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12. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (DS)
There's a lot to keep you occupied in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team. Whilst some missions can feel the same as others, there's some good action, a decent story and plenty of fun to be had here. And while we enjoyed this entry on the DS, that useful second screen comes at the cost of a smaller main screen compared to the GBA counterpart. There are also touchscreen controls that work well whether you are using them for menu navigation or opting to play the whole game with a stylus. All in all, Blue Rescue Team isn't the best PMD game, but it is a solid one.
11. Pokémon Colosseum (GCN)
One of the more unique and curious entries in the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon Colosseum not only thrusts you into the role of an established trainer but you're also tasked with "snagging" Pokémon from your opponents instead of catching them out in the field. It's a bold choice that we feel likely wouldn't go down so well in a mainline title, but feels right at home in this oddball spin-off. Friends can get together and take part in tournaments, and just like all great Pokémon games, Colosseum let you link up the Game Boy Advance titles so you can trade to your heart's content. We'd love to see this spin-off series make a return.
10. Pokémon Snap (N64)
Sitting in a vehicle moving along a set path as you take photographs might not seem like much fun, but Pokémon Snap quickly proves to be a highly enjoyable, if short-lived, experience. The quest to find a few more Pokémon or score better to open up new stages or get a useful item keeps you engaged for the game's brief duration and the variety of creatures and their actions keeps things interesting when replaying stages. There are only 63 Pokémon to find, and it can be cleared very quickly, but there's plenty of opportunity for new and improved (or funnier) photos with each playthrough. The Switch sequel may have far eclipsed this one, but Pokémon Snap's inhabitants will surely bring a smile to your face.
9. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (GBA)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team may have lacked some of the DS version's useful features, but we enjoyed how these games bridged the GBA/DS hardware divide in an interesting way. Missions tend to play similarly to one another, but a variety of locations and Pokémon (friendly and otherwise) help dull the sense of sameness in this Chunsoft dungeon crawler. As with many games in this genre, the repetitive nature can still drag things down at times, although an interesting plot development usually grabs your attention. It has its faults, but Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team is still an enjoyable game — and one that's easier to find these days on Switch in the form of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. This, however, is the best version of the game.
8. Pokémon Trading Card Game (GBC)
The Pokémon Trading Card Game successfully shows newcomers the ropes while providing the initiated with a slick, faithful adaption of the tabletop experience. It’s all the fun with none of the clutter, and the ability to save multiple decks allows for both experimentation and control over your play style. The main story would benefit from having some more unpredictable AI opponents, but overall we're very pleased this is now more widely available via Nintendo Switch Online and we’re definitely ready for a new sequel. You've done New Pokémon Snap, Nintendo — let's be having this, too!
7. Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon (3DS)
If you're a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fan, then there's a lot to lobe in Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon — the amount of things to do is staggering and the new form of recruitment through missions makes for a streamlined means of achieving the goal of catching 'em all. We'd recommend this to those of you who don't mind a lot of grinding in RPGs, as there's plenty to enjoy here if you can push on through the copious amounts of padding. Repetition that's present in nearly every aspect makes for an experience that can sometimes feel like a chore rather than entertainment. If that doesn't sound up your alley it may be best to pass. There's no shortage of Pokémon games, right?
6. Pokémon Stadium 2 (N64)
The original Pokémon Stadium was fine, but Pokémon Stadium 2 expanded the concept of a 3D companion cartridge to play alongside the mainline Game Boy games. It included Pokémon from both the Johto and Kanto regions and offered some juicy extras if you owned the Game Boy entries (we pity whoever had a Pokémon Stadium game without owning Blue, Red, Yellow, Gold, or Silver!). Only in the soundtrack department did it arguably not live up to its predecessor, but otherwise this felt like the 'proper' execution of the concept.
5. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (GCN)
The follow-up to Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness released in 2005 and had you catching Shadow 'mon and 'purifying' them. Using the GBA-GC link cable, it was possible to connect any of the Game Boy Advance mainline entries to XD for battling and trading and, although it didn't change things significantly from its predecessor, it still provided a decent 3D Pokémon experience before the mainline games went into the third dimension.
