch/pokemon-ds-wide/ on the SD card

Game	Save name
Black 2 / White 2	black2.sav / white2.sav
Black / White	black.sav / white.sav
SoulSilver / HeartGold	soulsilver.sav / heartgold.sav (Italian: heartgold-it.sav)
Platinum	platinum.sav

• Which files work: a plain .sav, as melonDS, DeSmuME (Export Backup Memory), flash carts (TWiLight Menu++, R4 and the like) and cartridge dump tools (Checkpoint, JKSM, GodMode9) make it. A DraStic or DeSmuME .dsv, or an Action Replay save (.duc), first goes through tools/bw2/convert_save.py.
• Check it worked: the game list shows SAVE FOUND under the game (NEW GAME: not found).
• Back up first: a save copied in replaces the one there under that name.
• Older copies: a backups folder beside your saves keeps the last 8 versions of each (made as a game starts and every half hour of play, named by date and time). To go back to one, quit the game and copy it over your save with the save's own name.

Settings

The same on every platform: on the game list's settings page (H, or Y / △ on a controller, or SETTINGS at the top), or in the pause menu while you play (Esc, or START / Options / +). Each option is explained on the settings page.

Group	Settings
DISPLAY	LANGUAGE, SCREEN LAYOUT (MERGED: the one widescreen picture), LARGE SCREEN, BORDERLESS FULLSCREEN, SMOOTH SCALING, BATTLE BUTTONS, FPS COUNTER
SOUND	VOLUME (a slider: OFF, then 10% to 100%)
GRAPHICS	60 FPS, WIDESCREEN WORLD, WIDE MAP LOADING, 3D RESOLUTION (WORLD DETAIL on the Switch), LOWER RES WHEN BUSY, WORLD ON GPU, FAST FORWARD LOW RES
CONTROLS	KEYS AND BUTTONS (give any DS button, the pause menu, fast forward, swapping the screens, save state or load state another key or controller button), START BUTTON, BUTTONS, STICK TOUCH CURSOR
SHORTCUTS	DESKTOP SHORTCUTS (PC), HOME MENU ICONS (Switch): a shortcut for each game

The pause menu also has RESUME, SAVE STATE, LOAD STATE, FAST FORWARD, CHEATS (below), RETROACHIEVEMENTS (below), RESET GAME and QUIT (back to the game list). LOAD STATE takes you back to where the state was made but leaves your in-game save as it is; saving in the game afterwards writes over it as usual. Not every platform has every setting: a phone and the Switch are always full screen, for one.

RetroAchievements

Earn RetroAchievements as you play, on every platform: in the pause menu, RETROACHIEVEMENTS, turn it ON and LOG IN with your RetroAchievements account (a free one from their website). Your password goes to RetroAchievements once and is not kept: the program keeps only the sign-in they send back. Unlocks pop up as you play. On a PC, a phone, a Mac or an iPhone you can also do this before playing, in the game list's SETTINGS > RETROACHIEVEMENTS.

• ACHIEVEMENTS on that page lists the game's achievements: unlocked ones first, then the rest with their points; what each asks for is shown under the list.
• Casual mode only: save states, fast forward and cheats still work.
• Achievements are paused while a cheat or OTHER VERSION POKEMON is on, and come back when they are off.
• With it on, WIDE MAP LOADING (Black, White, Black 2, White 2) stays off, so achievements read the game's memory as on a DS.

The game list's look

SETTINGS > GAME LIST in the game list:

• COLOUR: its lines, the frame round the chosen game and the tabs, and the pause menu's colours in the games: red, blue, green, purple, gold, pink or teal.
• BACKGROUND: PLAIN, or YOUR PICTURE: a picture of yours behind the games, darkened so the names stay readable. Name it background.jpg or background.png and put it beside your saves folder (on the Switch: in /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/, with the saves; on Android: in the folder with your ROMs). Best at 1920 x 1080 (16:9; 1280 x 720 is plenty on the Switch). Any size works: it is scaled to fill the screen, its edges cut if its shape differs. Pictures over 2048 pixels on a side are read at a fraction of their size.

