Published Oct 25, 2026, 9:30 PM EDT
James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC.
One of the nicest things about Pokémon's big 30th anniversary celebrations is that it gave longtime fans the perfect excuse to return to the older games in one form or another. Though the Nintendo Switch does have a few of the classic releases available for players, most are still locked to their original platforms, and that can be quite inconvenient in 2026.
One way around digging out all of your old stuff is to play on PC, via the wonders of emulation. Not only that, but dedicated fans have now created hundreds of more modern versions of the games we know and love, twisting everything from the story, to the mechanics, and the array of Pokémon available for the player to catch.
Now, one of the most exciting examples of that has just been released, and it's absolutely one that fans of Johto will want to be aware of.
Pokémon Heart And Soul Is A Fan Game Like No Other
Game FreakAs first reported by GameRant, Pokémon Heart and Soul is now fully feature complete. In case you haven't been introduced to the project before, it essentially functions as both a faithful remake of Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and a demake of the later releases Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
If that wasn't already enough of a reason to give it a try, there's so much going on in the game that you could easily spend the next few months exploring everything it has to offer. The game is built on the Pokeemerald-expansion engine, and it includes every Pokemon from Generations I-III, with all of their associated evolutions (even if they released from Gen IV onward).
In sharing a little about what fans can expect, the developer posted the following description of everything you can expect from their game:
"The full Johto story is followed by a Kanto postgame, with familiar characters and events such as the Kimono Girls and Eusine. The game also keeps popular Heart & Soul features such as following Pokemon, Pokemon appearing around the overworld, day and night encounters, dynamic palettes, HGSS-inspired music, two Safari Zones, unique surfing sprites, and all 16 Gym Leader rematches.
"Heart & Soul is not built around one fixed difficulty level. Players can stay close to the intended experience or adjust a large number of rules, including movepools, Physical/Special mechanics, Fairy typing, EXP rates, level caps, shiny odds, Randomizer settings, Nuzlocke rules, IVs, EVs, party limits, and special challenges."
It's Available To Download Now
In even better news, like all fan games, it's also totally free, so there really isn't much risk associated with giving it a go for yourself. It's available to download from the official website here, though you will want to make sure you have a legitimate copy of the original games to keep everything above board legally.
It's also a great way to fill your time while we wait for Pokémon to enter an entirely new era with the release of the first game of Generation X, Winds and Waves. That looks like a very different prospect from anything we have seen before, so let's hope it delivers on all that promise when it drops next year.
Released March 14, 2010
ESRB e
Developer(s) Game Freak
English (US) ·