Classic Pokémon games just made an unexpected comeback

What a time to be alive: Fallout fever has gripped both veteran and new fans alike, and classic Pokémon is back in a big way. It can't get any better than this.

No disrespect to modern Pokémon games – I quite like them despite all their flaws. But classic Pokémon is where it’s at. Those old games have something about them that the newer offerings are missing.

Imagine how overjoyed we are, then, to see those heady days make a comeback in such a big and unexpected way.

More unexpectedly, the source of this comeback has Apple to thank for making it happen.

Ever since Apple relaxed its emulator policies, an opportunity has been lurking for emulators to help us all live our nostalgia on our devices.

As obsessed with Pokémon as us? You need to sleep in Gengar's mouth then. We don't make the rules!

And thanks to the work of developer, Riley Testut, we now have an emulator that’ll make accessing some of Nintendo’s older titles possible.

Delta, a once rejected emulator app, is now available for you to download so you can train to become the Pokémon Master of your dreams.

“Congrats on finally getting to where you belong,” posted one gamer. Retro games experts, Retro Dodo, simply shared a gif of a standing ovation, mirroring much of the praise aimed at the Delta app.

The app is free to download, provided you’re not residing in the EU; if that’s the case, you’ll be charged €1.50, as outlined on Twitter by AltStore.io. Given what we can gain from that fee, it feels like a small price to pay.

Nintendo players need this win now more than ever before, after the shutting down of old Nintendo Online services saw Pokémon get deleted that gamers have had for years. We’ve lost so much, it’s about time we get something back.

How long the Delta app will survive given Nintendo’s immense dislike of emulators remains unknown. As much as it would be nice for it to fly under the radar, Nintendo doesn't mess about with these things.

Still, for now we have access to classic Pokémon; we’ll savour every second we have.