Cheats

Action Replay codes, turned on and off as you play: CHEATS in the pause menu. They go in a cheats folder (make it if it isn't there):

Where you play	Folder
PC (Windows, Linux, Steam Deck)	cheats beside the program (next to saves)
Linux AppImage	~/.local/share/pokemon-ds-wide/cheats
Mac	~/Library/Application Support/Pokemon DS Widescreen/cheats
Android	cheats inside the folder you chose for your ROMs
iPhone and iPad	Files app: On My iPhone (or iPad) > Pokémon Fulldex > cheats
Nintendo Switch	/switch/pokemon-ds-wide/cheats/ on the SD card

• Built in: every DS game comes with 15 popular codes in the POPULAR CHEATS folder, nothing to download: walk through walls, max money, all medicines (Rare Candy) and all Poké Balls (Master Ball), wild shiny encounters, always catch, infinite HP and PP in battle, double EXP, no wild encounters, fast egg hatching, all badges, all TMs, a complete Pokédex and fly anywhere (or faster walking, in the versions with no fly code). Every one is off until you turn it on, for your version of the game (US, Europe, Spain, Germany, France or Italy); the note under a code says which buttons it uses.

• GBA games: CHEATS in the GBA game's pause menu has 15 built in for Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen (1.0 and 1.1) and Ultra Violet: walk through walls (hold B), max money, 99 Rare Candies, 99 Master Balls, wild shiny encounters, always catch, infinite HP and PP in battle, double EXP, no wild encounters, fast egg hatch, all badges, all TMs and HMs, a complete Pokédex and fly anywhere. Every one is off until you turn it on. They work on the game's own memory (by pret's decompilations), not as codes, so nothing needs downloading.

• A cheat database: usrcheat.dat holds codes for every game. CHEATS opens this game's folders (a folder with any on shows how many, or the one that is on). Open a folder for its codes. The database's note on the chosen code shows under the menu. ON NOW, at the top, lists every code that is on. Codes of your own are listed above the folders. The one most people use is DeadSkullzJr's: download it from his GBAtemp thread and put usrcheat.dat in the cheats folder.

• Codes of your own: a text file named after the game's code: IREO.txt (Black 2), IRDO.txt (White 2), IRBO.txt (Black), IRAO.txt (White), IPKE.txt (HeartGold), IPGE.txt (SoulSilver), CPUE.txt (Platinum). The cheat's name on a line, its code under it; as many cheats as you like, one after another:

  60 FPS battles
  92247612 00002801
  A2000E28 00000000
  12000E28 00000000
  D2000000 00000000
  

  melonDS's own cheat files (IPKE.mch and so on) work too.

The codes must be for your version of the game (US or Europe). A cheat changes the game's memory while it runs: save first, and turn it off if the game misbehaves.

What is it?

A program for your PC or your Switch (as homebrew) that runs the game on the melonDS emulator core (built in: there is nothing else to install), plus a layer that knows what the game is doing (which screen, which menu, which battle) and rearranges it into one proper widescreen picture. It is not a native port (those are the dream, see What's next); it's the DS game, presented the way it should look on a modern screen.

Why not just play it in melonDS?

	melonDS	this
Screens	two 256×192 DS screens, stacked or side by side	one 16:9 picture, the touch screen's buttons tucked beside the action
3D world	4:3 at DS resolution	16:9, skies and scenery carried to the edges: up to 4K on a PC (your graphics card), 720p on the Switch (its graphics chip)
Frame rate	the game's own 30 fps 3D	60 fps, with in-between frames

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On a PC, Mac, Steam Deck or handheld (Windows, macOS and Linux)

1. Download pokemon-ds-wide-pc-windows-x86_64.zip (Windows) or pokemon-ds-wide-pc-linux-x86_64.tar.gz (Linux). On Linux there is also an AppImage, the program as one file: add it to Gear Lever (or another AppImage manager) and it updates itself. Its ROMs, saves and settings go in ~/.local/share/pokemon-ds-wide (O in the game list opens its roms folder).
2. Unpack it anywhere (not inside Program Files) and put your ROMs in its roms folder (any names).
3. Start Pokemon Fulldex.exe (Linux: pokemon-ds-wide) and pick a game. Windows may warn about an unknown publisher the first time: choose "More info", then "Run anyway".