4. Pokémon Conquest (DS)
Pokémon Conquest is a game that no one asked for, but many will enjoy — fans of either series will be drawn in by the familiar and be taught to love what’s new. It does just about everything right, though there are shortcomings: more Pokémon being included would have helped, as would a deeper story – Pokémon Black and White showed that the monster-catching series is capable of telling a story with some heft to it. These are little more than nicks in the armour, though. Pokémon Conquest absolutely stands with Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Puzzle League as one of the best spin-offs the franchise has seen.
3. New Pokémon Snap (Switch)
If, like us, you've been waiting a significant chunk of your life for a sequel to Pokémon Snap, then you're in luck; New Pokémon Snap brings back almost everything that made the original special and fleshes it out into a much more elaborate game. This is something you can sink some serious time into and while there are some minor frustrations and pacing issues in the story, playing freely at your own pace is a pure joy. The original has gone down in history possibly as Pokémon's greatest spin-off, and it may have been dethroned.
2. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time / Darkness (DS)
This pair of Pokémon games from Chunsoft were sequels to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, games which (unusually) straddled the GBA and DS respectively, using the latter's GBA cartridge slot to interface between the two. Both Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness were DS-only and brought along all the Gen IV Pokémon. The game sees you transformed into a Pocket Monster at the beginning and, of course, you'll need both versions if you want to catch 'em all. Two years later the enhanced Explorers of Sky would arrive with added 'mons, dungeons and features. These games' repetitive gameplay isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you're after dungeon crawling with added cuteness from your favourite franchise critters, it doesn't get much better than this.
1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (DS)
The customary 'enhanced' third version of Chunsoft's Explorers of Time / Darkness pair, the meat of the gameplay in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is found in constantly retreading through material and mechanics, so your mileage will vary and depend entirely upon how much you enjoy grinding in RPGs. However, the great story and charming presentation make this an enjoyable franchise spin-off and, provided you're not the type of player to be put off by a little repetition, this is a deep, fun and colourful dungeon crawler featuring everyone's favourite critters.
Where does your favourite Pokémon spin-off sit on this list? Remember that the list above is dynamic and you can still potentially influence the ranking if you haven't rated your favourites yet.
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Comments 47
I'm honestly surprised that the new Pokemon Snap was ranked so high, maybe I'm missing something.
Just checked the top of the list to make certain that Pokémon Conquest was there. Happy and amazed that it was ranked so high.
Good to see the Mystery Dungeon games get the love they deserve, even if their descriptions from the writers aren’t the most flattering.
But, I will never understand why Colosseum and XD are so loved. I played them within the last few years and I hated them. Guess it’s just a me problem, but I will never like them.
Mystery Dungeon games in the top two shakes my faith in the readership here.
Nice to see Pokemon Trozei on there. I did enjoy playing that one on the DS.
I haven't played many of the spinoffs; kinda shocked there are over 50 😅 New Pokemon Snap is one on my wishlist I want to buy if I can ever find a decent sale; such a cute game.
Explorers of Sky at #1, as it should be
@Cleefuzz Same! I'd love to see Pokémon dip into the tactical RPG space again. A modern Fire Emblem-style Pokémon game would be incredible.
@Shepdawg1 Probably because they were the closed we ever had to an mainline Pokemon games on a home console until the Switch
But yes, I also played them for the first time like 2 years ago and they are very tedious
Pokémon Puzzle League too low, list invalid (Mystery Dungeon games being at the top is great to see though)
@iLikeUrAttitude Very likely, I found it to be by far the best Pokémon game since Black/White 2.
I need to play Conquest again, love that game so much.
In my opinion, Pokémon Dash is not just "one of the weaker Pokémon spinoffs", it's one of the worst games ever made. And I've played some stinkers.
The top 3 I very much agree with. I haven't played Sky, but Time/Darkness was absolutely fantastic, and an expanded version of it couldn't be worse I suppose. New Snap is just wonderful in pretty much every way as well, I only have minor nitpicks like the music not being as good as in the original.
By the way, I just started playing Shadows of Almia today, and oh boy... I've played the other two Ranger games before, but I don't remember them being so boring at the beginning. I hope the pace picks up from here.
Pokemon Conquest definitely deserves that spot at #4. Not only is it a great spinoff, but it's one of my top favorite Pokemon games in general. If I have to nitpick, I'd say that my only gripe is that it's pretty easy. Still, samurai and Pokemon are a great mix, and one I'd definitely want to see a sequel or remake of.
