When a franchise reaches the hulking size of Pokémon, it finds its way into everything. The Pokémon Company’s games have touched almost every genre, we’ve seen its characters rendered in almost every art style, and we’ve seen them battle a pantheon of gods and monsters. A universe of Pokémon games exists outside of the core series, and this month we’re treated to a new major spin-off from the franchise in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
Some may bristle at Z-A being labelled as a "spin-off," as developer Game Freak itself considers Legends a "main series". But, for the purpose of simplifying this list, we're considering any game that isn't part of the "core" mainline series (Red and Blue through to Scarlet and Violet) as a spin-off. By moving away from the classic turn-based RPG formula, spin-off games allow us to see different shades of the Pokemon universe and experience it in a new light. While the core Pokémon games can be boiled down to the competitive side of things, they’re also about building an emotional attachment to your team, immersing yourself in this strange, utopic universe and, most importantly, being enchanted by the lore of the world and interacting with myths and legends. The best spin-offs focus on those other aspects and enhance that sense of wonder.
With Z-A just around the corner, this is the perfect time to celebrate all the different ways the pocket monsters have deviated from their usual turn-based RPG roots, and rank the top 10 Pokémon spin-off games.
10. Pokémon Ranger
As already mentioned, the best spin-offs approach Pokémon from a fresh direction. Instead of playing as a trainer, in Pokémon Ranger you’re… well, a Ranger. Your job is essentially taking care of your local community. If a Pokémon is distressed, you’re tasked to calm it down. If one goes missing, you have to go find it. If there’s a fire, you can use a nearby water Pokémon to help put it out. Cute missions like these are strung together in a run, which replicates the sort of little tasks you’d see in cosy games. And they’re funny, too! Pokémon has always been fun, but rarely has it displayed actual comedic chops in the way it does here.
While Ranger definitely has its fans, it’s not higher on this list because the missions can get… repetitive. The main gameplay loop is literally about loops – you have to physically draw circles around the Pokémon you want to temporarily capture for each task using the Nintendo DS’ stylus. This has more depth than it sounds, but even the most challenging captures don’t feel completely satisfying. It’s an example of a really fun idea that doesn’t quite fully hold up in execution. Nonetheless, Pokémon Ranger benefits from that funny dialogue and some cool worldbuilding, allowing you to experience the universe from a very different, more vocation-focused perspective.
9. Pokémon Stadium 2
During the Nintendo 64 era, the Pokémon Stadium series was the best visual representation of our beloved little monsters we had in the video games. Taking advantage of Nintendo’s first 3D system, we were treated to detailed, tactile character models and unique attack animations that brought the worlds of the games and the anime as close together as they had ever been. Though lacking in significant story beats for lore-hungry fans, Pokémon Stadium 2 in particular was a dream for the most competitive members of the fanbase, offering a myriad of battle formats. It also introduced Earl’s Pokémon Academy, which both taught battle strategies and tested newfound skills.
But there’s more to Stadium 2 than just the stadium itself. Let’s not forget the endlessly entertaining Pokémon mini-games and quizzes of the Kids Club, or the returning magic trick introduced in the first game: importing the exact same Pokemon you had raised in GameBoy games straight into the Nintendo 64. Taking your favourites on a cross-console journey to the big Stadium hit upon one of the core appeals of the series: strengthening the lasting connection you have with these digital creatures. Even as graphics have improved, nothing has compared to the thrill of seeing your original GameBoy starter duke it out on the TV screen for the very first time.
8. Pokémon Colosseum
When Pokémon Colosseum arrived on the GameCube in 2003, it was an important first: finally, a 3D Pokémon game that featured a full storyline. With its double battle format, lack of random encounters, and a compelling plot, it was an exciting evolution beyond Stadium’s battle-focused format. While it’s a similar style of RPG to the classic games, instead of starting out as a young trainer with a level five starter looking to become the Pokémon champion, you’re dropped into the shoes of a more experienced protagonist who uses the decidedly cool (and level 25!) Espeon and Umbreon. Your adventure begins right after escaping from the nefarious Team Snagem with stolen technology, a story set up that, along with a Star Wars-inspired desert community setting, ensures Colosseum occupies its own distinct space in the Pokémon library.
Colosseum was where Shadow Pokémon were first introduced to the franchise. These are Pokémon who have been "closed off from their hearts" and need to be purified before they can properly be used in battle. This system offers a unique slant on Pokémon’s classic collect-and-train gameplay, forcing you to balance levelling up your team with purifying it, too.
7. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
Improving on the solid foundations of Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness deepens the lore around Shadow Pokémon and has become a bit of a cult classic amongst fans. It lends new weight to the idea of Shadow Pokémon, explored through the addition of Shadow Lugia – the only pocket monster to get a full, dark redesign, and said to be the ultimate Shadow Pokémon, unable to be purified.
Set five years after the events of Colosseum, you’re tasked with taking down the Cipher criminal syndicate and purifying Pokémon across the Orre region. While inheriting Colosseum’s gameplay style, complete with the excellent doubles battle system that brings Pokémon a little closer to feeling like a party-based JRPG, Gale of Darkness differentiates itself from its predecessor by casting you as a rookie trainer. This change means the experience falls more in line with the typical Pokémon journey, which arguably robs the game of a bit of originality. However, the 3D world and continued exploration of the Shadow Pokémon phenomenon makes up for any feeling of repetition, with each new story beat deepening the worldbuilding and adding more layers to the Orre region. All that, in tandem with the excellent battle system and that carefully balanced purification mechanic, makes Gale of Darkness a Pokémon spin-off worth seeking out.