It starts in borderless fullscreen at 1080p with 60 fps; F11 switches to a window. In the game list, arrow keys or a controller choose, Enter or A plays, H (or a controller's Y) opens the settings and O opens the roms folder. While playing, Esc (or a controller's Start or Guide button) opens the pause menu; QUIT there goes back to the list.

Controls: any controller (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro and others) plays as a DS; hold its right trigger to fast forward. On the keyboard: arrow keys, X/Z for A/B, S/A for X/Y, Q/W for L/R, Enter for START, Backspace for SELECT, the mouse for the touch screen, Left Shift to fast forward, F5 to save a state and F8 to load it. The README.txt inside has the full list. CONTROLS > KEYS AND BUTTONS in the pause menu (or on the game list's settings page) changes any of them, including fast forward, swapping the screens, save state and load state, on the keyboard and on a controller (the game list follows the ones you change).

Saves go in the saves folder, one per game (black2.sav, soulsilver.sav, platinum.sav, ...). To carry on from another emulator, put its .sav there under that name. Pictures: the list shows each game's box art; for your own, put a JPEG or PNG in an icons folder beside the program, named after the game's code (IREO.jpg for Black 2, see the README.txt).

Settings (all of them: Settings). The ones that matter most on a PC:

Setting	Starts at	What it does
3D RESOLUTION	1080P	how sharp the 3D world is: 720P, 1080P, 1440P (2K) or 2160P (4K)
LOWER RES WHEN BUSY	OFF	ON: a lower resolution for a moment instead of slowing down
FAST FORWARD LOW RES	OFF	ON: 360P while fast forwarding, for more FPS on a slower PC
WORLD ON GPU	ON	the world drawn by your graphics card; turn it off if it looks wrong
BORDERLESS FULLSCREEN	ON	fills your screen; F11 does the same
SCREEN LAYOUT	MERGED	the one widescreen picture, or the two DS screens laid out as on other emulators

Desktop shortcuts: DESKTOP SHORTCUTS on the settings page puts a shortcut for each game on your desktop (on Linux also in your apps menu, and so in the Steam Deck's "Add a Non-Steam Game" list), with its box art; each starts its game straight away.

What it needs: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or 64-bit Linux from late 2023 on (Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 39, SteamOS 3.5 or newer); nothing else to install. For WORLD ON GPU, a graphics card with OpenGL 4.3, which nearly any from 2012 on has with up-to-date drivers; without it, the processor draws the world (that wants a much faster processor).

Steam Deck: in Desktop Mode, unpack the Linux download and put your ROMs in its roms folder; in Steam, Games > Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library, browse to pokemon-ds-wide (file type: All Files); then start it from your library in Gaming Mode with a gamepad controller layout. Set 3D RESOLUTION to 720P for the Deck's 1280x800 screen.

Mac (macOS 11 or newer):

1. Download the one for your Mac. Apple menu > About This Mac: if it says Chip: Apple M1 (or M2, M3, M4, ...), take pokemon-ds-wide-pc-macos-arm64.zip; if it says Processor: Intel, take pokemon-ds-wide-pc-macos-x86_64.zip.
2. Unzip it (double-click it in Downloads; Safari may have done it already) and drag Pokémon Fulldex into Applications.
3. Open it once. macOS says it can't check the app (it isn't notarised by Apple): click Done. Then go to System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to the line about Pokémon Fulldex and click Open Anyway, then Open. You only do this once. Or, in Terminal: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Pokemon Fulldex.app", then open it as any app.
4. Add your ROMs: press O in the game list. The Finder opens its roms folder (~/Library/Application Support/Pokemon DS Widescreen/roms): put your DS and GBA ROMs in it and they appear in the list. Your own saves go in the saves folder next to it.

The keys and a controller work as on a PC; Ctrl+Cmd+F (or F11) switches between fullscreen and a window. A Mac's OpenGL stops short of what WORLD ON GPU needs, so the processor draws the widescreen world, at 720P to start: a MacBook Air M1 holds 60 FPS at 1080P.

