Dual-slot mode (Japanese: ダブルスロット Double-Slot) is a method of communication between a Nintendo DS game card and a Game Boy Advance game cartridge by inserting both into the same Nintendo DS system. Would I be able to play an American Game Boy Advance game on my European DS via the GBA slot at the bottom of the device? I know the on the whole Nintendo don't region-lock their portables (at least before the 3DS came out) but I just want to be 100% sure. Renaming gba games to work with DraStic's slot 2 functionality is designed to allow for the handfull (I think around 15 but it is probably less) of games that have either a feature unlock or transfer from a GBA cart to a NDS game.

Dual-slot mode (Japanese: ダブルスロットDouble-Slot) is a method of communication between a Nintendo DS game card and a Game Boy Advance game cartridge by inserting both into the same Nintendo DS system. However, due to the removal of the GBA slot, dual-slot mode is not available if the player is using a system from the Nintendo DSi family or Nintendo 3DS family.

• 1In the core series games
  • 1.2Dongle method

In the core series games

Pal Park

Main article: Pal Park

In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, Pal Park allows the player to transfer Pokémon from Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen, using dual-slot mode for communication. Additionally, someone at Pal Park will give accessories to the player if there is a game cartridge in the DS.

The Pokémon are sent from the Generation III game to the Generation IV game, and cannot be sent back.

Dongle method

Ds With Gba Slot

In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, the dongle method changes the wild Pokémon that appear based on the game in the Game Boy Advance slot, via dual-slot mode. This method is compatible with any of the Generation IIIcore series games: Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen. The name 'dongle method' is an unofficial name that comes from the fact that this method uses the Game Boy Advance game as a dongle for the Nintendo DS game.

After obtaining the National Pokédex, if the player had an applicable GBA game inserted in the GBA slot when they opened the title screen, the dongle method allows specific wild Pokémon to appear depending on the GBA game. Wild encounters will not change if a GBA game is inserted or removed from the Nintendo DS system after the title screen.

The wild Pokémon that can appear this way are mostly not in the Sinnoh Pokédex in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. They are usually game-exclusive Pokémon to one of the Generation III games. They usually have an 8% chance of appearing, or 4% each if there are two different Pokémon that can appear this way in the same location due to the same game.

Pokémon Dream Radar has a similar feature that allows players to catch a Generation IV game mascot with its Hidden Ability in extensions unlocked by putting the Game Card of the corresponding game into the game card slot of the Nintendo 3DS system.

List of Pokémon available using the dongle method

Event distributions

In the Generation IV core series games, some event distributions were done using a Slot 2 cartridge, which was inserted into the GBA slot to send data to the DS game card.

In Pokémon Dash

In Pokémon Dash, players can make custom cups based on the party in a Generation III core series game inserted in the GBA slot. Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen sprites are used; Spinda patterns are retained, but Shiny coloration is not depicted. Eggs in the player's party are ignored.

The Japanese, European, and American versions of Pokémon Dash have no region checks, allowing the player use any language game (although only the first 5 characters of a Pokémon's name will be displayed in the Japanese version of Pokémon Dash). The Korean version only allows Japanese game cartridges to be used.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, dual-slot mode allows the game to communicate with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team.

If the player has both games inserted into a compatible system, SOS Mail can be sent between the games, allowing for the rescue team in one game to save the team in the other cartridge's save file.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, the player can use Receive Team while Red Rescue Team is in the Game Boy Advance slot. If used, the rescue team from Red Rescue Team becomes the boss of the Rescue Team Maze of Makuhita Dojo.

In other languages

See also

The following is an alphabetical list of Nintendo DS games with a special Game Boy Advance linkage function. When the corresponding Game Boy Advance game cartridge is inserted into the Nintendo DS' GBA slot, special features are unlocked in the Nintendo DS game. Note: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow only works with its corresponding region game. For example, the European version of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow only works with the European version of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Unfortunately since the Nintendo DSi does not have a slot for Game Boy Advance games, these extra features cannot be accessed unless they have already been activated by using a Nintendo DS or DS Lite.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike

GBA Game: Advance Wars or Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Special Features:

• New maps can be bought for 1 point in the Battle Maps Shop.
• Advance Wars unlocks 'Advance Warpaper', 'Hachi's Land' and 'Nell's Land.'
• Advance Wars 2 unlocks 'Advance Warpaper 2,' 'Lash's Land' and 'Strum's Land.'

Bleach DS

GBA Game: Bleach Advance: Kurenai ni Somaru Soul Society

Special Features:

• Unlocks a bonus of 500000 points for Urahara shop.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

GBA Game: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Special Features:

• A doll resembling Mina appears in Yoko's shop.
• The rare ring is awarded to the player at the beginning of the game.