Regardless of their placements in this list I'm somewhat fond of Pokemon Masters, Detective Pikachu (haven't tried the sequel yet), Pokken, and especially Pokemon Stadium as that game was one of my first N64 games, good times there.
Good to see most of the Mystery Dungeon titles as well as Conquest rank so highly.
pokemon pinball ruby & sapphire is the GOAT. I'd love to see another pokemon pinball.
Huge Pokémon fan here.
Love almost all of the spin offs.
Gen 3, 4 and 6 Mystery Dungeons are all great.
Love the 2 Poképarks.
The original Ranger was amazing.
Have so much time in Unite.
Conquest is so good, wild that there haven't been more.
The Gamecube rpgs are great.
Have gen 3 pinball but haven't played it yet though.
Still need to get New Snap sometime, liked the 64 original.
I had lots of fun with the original Rumble on Wii.
Still haven't bought the 2 Detective Pikachus, but wil someday.
Played Stadium 2 to death as a child.
Love normal Picross so having a Pokémon one on 3DS is nice.
Edit: Oh, how could I forget! And Pokkén, one of my favourite fighting games ever!
@mariomaster96 @Shepdawg1 I agree as well, XD is definitely better than colosseum but I also found them very tedious, I feel the removal of near complete choice in selecting a pokemon team is a massive let down. But I think its one of those games that felt better in its day, as I only played them for the first time around 2 years back.
Detective Pikachu Returns deserves a better ranking on what I saw , if you agree with me please comment on this post
I'm surprised Detective Pikachu Returns didn't rank higher. I realize it's a bit on the easy side from what I've read, but the impressions I get from it seemed positive. I admit I haven't played it but did play/enjoy its predecessor though.
Really wish I didn't miss the boat on Pokemon Conquest. I'd love a rerelease or new game on the Switch or its successor from that spinoff series.
Pokken Tournament DX. Pokemon Link Battle. Pokemon Puzzle League. These are the ones I most actually enjoyed. I have pnly played a couple of Mystery Dungeon games and the were okay
Definitely a lot to “lobe” in this list!
There are two kinds of people in this world: Ones who beat the Mystery Dungeon games and experienced amazing stories... and the impatient.
I love Pokemon and all, but the spin-offs are sort of a collection of average at best games. That’s not to say they aren’t fun, and I keep coming back for more for some reason, but if the games weren’t Pokemon, I’d skip them. If I had to pick my favorites, I’d pick the N64 games, but I’m aware that’s 100% nostalgia. I believe that most Pokemon spin-offs are 6/10 or 7/10s.
The mini games in Stadium 1 are probably honestly my favorite Pokemon experience outside the main games. With NSO, I’d probably guess Stadium is my most played game of the bunch because I get strangely addicted to those little games, same as I did when I was like 10-ish years old when the game came out. I’d say Snap is all-in-all the best of the bunch and Detective Pikachu has the best potential for a spin-off series. I could go for another Pokemon pinball game too. Honestly though, I sort of wish Pokemon would try a little harder with side games.
Surprised Pokemon Go isn’t higher on the list. I loved that little mobile app for a few year til having kids made it trickier to use. One kid was easy to use it, but once things got plural, man, that was over. My wife and I had a lot of fun with it though and were pretty active for what feels like a pretty long time. Objectively speaking, it’s probably truly the best spin-off game.
I don’t think cafe remix can be objectively better than masters. Having played both, at least with masters you can play more than five minutes without waiting for your pathetic energy reserves to replenish.
@iLikeUrAttitude it was good, surprised it even got made but something about the more simple first game can't be beat for me.
More ranger and pinball please!
@iLikeUrAttitude well, it is absolutely gorgeous, and if you like the gameplay, it is massively replayable. Obviously, photography may not appeal everyone, but if it grabs you, new Pokémon snap is utterly incredible.
It’s even got voice acting!
Pokémon Sleep is missing.
Zzz.
With so many titles it's hard to make this list razor sharp but it came out pretty well. Very few nitpicks, much fair
No Pokemon Box Ruby and Sapphire? 😮💨
I have a living Pokedex on it and then some! 💾
I hope that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky deserves a remake for the Nintendo Switch soon, no matter if they keep forgetting it for so long or not.
