A fan-made Pokemon project has done what many fans have wanted for years: it puts the entire Johto region and its Kanto post-game back on the Game Boy Advance. Pokemon Heart & Soul, a complete open-source ROM hack of Pokemon Emerald, has become one of the most talked-about fan projects of 2026, earning praise from players who call it a “love letter to Gen 2”. The project was built largely by a single developer known as Lil Dill, who spent a full year of full-time work on it with no prior programming experience.
What Pokemon Heart and Soul Actually Is
Pokemon Heart & Soul is a ROM hack built on pokeemerald-expansion, a community codebase that modernizes Pokemon Emerald. The game blends key parts of Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal with features from the Nintendo DS remakes HeartGold and SoulSilver, all while keeping the look and feel of a Game Boy Advance title. It is not an official Nintendo or Game Freak product.
The game includes the full Johto story campaign, the complete HGSS-style Kanto post-game, 16 Gym Leader rematches, two Safari Zones, the Battle Frontier, and restored systems like Voltorb Flip and the Ice Path boulder puzzle. Pokemon from Generations 1 through 3 appear in the main game, along with their later evolutions, while the built-in Randomizer can pull creatures from Generations 1 through 9.
The 2.0 Update Changed the Game
The project’s 2.0 update released on August 22, 2026, and it was the biggest change since the game first launched in September 2025. The update rebuilt the game on a new engine, which means saves from older versions are not compatible and players must start fresh.
The update added a Pokégear with full radio channels and rematches, all 92 TMs from HeartGold and SoulSilver, Generation 9 abilities and items, a Generation 7 learnset option, and a GB Sounds item that lets players switch back to classic Gen 2 music and sound effects. Kanto’s maps and tilesets were completely rebuilt, and new post-game content was added, including a side event that lets players travel to the Alola Islands.
“Development for this project was primarily a solo-effort that consumed almost all of my free time for the last year,” the developer wrote. “I am not a professional programmer, but I did my best to make the game that I wanted to play.”
Built-In Nuzlocke and Randomizer Modes
The game includes an official Nuzlocke mode with adjustable rules, including Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty options, Dupes and Shiny Clauses, forced nicknames, automatic releases, Pokemon Center bans, evolution limits, type restrictions, increased shop prices, and Mirror Modes. A built-in Randomizer is also included, with settings that can pull Pokemon from every generation up to Gen 9.
Difficulty settings let players change level caps, EXP gains, party sizes, and other rules. The game also includes toggleable Physical/Special split, toggleable Fairy type, AutoRun and FastSurf options, and an EXP Share available from the start.
Fans Call It the Definitive Johto Experience
Player reactions across Reddit, Backloggd, and community forums have been largely positive. One player on Reddit described the project as “a love letter to Gen 2,” a phrase that has stuck with the game.
“That is my favorite ROM hack of all time,” wrote a Reddit user. “A big thank you to the developers who created this for us and continue to support it with all the updates.”
“The level curve is insanely well done, and gives the game some great pacing,” another player wrote on Backloggd. “They somehow made EXP Share well-balanced, and it’s honestly something I would like to see in current Pokemon.”
“Very happy with the quality of this hack,” a player said. “It made me very nostalgic, and the sprite art looked excellent. Especially the custom surfing ones.”
Some players noted that the cave and dungeon designs can feel slow, but most reviews still recommend the game for anyone who wants to revisit Johto. A review on Backloggd called it “such a nice, cozy Pokemon experience” and “a solid upgrade to one of my favorite pokemon games”.
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How to Play Pokemon Heart and Soul
Pokemon Heart & Soul is available as a .ups patch file that must be applied to a legally obtained copy of Pokemon Emerald Version (U). The patch file and instructions are available only through the official GitHub releases page and the Hackdex page. The developers do not accept donations, and the project is fully open source.
Recommended emulators include mGBA for PC and Mac, and PizzaBoy, Lemuroid, or RetroArch with the mGBA core for Android devices. The game is playable on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, and handheld devices that support GBA emulators. The latest version as of September 2026 is v2.0.6.
Pokemon Heart & Soul stands as a complete, playtested project that gives players a way to experience the Johto region with modern features on classic hardware. Its open-source nature means other developers can build on it, and the community continues to share feedback and updates through the official Discord server.
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