Daigasso! Band Brothers

GBA Game: Daigasso! Band Brothers Tsuika Kyoku Cartridge (Infact, not a real GBA game but an expansion pack that comes in the formof a GBA cartridge)

Special Features:

• Unlocks 32 new songs and nine old songs
• Unlock four new brothers

Eyeshield 21: MAX Devil Power

GBA Game: Eyeshield 21: Devilbats Devildays

Special Features:

• Beat the game to unlock Kengo Mizumachi & Shun Kakei.

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

GBA Game: ChuChu Rocket, Puyo Pop, Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Advance 3, Sonic Battle, Sonic Pinball Party, or Space Channel 5 Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack

Special Features:

• Puyo Pop unlocks the Puyo Wig in Maniac Mode.
• Sonic Advance 1 and 2 unlock the Sonic Wig.
• Sonic Advance 3 unlocks the Chao Wig.
• Sonic Battle and Space Channel 5 unlock the Ulala Wig.
• Sonic Pinball Party and ChuChu Rocket unlock the NiGHTS Wig.

All of these features can be unlocked without having to put any of the GBA cartridges in Slot 2 of the Nintendo DS.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

GBA Game: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Special Features:

• unlocks Clan ability 'Libra' at the start of the game (or when loading a game).

Frogger: Helmet Chaos

GBA Game: Frogger's Journey Frogger's Journey: The Forgotten Relic, Frogger's Adventures Frogger's Adventures: Temple of the Frog or Frogger's Adventures 2 Frogger's Adventures 2: The Lost Wand

Special Features:

• Frogger's Journey: The Forgotten Relic unlocks the Punk costume.
• Frogger's Adventures: Temple of the Frog unlocks the Santa costume.
• Frogger's Adventures 2: The Lost Wand unlocks the Pirate costume.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy

GBA Game: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Omoide no Sonata orHagane no Renkinjutsushi: Meisou no Rondo

Special Features:

• Omoide no Sonata unlocks picture 1-2.
• Meisou no Rondo unlocks picture 1-3.

Goemon: Toukai Douchuu Ganbare Goemon: Toukai Douchuu

GBA Game: Ganbare Goemon Ganbare Goemon 1+2: Yuki-hime to Magginisu

Special Features:

• Various characters from the GBA game will appear at select locations.
• Space Mambo is available in the mini-game option.

Harvest Moon DS

GBA Game: Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town orHarvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town

Special Features:

• Newspapers from Mineral Town appear in the mailbox.
• Girls from Mineral town appear.
• Name appears on grave.

Kim Possible: Kimmunicator

GBA Game: Disney's Kim Possible: Revenge of Monkey Fist,Disney's Kim Possible 2: Drakken's Demise or Disney's Kim Possible 3: Team Possible

Special Features:

• Revenge of Monkey Fist unlocks the Bueno Nacho outfit.
• Drakken's Demise unlocks the super spy Commando outfit.
• Team Possible unlocks the white & blue Super Suit outfit.

Kirby: Canvas Curse

GBA Game: Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land or Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

Special Features:

• The game only needs to be completed with one character to unlock Waddle Doo, as opposed to all the characters normally.
• Unlocks Nightmare in Dreamland music.

Knights in the Nightmare

GBA Game: Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone

Special Features:

• Unlocks the mysterious witch, Pamela.
• Yggdra from Yggdra Union host the tutorials.

Lunar Knights

GBA Game: Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand, Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django or Shin Bokura no Taiyō Gyakushū no Sabata

Special Features:

• Unlocks Sound Data (Boktai - Boktai 2/Zoktai - Shinbok).
• Unlocks Solar Sensor (ver. 1 - ver. 2 - ver. 3) : Solar Sensor will charge the Solar Station depending on the actual sunlight and allows your standby character to replenish their ENE (ver. 1), LIFE (ver. 2) or TRC (ver. 3).

Madden NFL 06

GBA Game: Madden NFL 06 or Madden NFL 2005

Ds Lite Gba Slot Cover

Special Features:

• Unlocks a bonus set of Madden cards that can be purchased.

MegaMan Battle Network 5

GBA Game: MegaMan Battle Network (video game) Mega Man Battle Network, MegaMan Battle Network 2, MegaMan Battle Network 3, MegaMan Battle Network 4, Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation, MegaMan Battle Network 5, Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand, Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django,Boktai: Sabata's Counterattack Boktai 3: Sabata's Counterattack

Special Features:

• Any Boktai game unlocks Zoktai Trader, Otenko Statue, 1000 Bat Wacking Minigame, and if Boktai 2 (3 in the Japanese version) is in Slot 2 then Sol Cross Mega Man.EXE is unlocked.
• Mega Man Battle Network games unlock many different bonus depending on the game inserted (see GameFAQs' entry).
• If the game is Battle Network 5 (either version), you can import your active folder as your extra folder. Also, if it is the opposite version, you get a TP chip.