How fast a PC? Not measured on a range of PCs yet, so these are estimates. The Switch runs all seven games at 60 fps, and one core of any PC from the last eight years or so is several times as fast as one of the Switch's. What grows with your screen is the 3D resolution, drawn by the graphics card:

• Minimum: a 4-core processor (Intel Core i5 6th generation or Ryzen 1000 on), graphics built into the processor (Intel HD 520 or Radeon Vega 8 class) at 720p to 1080p, 4 GB of memory.
• Recommended: a recent 6-core processor and a graphics card such as a GTX 1060 or RX 580 for 1440p; 4K wants an RTX 2070 or better.

Tell us how yours runs, with its game.log.

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On the Nintendo Switch

All seven games in one program (pokemon-ds-wide-all-switch.zip):

1. Unzip it to the root of the SD card. It makes /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/ with an empty roms folder inside.
2. Copy your ROMs into /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/roms/ (any names).
3. Hold R while starting any game, pick Pokémon Fulldex, then the game (started from the album there is not enough memory).

In the list the D-pad or a stick moves between games, A plays, Y opens the settings (the pause menu's options, each explained) and + goes back to the Homebrew Menu. It opens on the game you played last. While playing, + opens the pause menu (START BUTTON in the settings can make + the DS's START again, with + and − together for the menu); QUIT there saves and comes back to the list (also when started from its HOME Menu icon). With only one game found there is no list: it starts straight away. Touch screen: tap it in handheld mode; docked, the right stick moves a cursor and ZL touches. Pressing the right stick in shows the other screen.

Coming from the older one-game downloads? Their folders keep working: the list also shows the games in them (/switch/pokemon-black2-wide/ and so on) and plays each with the save already there. Those downloads are no longer updated, so the all-in-one is the one to use.

Saves: each game keeps its save under its own name (black2.sav, white2.sav, black.sav, white.sav, soulsilver.sav, heartgold.sav, platinum.sav): in /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/ for a ROM in its roms folder, or in an older one-game download's folder for a ROM there. To carry on from an emulator or a flash cart, copy your save in under that name.

Pictures: each game shows its box art. For your own, put a square JPEG or PNG in /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/icons/ named after the game's code: IRBO Black, IRAO White, IREO Black 2, IRDO White 2, IPKE HeartGold, IPGE SoulSilver, CPUE Platinum (e.g. icons/IREO.jpg).

Recommended: start each game from the HOME Menu. In the all-in-one's settings (Y in the list), HOME MENU ICONS puts an icon for each game in the list on the Switch's HOME Menu, with its box art, which starts that game straight away with no holding R. It is made on your console (no PC or keys file). Like any forwarder, the icons need sigpatches to start. Keep /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/ where it is, as the icons start the program in it; choose HOME MENU ICONS again after adding games. Each game then has its own entry, so sys-clk (below) can have its own settings for it. To remove one: Options on its icon, Data Management, Delete Software.

sys-clk (recommended for full speed), handheld. With a forwarder, start the game, open sys-clk's overlay and set these for that game's own profile: they then apply whenever you play it, and only then. Without one, set them for the game you start the Homebrew Menu from, or as the global profile.

CPU	1785 MHz (1581 is enough for most places)
GPU	460 MHz (the highest of the console's own handheld speeds; no need to go higher)
Memory	1600 MHz

Without sys-clk the games run at the console's normal speeds and drop frames in busy places.

Settings (all of them: Settings). Recommended on the Switch:

Setting	Recommended	What it does
60 FPS	ON	in-between frames: the games draw their 3D at 30 fps
BATTLE BUTTONS	PANEL	Black 2, White 2, Black and White: the game's own FIGHT, BAG, RUN and POKÉMON panel beside the battle (Black and White also have STRIP: large buttons in the message box)
WORLD DETAIL	720	lines the wide world is drawn with (540 if you want headroom)
LOWER DETAIL WHEN BUSY	OFF	ON: fewer lines for a moment instead of slowing down

The world is always drawn by the Switch's graphics chip, and each frame is shown at an even time, a frame after it is made (smoother in busy towns and battles). The games run on melonDS's FAST JIT. If a start ever fails with it, the next one falls back by itself (hold L while starting for the interpreter).

