Playing through all nine Pokémon generations would cost you nearly $900
With Pokémon’s 30th anniversary on the horizon, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A just around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about the series’ storied history, and our various adventures through the nine distinct regions we’ve visited so far. Of course, many of us started our journey in childhood, collecting games as we aged, but how much would it cost someone to play through all nine generations in 2025?
When embarking on this thought experiment, it’s important to note that I didn’t just want to work out the cost of playing every Pokémon game in order. As a series, Pokémon isn’t afraid of a remake or two, so playing each individual game isn’t necessary to get a full picture of the story so far. Instead, I set out to find the cheapest route for a newcomer to visit all nine Pokémon regions (and Hisui), including the price of the hardware.
So, let’s start with the handhelds. To cover the series’ history, you need handhelds from the Game Boy Advance, 3DS, and Switch families of devices. Based on my research, you can nab an original Game Boy Advance for around $70 (or $190 if you want it refurbished with a backlit screen), an original Nintendo 2DS for around $125, and Amazon has a great deal on a turquoise Switch Lite for just under $155. That brings the total hardware cost alone up to $350, but, of course, you’re not limited to just playing Pokémon on these devices, so they’re worth it, in my opinion.
Read the full story on Pocket Tactics: Playing through all nine Pokémon generations would cost you nearly $900
With Pokémon’s 30th anniversary on the horizon, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A just around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about the series’ storied history, and our various adventures through the nine distinct regions we’ve visited so far. Of course, many of us started our journey in childhood, collecting games as we aged, but how…