Mega Man Star Force

GBA Game: MegaMan Battle Network (video game) Mega Man Battle Network, MegaMan Battle Network 2, MegaMan Battle Network 3, MegaMan Battle Network 4, Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation, MegaMan Battle Network 5, MegaMan Battle Network 6, MegaMan Battle Chip Challenge

Special Features:

• A cutscene with MegaMan.EXE will occur and when you give him data that you received during the scenario, he will convert the data into a Battle Network-related Battle Card, called the EXE Blaster in Japanese and BN Buster in English.

Mega Man ZX

GBA Game: Mega Man Zero 3, Mega Man Zero 4

Special Features:

• Putting in either Mega Man Zero 3 or 4 allows you to fight the four original bosses from the respective games.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

GBA Game: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Gyakuten Saiban

Special Features:

• Unlocks Episode 5 (only works with Japanese version).

Phoenix Wright: Justice for All

GBA Game: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Gyakuten Saiban 2

Special Features:

Ds Lite Gba Slot Not Working

• Unlocks Episode 1-4 (only works with Japanese version).

Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations

GBA Game: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Gyakuten Saiban 3

Special Features:

• Unlocks all cases (only works with Japanese version).

Pokémon Dash

GBA Game: Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Pokémon Ruby/Sapphireor Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen orPokémon Emerald

Special Features:

• After beating all five cups, your party from any of these GBA games can be used to create a new cup.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum

GBA Game: Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Pokémon Ruby/Sapphireor Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen orPokémon Emerald

Special Features:

• Allows a player to transfer a Pokémon from the GBA to the DS games through the Pal Park function; however, there are some requirements before doing this. Once you have transferred, you cannot transfer the other way.
• Depending on the GBA game in the GBA slot, some wild Pokémon that are not normally found in Diamond or Pearl will appear in certain locations. The amount of time the Pokémon are in these locations depends on the amount of time the GBA cartridge is in the slot.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Ds Gba Slot Cover

GBA Game: Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Pokémon Ruby/Sapphireor Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen orPokémon Emerald

Special Features:

• Allows a player to transfer a Pokémon from the GBA to the DS games through the Pal Park function; however, there are some requirements before doing this. Once you have transferred, you cannot transfer the other way.
• Depending on the GBA game in the GBA slot, some wild Pokémon that are not normally found in HeartGold or SoulSilver will appear in certain locations. The amount of time the Pokémon are in these locations depends on the amount of time the GBA cartridge is in the slot.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team

GBA Game: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team

Special Features:

• Unlocks a new dungeon in Makuhita Dojo

Shrek Super Slam

GBA Game: Shrek Super Slam

Special Features:

• Unlocks Shrek's second and third outfits.
• Unlocks Lil' Witch's second and third outfits.

Spider-Man 2 (video game) Spider-Man 2

GBA Game: Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace

Special Features:

• Unlocks all available special moves.

Super Robot Wars W

GBA Game: Super Robot Wars Advance, Super Robot Wars Destiny, Super Robot Wars Judgement, Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation, Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2, Super Robot Wars Reversal

Special Features:Only works with the Japanese version

• Super Robot Taisen A unlocks Soul of SRWA and 30000 Funds.
• Super Robot Taisen D unlocks Soul of SRWD and 50000 Funds.
• Super Robot Taisen J unlocks Soul of SRWJ and 80000 Funds.
• Super Robot Taisen OG unlocks Soul of SRWOG and 60000 Funds.
• Super Robot Taisen OG2 unlocks Soul of SRWOG2 and 70000 Funds.
• Super Robot Taisen R unlocks Soul of SRWR and 40000 Funds.

The Rub Rabbits

GBA Game: ChuChu Rocket, Puyo Pop, Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Advance 3, orSonic Battle

Special Features:

• ChuChu Rocket unlocks the 'Fist Gloves'.
• Puyo Pop unlocks the 'White Gloves'.
• Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2 unlock the 'Pink Glittery Gloves'.
• Sonic Advance 3 unlocks the 'Hand Puppets'.
• Sonic Battle unlocks 'Amy Rose's boxing Gloves'.

The Sims 2

GBA Game: The Sims 2

Special Features:

• The mini-game Moogoo Monkey, previously available in The Urbz, is unlocked for freeplay in the casino.

WarioWare: Touched!

GBA Game: WarioWare: Twisted!

Special Features:

• Unlocks Mona Pizza video.

Yoshi Touch & Go Yoshi Touch & Go

GBA Game: Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Special Feature:

• Unlocks more terrain themes in Marathon Mode.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour

GBA Game: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Duel Academy

Special Features:

Nintendo Ds Gba Slot

• 3 'Winged Kuriboh' cards are added to your collection.