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On Android

1. Download pokemon-ds-wide-android.apk on your phone and open it. Android asks to allow installing apps from your browser or Files app the first time: allow it, then install.
2. Put your ROMs in a folder on the phone (any names), for example ROMs in its internal storage.
3. Start Pokemon DS, tap the screen, allow access to files, and pick that folder. Tap a game twice (or press A on a controller) to play.

Controls: on-screen buttons (D-pad, A, B, X, Y, L, R, START, SELECT and MENU at the top) while you play by touch; hold >> beside R to fast forward; tap the picture itself to touch the DS's touch screen. A controller (Bluetooth or USB: Xbox, PlayStation, Backbone, Razer Kishi and others) plays as a DS and hides the on-screen buttons; its Start opens the pause menu and its right trigger fast forwards. CONTROLS > KEYS AND BUTTONS in the pause menu (and on the game list) changes which button does what, including fast forward, swapping the screens, save state and load state.

Saves go in a saves folder inside your ROMs folder (made for you). The settings and game.log are in Android/data/io.github.mamesj.pokemonds/files.

What it needs: Android 7.0 or newer on a 64-bit phone. The 3D world is drawn by the processor at 720P to start (3D RESOLUTION in the settings: Y in the list, or SETTINGS at the top right). Tested on a Pixel 9 Pro XL, where it runs at full speed; please tell us how yours runs (see Reporting a bug).

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On an iPhone or iPad

Apple only lets apps from its App Store install on their own, so this one is sideloaded: a sideloading tool signs it with your own Apple ID (a free one works) and puts it on your iPhone. From a Windows PC or a Mac:

1. Install a sideloading tool: Sideloadly or AltStore (on Windows, also Apple's Apple Devices app or iTunes).
2. Download pokemon-ds-wide-ios.ipa, plug in your iPhone (tap Trust on it), and give the IPA to the tool with your Apple ID.
3. On the iPhone: turn on Settings > Privacy & Security > Developer Mode (it restarts), then trust your Apple ID in Settings > General > VPN & Device Management.
4. Put your ROMs in the Files app: On My iPhone > Pokémon Fulldex > roms (AirDrop, iCloud Drive, or from a PC: the Apple Devices app's Files tab, or the Finder on a Mac). DS and GBA ROMs go in that same roms folder. A .gba opened from the Files app is taken in too. FOLDER at the top of the game list opens that folder. Tap a game twice to play.

With a free Apple ID, iOS stops opening sideloaded apps after 7 days: sideload it again (your saves stay). AltStore and SideStore can do that for you.

Controls: as on Android: on-screen buttons while you play by touch (MENU at the top for the pause menu), or a controller (Xbox, PlayStation, Backbone and others), which hides them. The game list is upright. Starting a game turns an iPhone or an iPad sideways.

Saves, settings, cheats and game.log are all in that Pokémon Fulldex folder in the Files app.

What to expect: iOS lets no app make code as it runs, so the faster way the other versions run the DS (melonDS's JIT) is left out, and a recent iPhone (an iPhone 13 or newer) is the most likely to keep up. The 3D world is drawn by the processor at 720P to start (3D RESOLUTION in the settings; 540P or LOWER RES WHEN BUSY if yours slows down). QUIT in the pause menu may close the app rather than go back to the list (open it again to pick a game). Please tell us how it runs on yours, with your model (see Reporting a bug).

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The games

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

• ROMs: any English copy (US or Europe), trimmed or not, including the "NDSi Enhanced" one. Other languages put the game's code elsewhere: the program says so instead of starting.
• Saves: black2.sav and white2.sav (tools/bw2/convert_save.py turns .dsv and Action Replay saves into the raw 512 KB save).
• No version exclusives: OTHER VERSION POKEMON in the pause menu (off to start): wherever one version has an exclusive (Gothita, Cottonee, Vullaby, Heracross, Magby...), each encounter there is as likely to be the other version's in the same spot (Solosis, Petilil, Rufflet, Pinsir, Elekid...), at its rates and levels. Legendary Pokémon stay with their own version, as do the Hidden Grottos. RetroAchievements are paused while it is on.
• What you get: battles (single, double, triple, rotation) with the HP boxes at the edges of the wide view and the battle buttons beside them; menus, the bag and the save screen laid out for one screen; and more of the map loaded around you, so the wide view never runs out of land.

