Are GB/GBC/GBA/DS saves region-free?

[Deleted member 354686]

Basically, would the save file of one regional version of a game work with another regional version of the game?

 

[q9p]

GB, GBC, GBA, and DS games are region free. I have a copy of a Japanese Fire Red and a copy of Red in my house that I have played before. For saves, they are "region free" as well.

 

[Deleted member 354686]

GB, GBC, GBA, and DS games are region free. I have a copy of a Japanese Fire Red and a copy of Red in my house that I have played before. For saves, they are "region free" as well.

Thank you.

 

[Deleted User]

never ever mix different language saves with GB/C games. Not sure about GBA but for DS Pokémon games at least I think the saves work on any region. The European version of Scribblenauts has a different word list and the multiplayer is region locked so I'm guessing mixing saves won't work right for that game

 

[MichiS97]

DS savefiles are region-free but GBA ones are not. You will have to change a specific byte in the save file. I'm not perfectly sure if that's the case for all GBA titles but I had to do that in Pokemon Emerald and Minish Cap when I changed my ROM from the European to the American one.

 

[SilverTheGamer]

DS savefiles are region-free but GBA ones are not. You will have to change a specific byte in the save file. I'm not perfectly sure if that's the case for all GBA titles but I had to do that in Pokemon Emerald and Minish Cap when I changed my ROM from the European to the American one.

What byte exactly?

 

[MichiS97]

What byte exactly?

I don't know if it's the same for every game but in Minish Cap you'll need to change BZME to BZMP in the first few lines when you open the save file in a HEX editor to change the save from US to EU. So basically just look for the game's ID.

 

[SilverTheGamer]

I don't know if it's the same for every game but in Minish Cap you'll need to change BZME to BZMP in the first few lines when you open the save file in a HEX editor to change the save from US to EU. So basically just look for the game's ID.

And pokemon?

 

[MichiS97]

And pokemon?

Probably pretty much the same. Just find the game ID in the save and if you're playing the US version it should have an E in it, which you can change to P for Europe or J for Japan

 

[SilverTheGamer]

Probably pretty much the same. Just find the game ID in the save and if you're playing the US version it should have an E in it, which you can change to P for Europe or J for Japan

Thanks. I'm asking because i want to use the Japanese GameCube distributions without playing the game again in Japanese just so i can connect

 

[Sliter]

it's not something that works for all, but we can say in generl they are
for example, for some reason we can't use the saves of a japanese and any of the western pokemon with the Korean version õ3o

 

[SilverTheGamer]

it's not something that works for all, but we can say in generl they are
for example, for some reason we can't use the saves of a japanese and any of the western pokemon with the Korean version õ3o

Region locking? I guess? Question mark?

 

[Lumstar]

Anything really. Data shifting, content added/removed by the translators...
Have you looked for a GameCube Action Replay code to tell the game it's okay to connect to different languages? It may be easier than trying to move a save file.

 

[Sliter]

Region locking? I guess? Question mark?

I don't know, the games should have been compatible, at least by GTS that time?
Like, DPPt don't have hangul (Korean characters) on the JP+west games, they where added to the corean version (also was the "start" of pokemon officially translated in Korea... they also had GS on GBC but in a different way so idk lol... I want these carts on my collection...
(I the gbc case the english version saves may be compatible with Koean because these games have alphabet support, even you don't being able write ingame õ3o)
So then in HGSS they added the hangul in all. but .. I don't really remember if I tried it but I think that also don't worked.. and I remind trying to make a trade and it not working ...
Also I have relates of people with Korean Mario Kart DS on a R4 ....not being abble to connect to others but well even the DS system is a bit different there and I almost got one, but IDK about saves there ..,

Have you looked for a GameCube Action Replay code to tell the game it's okay to connect to different languages? It may be easier than trying to move a save file.

what kind of connection you mean?

 

[Ryccardo]

Yeah, it all depends on the specific game

Some emulators/flashcards may add a header that prevents loading a save in a game with a different titleid, which is what @MichiS97 said, but this is a separate problem from different regions of a game (which technically are completely separate) supporting other regions'

And yep, 8-bit games - often using a custom character set - are less likely to be compatible

 

[Lumstar]

I don't know, the games should have been compatible, at least by GTS that time?
Like, DPPt don't have hangul (Korean characters) on the JP+west games, they where added to the corean version (also was the "start" of pokemon officially translated in Korea... they also had GS on GBC but in a different way so idk lol... I want these carts on my collection...
(I the gbc case the english version saves may be compatible with Koean because these games have alphabet support, even you don't being able write ingame õ3o)
So then in HGSS they added the hangul in all. but .. I don't really remember if I tried it but I think that also don't worked.. and I remind trying to make a trade and it not working ...
Also I have relates of people with Korean Mario Kart DS on a R4 ....not being abble to connect to others but well even the DS system is a bit different there and I almost got one, but IDK about saves there ..,


what kind of connection you mean?

GCN games that region lock their GBA connection features. Pokemon Colosseum & XD expect the correct language cart, or they'll block it.

Other stuff not related to Pokemon applies too. Like the bonus disc items only (officially) work for North American Fire Emblem.

 

[Sliter]

GCN games that region lock their GBA connection features. Pokemon Colosseum & XD expect the correct language cart, or they'll block it.

Other stuff not related to Pokemon applies too. Like the bonus disc items only (officially) work for North American Fire Emblem.

ok this need to be edited in game, if you want to accept all region maybe you have to write some code to make it happen :/
in DS/wii we have a similar issue that I really wanted to get rid of , in pokemon battle revolution , we cant link games with the region different of the wii game region :/ I don't know why this since the games aren't locked for communication between regions...
well for he Gc I saw something to get the colosseum celebi on a english game but you need to make a change on the GC game...
https://gbatemp.net/threads/finally-hack-for-japanese-colosseum-bonus-disc-for-us-games.253401/ I found it XD

 

[Lumstar]

right, the japanese celebi is more desirable for being original/legit.
Fans later uncovered its canceled english version.

You want to know about korean games? GS were released first, and they left in broken link compatibility with western games. Even if nothing crashes, you'll get garbled names. non-korean games had no clue what hangul are. A necessary landmine to complete the pokedex without blatant cheating. http://serebii.net/gs/unobtainable.shtml
http://serebii.net/gs/unobtainable.shtml
Although korea didn't have the GBA games, DPPt & HGSS could use the pal park to migrate from them.
black and white at long last fixed it, hangul recognized in all countries. pokemon originating from korean vs non-korean DDPt & HGSS must be transferred to black and white to interact correctly.

 

[Sliter]

yes I knew a bit of this, it's interesting in some points actually o3o

Although korea didn't have the GBA games, DPPt & HGSS could use the pal park to migrate from them.

but what region of GBA games does it accept ? since, at this is region locked on each language ...

 

[Dimensional]

I don't believe GBA saves can be used on multiple region games. I attempted to do that with a Metroid: Zero Mission VC injection, and it didn't read the file. I had extracted the save from the VC, which is a EUR version, and tried to play it on VGBA-M using a US rom, and the file wouldn't be read. In the end I had to extract the game from the VC and play it for it to work. The EUR save wouldn't be read on the US game.