“Pokemon HeartGold Generations” is a Completed NDS Rom Hack made by spearmintz. Explore Johto like never before with modern features, 800+ Pokemon, and a fresh take on HeartGold.
Pokemon HeartGold Generations Completed NDS ROM Hack
- Creator: spearmintz
- Base ROM: HeartGold
- Language: English
- Latest Version: v2.0
- Last Updated On: September 03, 2025
- Status: Completed
Also Check Out: Pokemon Soothing Silver NDS Rom
Description
Pokemon HeartGold Generations is a ROM hack built on the upgraded HeartGold engine, designed to bring a fresh experience to Gen 4. It features Pokemon from Generations 1 through 9, modern gameplay mechanics like nature changing, and a variety of quality-of-life improvements. The project showcases the potential of Gen 4 hacking by blending classic content with contemporary features in a fully playable format.
Features (Updated v2.0)
- 950+ Pokémon from all 9 generations, including 100+ Legendaries, all catchable in Kanto
- All Evolution Methods supported, including trade and cross-gen evolutions
- Smarter Trainers & Gym Leaders — no more weak teams
- Unlimited Candy & Pocket Heal to speed up leveling and healing
- Portable PC lets you switch Pokémon anywhere (press L)
- Buy Nature Mints & Ability Capsules in-game
- Type Changes for weaker or forgotten Pokémon
- Free Heart Scales after 7 gyms to relearn moves
- Free Master Balls after 8 gyms for easier catching
- Level Cap system to prevent over-leveling
- Mega Evolution fully working
- Balanced Level Curve for smoother gameplay
- Endgame Boss Rush featuring Kanto Gym Leaders
- Unlocked 60fps for faster, smoother gameplay
- Around 835 Pokemon from over 400 evolutionary families, spanning all 9 generations
- All trade evolutions and cross-generation evolutions are available without external requirements
- Free Rare Candies to help raise underleveled wild Pokemon
- Buyable Nature Mints and Ability Capsules for easier team customization
- Free Heart Scales after earning 7 badges, useful for move relearning
- A level cap system is in place to prevent overleveling
- Fully functional Mega Evolution
- Slightly adjusted level curve to keep Gym Leaders more relevant throughout the game
- Gym Leader teams have been tweaked to encourage the use of more Johto-native Pokemon
- Pokemon variety and general moveset power remain balanced (e.g., Falkner’s Pidgey replaced with Hoothoot)
- Some late-game generic trainers have had their levels increased for better challenge
- Available in three different versions, each tailored to different player preferences (details in the download section)
Changelog
v2.0
- 100+ Legendary Pokemon added
- Fixed dozens of bugged evolutions
- Every Trainer and Gym Leader adjusted to be more challenging for adult gamers (NOT A DIFFICULTY HACK)
- Rare Candy and other QoL mechanics adjusted to be more integrated
- Items can be used repeatedly (Potions/Rare Candies etc)
- Portable PC implemented
- Kanto Gym leaders made into hardcore boss rush trainers
- Encounter tables adjusted
- 60FPS unlocked framerate
v1.1
- Fixed Level Cap bug.
General Notes & Version Difference
Not all 1025 Pokemon are available in HeartGold Generations. Due to the current limitations of the hg-engine, a number of Pokemon remain unavailable. These are primarily Legendaries, along with some standard species that rely on non-implemented abilities (such as Palafin or Morpeko) or lack sprite assets entirely (like Bounsweet or Arctovish). As a result, completing the full National Dex isn’t possible—but that’s not the focus of this hack.
To accommodate different player preferences, the game is available in three distinct versions. Each offers a slightly different experience, tailored to different playstyles. See below for version differences.
The Lite and Vanilla versions are no longer being updated starting from version 2.0. They are only available up to version 1.1. If you wish to play that version of the game, please refer to the old features list.
| Full Version | Lite Version | Vanilla Version |
|---|---|---|
| Expanded Dex | Expanded Dex | Regular HG Dex |
| Free Rare Candies at Start | Free Rare Candies after 8 Gyms | Free Rare Candies after 8 Gyms |
| Hard Level Caps | No Level Caps | No Level Caps |
| All Trade evolutions possible | All Trade evolutions possible | All Trade evolutions possible |
| Cross gen evolutions possible | Cross gen evolutions possible | Cross gen evolutions possible |
| Minor level curve adjustments | Minor level curve adjustments | Completely vanilla |
| Minor trainer/boss edits | Minor trainer/boss edits | Completely vanilla |
| Nature Mints and Ability Capsules | Nature Mints and Ability Capsules | Nature Mints and Ability Capsules |
| Fairy Type | Fairy Type | Fairy Type |
| Johto Starter type changes | Johto Starter type changes | No type changes at all |
| Ability additions for some Pokemon | Ability additions for some Pokemon | Ability additions for some Pokemon |
Creator Notes
The entire HeartGold Generations project is now open source. The goal is to help spark interest in Gen 4 ROM hacking and show what’s possible with the hg-engine—especially for those who may not have realized how much can be done with HeartGold as a base.
All three versions of the hack are available as separate branches on the GitHub repository, making it easy to fork and create custom versions. Community contributions and personal variations are encouraged.
Known Bugs / Issues
- MelonDS crashes after Hall of Fame.
- Ariana Double battle in Mahogany town can cause crashes when fainting both opponents at the same time.
- Save often
- Health Absorbing moves (absorb, giga drain) don’t heal you on “not very effective” opponents.
- Just deal with it, I guess
- Generic Heartgold emulation bugs like flickering sprites or following pokemon etc
- This is not a bug from my hack, its intrinsic to emulation. Just save in-game the moment you see a glitch and reload.
- No Guard ability seems to not work, maybe just with Fury Cutter
Game Related Stuff
Download Pokemon HeartGold Generations
The Lite and Vanilla versions are no longer being updated starting from version 2.0. They are only available up to version 1.1. If you wish to play that version of the game, please refer to the old features list.
Previous Version v1.1
Mirror Links
Screenshots
Known Bugs
No Guard ability seems to not work, maybe just with Fury Cutter
Credits
- hg-engine – BluRosie
- Hacking video tutorials – sauceyaTTa
- Custom PokeMart script – Drayano
- Kingdom of Hacking Discord Channel