Pokémon SoulSilver and HeartGold

• ROMs: supported English US/European versions and the regional beta profiles listed above. Support is version-specific; unrecognised dumps are not enabled automatically.
• Saves: soulsilver.sav and heartgold.sav (the same format, so either game reads the other's).
• No version exclusives: OTHER VERSION POKEMON in the pause menu (off to start). Where the two versions have different wild Pokémon (Phanpy or Teddiursa, Growlithe or Vulpix, Caterpie or Weedle...), each encounter can be either, as often as each other, at that place's own rates and levels. Both versions' tables are already in every SoulSilver and HeartGold ROM: nothing is added. Legendary Pokémon stay with their own version. RetroAchievements are paused while it is on, as with cheats.
• What you get: Johto and Kanto in widescreen, with your partner Pokémon walking behind you; battles with their buttons beside the action; menus laid out for one screen. Where this project started: the original ssrecomp was SoulSilver on the PC.

Pokémon Black and White

• ROMs: any English copy (US or Europe), trimmed or not; French revision 0 for both games, and White in Spanish too.
• Saves: black.sav and white.sav (the same format, so either game reads the other's; tools/bw2/convert_save.py turns .dsv and Action Replay saves into the raw 512 KB save).
• No version exclusives: OTHER VERSION POKEMON in the pause menu (off to start), as in Black 2 and White 2: Gothita or Solosis, Cottonee or Petilil, Vullaby or Rufflet, Murkrow or Misdreavus, and the rest, each encounter as likely to be either. Legendary Pokémon stay with their own version.
• What you get: Unova's first adventure with the same treatment as Black 2: battles (single, double, triple, rotation) with the HP boxes at the edges of the wide view and the battle buttons beside them; its own layouts for the start menu, the X menu, the save screen, the Badge Case and the Pokédex; and the C-Gear's question at the start answered for you.

Pokémon Platinum

• ROM: the English version, US or Europe (both game code CPUE), or the Spanish (CPUS) or French revision 0 (CPUF) versions, trimmed or not.
• Save: platinum.sav.
• What you get: Sinnoh in widescreen, the snow and rain reaching the edges of the view; battles with their buttons and moves beside the action; the X menu at the right edge of the view, and the Bag, party, Pokédex, map and other menus laid out for one screen.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

• ROM: Diamond (ADAE) or Pearl (APAE), US or Europe; Diamond also in Spanish (ADAS), German (ADAD) and Italian (ADAI); Pearl also in French (APAF), Spanish (APAS), German (APAD) and Korean (APAK). Japanese Diamond and Pearl are not supported yet.
• Save: diamond.sav or pearl.sav (other languages have their own, such as pearl-fr.sav).
• What you get: Platinum's widescreen layouts on Sinnoh's first adventure: battles with their buttons and moves beside the action, and the Bag, party, Pokédex, Trainer Card and other menus laid out for one screen. Still experimental.

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The GBA games

Pokémon Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen and Ultra Violet (a FireRed hack) in widescreen at 60 fps, from Pokémon GBA Widescreen, built in on Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iPhone, iPad and the Switch.

• ROMs: put them in the same roms folder as the DS games: Emerald, FireRed and LeafGreen (version 1.0 or 1.1), and Ultra Violet as its .gba or as its .ips patch with a FireRed 1.0 ROM beside it. A GBA folder inside roms works too.
• Saves: with the others (emerald.sav ...), or in that GBA folder's own saves.
• What you get: the overworld drawn wider, with the people and Pokémon around you kept in view out to the edges; battles with their backgrounds carried across the whole width; the weather (rain, sandstorm, fog, snow) reaching both sides. The DS games' settings (SMOOTH SCALING, FPS COUNTER, VOLUME, BUTTONS) carry over to them.
• Other GBA games play too, without widescreen. QUIT GAME in a GBA game's pause menu comes back to the game list.