All of the pokemon mini games and the tcg on gameboy.
Had my eye on Conquest for a little while now, annoyed I passed it up. Trending over double the original price, but it'll be a keeper I'm sure.
I saw Pokemon Stadium 2 (loose) at a carboot yesterday! Guy wanted £40 for it, which isn't bad, but I don't go carboots to pay "not bad" prices.
As someone who played one pokemon game I'm overwhelmed with the differences between all of the spinoffs, not in a good way
I understand there are people willing to play a game because of a Pokemon label but I must be one of the few who feel the opposite, it feels too tough to properly understand where an individual game sits in the larger universe
Literally just learning that Pokemon conquest wasn't a mainline entry
I think the best spin offs are:
Pokemon Stadium
Pokemon Stadium 2
Pokemon Colosseum
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness
Pokemon Pinball
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
Pokemon Dash and Pokemon Channel are highly underrated and I'm tired of the way the fanbase treats those games.
Lastly, New Pokemon Snap is easily the best looking game in the series so far, in terms of graphics.
Didn't realise there were so many... the pinball game on gbc is nice though, as is (new) pokemon snap... Pokken a nice wiiU surprise a decade ago
the other free switch ones not more than a destraction... , the stadium games i don't see the point off (I didn't really fit in the pokemon demographic during the n64 days i guess).. and grinding rpg's i sadly don't have time for... stull it looks like it is a bit like fireemblem some, which is nice
This is actually a pretty good list. I think Pokemon Unite could have been a bit higher. Although it has a lot of issues, it's one of my top 5 most played Switch games.
@iLikeUrAttitude It's because it's Pokemon but with really good graphics. If Scarlet/Violet looked anywhere close to that, it would have sold 40+ million copies.
@Cleefuzz Exactly the same here. Can't complain too much about its placement. I love that game, and seeing it get some love here is awesome.
@Tyranexx Just play it now! The 3DS had already been out for over a year when it came out, so it was born behind the times. Really unfortunate for such a great game.
Okay, can someone please explain to me how exactly Red Rescue Team is the "best version of the game"??! I would say the people writing the article are crazy, but apparently the readers also rated Red higher than DX AND Blue for some crazy reason.
As someone who has put over 400 HOURS into Red Rescue Team...this is not the gold mine you all are making it out to be. I cannot tell you how many times I looked at a mechanic or chance of something important happening and went, "Did the devs even proofread this game?!" That's the best way I can put it. Trying to 100% this game...to say it's a chore would not do it justice. There is just way too much grinding to get your levels where they need to be to evolve, and you never have enough gummies, which you need LOADS of to evolve all the "friendship" evolutions. And whichever mons are good in the Level 1 dungeons are ARBITRARY. Also, evolving your Pokemon doesn't give you higher stats. If you want higher stats, you have to recruit them as the Pokemon you want, which is usually impossible.
Rescue Team DX has none of those issues, introduces new optional features that bring newcomers in much better, and handles levels in post-game dungeons much better. It's a much better game.
I love PMD, but the original games had a lot of nonsense that made trying to master them way too tedious. I guess you could say they're a product of their time...wait. Didn't you guys say that about DX, but then acted like that wasn't the case for the originals??? Where is the logic in that?!
Always wished I could get into the PMD games, as everything from their artwork, music, and storytelling looks top-notch. And then you get to the gameplay and the 50 floors of generic step-by-step dungeon crawl. It felt like little morsels of story as a reward for slogging through the exact opposite of game design. I wish the Chunsoft Mystery Dungeon formula had been left in the dustbin of the 90s, and the charm and heart of PMD applied to literally any other genre.
Conquest, on the other hand, is #1 on my list.
@Bret I'd love to, but sadly secondhand copies are quite pricey according to online listings I've seen. There's a cheap third party listing on Walmart's website, but I highly suspect it's a bootleg. Definitely plan to keep hunting though!
Good list. However Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue is kinda low, that's my favorite Pokemon game of all time.
@Tyranexx Oh, I wasn't thinking playing legitimately lol
@Bret I wondered lol. Emulating is also an option, but it will be some time before I play the game regardless of the means.
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