Pokémon mini emulators
| |
| Developer | Nintendo |
|---|---|
| Type | Handheld game console |
| Generation | Sixth generation |
| Release date | 2001 |
| Discontinued | 2002 |
| Predecessor | Game Boy/Color |
| Successor | Game Boy Advance |
| Emulated | ✓ |
The Pokémon mini is a handheld game console designed and manufactured by Nintendo and themed around the Pokémon media franchise. Released during the sixth generation of consoles, it is the smallest game system with interchangeable cartridges ever produced by Nintendo, weighing just under two and a half ounces (70 grams) and featuring a monochrome LCD of impressive 96×64 pixels. It was first released in North America on November 16, 2001. The systems were released in three colors: Wooper Blue, Chikorita Green, and Smoochum Purple. Over the course of its short life, ten games were released for the system, five of which were Japan-exclusive. Only four games were ever released in North America.
Features of the Pokémon mini include an internal real-time clock, an infrared port used to facilitate multiplayer gaming, a reed switch to detect shakes and a motor used to implement force feedback. It runs on a Seiko S1C88 8-bit CPU clocked at 4 MHz and 4 kB of memory, powered by a single AAA battery, with 60 hours of autonomy.
Contents
Emulators
| Name | Platform(s) | Latest Version | Retro Achievements |
libretro | FLOSS | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC / x86 | |||||||
| GBE+ |  
|
1.8 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| PokeMini pokemini_libretro |
|
libretro core 0.61 0.60 |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| minimon |
|
2005/01/20 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| MAME |  
|
git artifacts[N 1] 0.270 |
✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| PokeKaMini |
|
0.7.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mobile / ARM | |||||||
| PokeMini[N 2] |   
|
0.6.0 (Wiz, Dingux) 0.5.30.5.40.5.4 r2 (Android) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| PokeMini | 
|
0.6.0 rel 3 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Console | |||||||
| PokeMini[N 3] |      
|
0.60 git |
✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| PokeMini 3DS | 
|
git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pokémon Channel |
|
N/A | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| PokemonMiniX | 
|
V3 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ |
- ↑ CI-Windows CI-Linux CI-Macos
- ↑ Also available on mobile as a libretro core in the latest version (0.6.0). Wiz and Dingux ports available only as uncompiled source code starting with version 0.5.4.
- ↑ Also available on other consoles as a libretro core. GameCube and Wii ports available only from Libretro (RetroArch).
Comparisons
- GBE+
- Game Boy Color emulator famed for its IR capabilities; added Pokémon mini support in May 2021. Compatibility is said to be 100% with commercial games and it’s the only emulator to provide IR support.
- PokeMini
- The emulator of choice for Pokémon mini, it has 100% of compatibility with commercial games. If the BIOS isn’t present, it uses a fallback FOSS substitute, FreeBIOS, which is said to also be 100% compatible with the software library. A backup of the last released binaries for Android, Wiz and Dingux (version 0.5.3) can be found at The Internet Archive.
- Pokémon Channel
- A sequel to the equally boring N64 game Hey You, Pikachu!, Pokémon Channel is a 2003 simulator game for the GameCube developed by Ambrella for The Pokémon Company. Hidden under the bed in the game is a Pokémon mini, which can actually be played in-game through what is de facto an emulator. Boringly, some minigames that constitute Pokémon Party Mini were separated into individual tiny ROMs, forming the library of Pokémon mini games playable in Pokémon Channel together with stripped-down versions of Pokémon Pinball Mini and Pokémon Puzzle Collection (less boring is the inclusion of Snorlax’s Lunch Time, a previously unreleased minigame that was apparently scrapped from Pokémon Party Mini). It didn’t take long for enthusiasts to crack the ISO wide open and develop a ROM injector for the emulator, which can be downloaded here. The emulator is 100% compatible with commercially released games, with one caveat: the shake-detecting reed switch isn’t emulated, rendering some games such as Pokémon Shock Tetris nigh unplayable.
- Minimon
- The first emulator to achieve good compatibility. It runs mostly fine, but Pokémon Shock Tetris saves may be corrupted. Sound emulation is a little iffy. Does not require a BIOS dump.
- PokemonMiniX
- A well-documented port of minimon for the OG Xbox. It has support for skins.
- MAME
- The Pokémon mini module has preliminary sound emulation and no support for savestates. Avoid.
- PokeKaMini
- The precursor of PokeMini is more of a debugger than an emulator. Despite being very inaccurate, some developers still use it for its awesome UI and debugging functionalities.
Infrared
The Pokémon mini has an infrared port, used in some games for peer-to-peer multiplayer functionalities. Only GBE+ supports it.
BIOS
Most Pokémon mini emulators require a BIOS file, bios.min. It can be found here.
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Consoles: Color TV-Game • Nintendo Entertainment System (Family Computer) • Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Family Computer) • Nintendo 64 • GameCube • Wii • Wii U • Nintendo Switch Handhelds: Game & Watch • Game Boy/Color • Virtual Boy • Game Boy Advance • Nintendo DS • Nintendo DSi • Nintendo 3DS Related: Family Computer Disk System • Satellaview • 64DD • Super Game Boy • e-Reader • Amiibo • Triforce (Arcade) • Namco ES3 (Arcade) |