Under the hood

The widescreen world is drawn by a graphics chip: your graphics card with OpenGL on a PC, the Switch's own with deko3D. On the Switch, Black 2 runs at (or a whisker under) 60 fps at 720p in towns and battles, measured on a Switch OLED in handheld mode; a PC has room to spare, and draws the same picture up to 4K. The full list of changes is in CHANGELOG.md.

Known limits

• English versions (US or Europe) for the seven established DS games; French revision 0 for all seven; Spanish White, Platinum, SoulSilver and HeartGold; Italian HeartGold. Diamond (English, Spanish, German, Italian) and Pearl (English, French, Spanish, German, Korean) are experimental. See regional profiles and touch controls.
• Platinum: the Pokétch (the watch on the touch screen) isn't shown during normal play; its apps are one press of the screen-swap button away.
• SoulSilver and HeartGold: at map borders (Route 29 and New Bark Town, Celadon City and Route 16), parts of the neighbouring map pop in and out at the sides of the wide view. Loading more of the map, as Black 2 and White 2 do, should fix it.
• PC: speeds on a range of PCs are estimates so far (see above).
• Mac: tested on one Mac so far (a MacBook Air M1).
• Android: tested on one phone so far (a Pixel 9 Pro XL).
• Found a bug? See Reporting a bug.

What's next

• Pokémon Omega Ruby: in the works, as its own project.
• Native ports: the dream, hopefully for all of them. Optimistic, but we're aiming for it.

Reporting a bug

Open a bug report (you need to be signed in to GitHub). The form asks for the game, your ROM's version and the game.log file, which says what the program did:

1. Find it: on a PC, game.log is in the folder you unpacked the download to. On the Switch it is in the game's folder on the SD card: /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/ for the all-in-one, otherwise the game's own folder (e.g. /switch/pokemon-black2-wide/). On an iPhone or iPad it is in the Files app: On My iPhone > Pokémon Fulldex (share it from there). It is written again each time the game starts, so copy it straight after the problem.
2. Switch: get it onto a computer. Put the SD card in a card reader; or, leaving it in the Switch, use Hekate's Tools > USB Tools > SD Card (or DBI's MTP mode) to see the card on the computer over USB; or an FTP app such as ftpd over Wi-Fi.
3. Add it to the form: drag the file into the game.log box.

A screenshot or short video helps too. Please never attach your ROM. A white or black screen when a game starts usually means the ROM isn't one the program plays: an English copy (US or Europe) of Black, White, Black 2, White 2, SoulSilver, HeartGold or Platinum, or a Spanish copy of White, Platinum, SoulSilver or HeartGold, unchanged (no patches, translations, randomizers or trimming).

Support

Tips are welcome but never expected: buy me a coffee or PayPal.

Credits and licence

A fork of ClickingMaster/ssrecomp (Pokémon SoulSilver recompiled for single-screen devices), which gave this its single-screen and widescreen view; its README covers that project. Function names come from the pokebw2 and aletheia decompilations (only their symbol files), Platinum's from a build of pret/pokeplatinum; SoulSilver's and HeartGold's addresses come from ssrecomp's own SoulSilver layout. The DS is emulated by melonDS. The built-in DS cheats come from DeadSkullzJr's cheat database, as carried in libretro-database. The Switch's HOME MENU ICONS are made the way sphaira makes its forwarders, with its homebrew loader (tools/switch/forwarder, GPL-3.0, based on nx-hbloader). The GBA games are played by Pokémon GBA Widescreen, built on mGBA (MPL-2.0: LICENSE-mGBA.txt in the downloads that have the GBA games).

GPL-3.0-or-later (see LICENSE), as required by melonDS. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Game Freak, The Pokémon Company or the melonDS project; Pokémon is a trademark of its owners. The box art in the PC game list belongs to Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK and The Pokémon Company and is shown only to tell the games apart; it is not part of this repository's code. If you hold the rights and want it removed, open an issue and it will be taken out.

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Built with the help of Claude, Anthropic's AI.

Custom touch controls and regional profiles

Android players can move and resize on-screen controls in the paused layout editor. The launcher and Fulldex menus offer AUTO, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Japanese and Korean interface languages. Embedded GBA menus follow the launcher language too. See controls, regional games and build notes.