6. Pokémon Conquest
Developed by Koei Tecmo, Pokémon Conquest is a crossover with the historical Nobunaga’s Ambition franchise, a line of strategy games that have a very different feel to Pokémon. This crossover introduces a variety of elements you’d never expect to see in a Pokémon game, including historical figures from Japan’s Sengoku period, such as daimyō Oda Nobunaga himself. It also combines Pokémon’s traditions with very non-traditional characters, art style, and dialogue. This makes for an unusual game, but it becomes easy to accept such a strange mixture as soon as you jump into a battle.
Pokémon fits the strategy game genre like a glove. Conquest’s type match-ups, interactive battlefields, and each Pokémon’s hidden abilities all make for a compelling strategy battle system that can, at times, feel even more engaging than the core series’ turn-based combat.
Conquest may not scratch the itch of those looking to immerse themselves further in the traditional world of Pokémon, as the game probably takes place in its own universe with its own rules. However, its completely fresh approach makes it a genuinely unique prospect in a franchise that can often fall foul of delivering the same experience over and over again. It’s a real shame that the franchise has never returned to the strategy genre since.
5. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
What better way to immerse yourself into the world of Pokémon than to become one yourself? Blue Rescue Team kicks off the Mystery Dungeon sub-series with one of the coolest ideas Pokémon has ever had: What if you played as a human who was transformed into an amnesiac Pokémon and now works as a bounty hunter in a little community, all while attempting to work out how on earth you became a Pokémon to begin with? It’s a completely ridiculous premise, but one that’s endlessly charming in practice.
In some Pokémon games it’s easy to feel as if the story is simply happening around you, rather than you having any agency in it. Blue Rescue Team doesn’t just bring you closer to the mythos of the Pokémon world, it makes you feel like you’re at the very centre of it, with each of your actions crafting new lore that’ll be etched into the history of this world. Its roguelike gameplay sees you explore randomly generated dungeons, rescuing stranded Pokémon, delivering items, and completing other simple tasks. This approach has its merits and faults (and the dungeon crawler design is certainly an acquired taste), but Blue Rescue Team’s story makes up for any shortcomings by being imbued with such a strong sense of wonder.
4. Pokémon Snap
The great thing about a fictional world as fleshed out as Pokémon’s is that you could be tasked with doing any job and it would still be interesting. Working as a wildlife photographer in the Pokémon universe is a vocation guaranteed to further immerse you in the world, allowing you to get much closer to its magic (thanks to the power of a camera’s zoom) and see Pokemon like you’d never get to see otherwise.
By framing its Pokémon as wildlife rather than collectable fuzzy warriors, whose lives are filled with adorable small interactions between each other, Snap makes it feel like the world of Pokémon still lives and breathes even after you power down your console. That approach meant Pokémon Snap was a cosy game before cosy games really became a thing, with relaxing gameplay and a calming set of tasks you can tick off in each play session. As is true of real wildlife photography, many of your snaps will be of common creatures you’ve seen dozens of times before. But every now and then your camera lens will catch a rare glimpse of a legendary or mythical Pokémon, which immediately evokes that sense of wonder that powers the best games in the franchise.
3. Pokémon Go
It’s become a meme to say that the summer Pokémon Go dropped was the closest we ever got to world peace, but the fact this simple augmented reality mobile game became as ubiquitous as it did is a testament to something only this franchise could do. Any adult Pokémon fan will tell you that, if a genie came to them as a child, their number one wish would be for Pokémon to be real. Go is the closest we’ll get to that, barring any Jurassic Park-style scientific abominations.
An incredible idea that could only be realised through mobile phones, Niantic’s pioneering design sees you explore your actual surroundings in search of digital Pokemon, which can then be battled at virtual gyms that are linked to real-world locations. Its physical requirements – you actually have to walk around to find randomly-spawning new Pokémon – genuinely manifests the adventurous spirit of Pokémon in your own neighborhood. It is wish fulfillment for those who dreamt about running around catching Pokémon, building a connection with these creatures, and exploring the world around you with wide-eyed wonder.
Mobile gaming comes with so much baggage, often representing the worst of the gaming industry, but Pokémon Go is its most pure innovation.
2. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky
The Mystery Dungeon sub-series has evolved over the years, and Explorers of Sky is one of the best examples of how it's improved and expanded. An enhanced version of 2007’s Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, it takes everything that makes the Mystery Dungeon series great, combines it with one of the best stories the franchise has seen, and adds a number of much-appreciated quality of life improvements.
Despite starting with a familiar premise (you’re once again a human-turned-Pokémon), Explorers of Sky quickly morphs into a time-bending tale, true to the new lore introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. It’s a story that actually showcases the mystical abilities of the world’s legendary creatures, rather than leaving them as descriptions in a Pokédex entry. And while this story is mostly a retread of Explorers of Time, five new Special Episodes enhance the tale with additional storylines that explore the lives of side characters.
All of the feelings we associate with a good Pokémon game are successfully evoked here, right down to your partner genuinely feeling like your best friend. Mystery Dungeon excels here because your partner Pokémon is someone you can actually speak to, and that communication really cements your bond. When the credits roll, you really feel like you’ve gone through something life-changing together, a feeling many Pokémon games try to create but don’t always succeed at. The Mystery Dungeon games offer a peek into the Pokémon world unlike any other strand of the franchise, and this is the best of them. We’re way overdue a new one, and this is the one to beat.
1. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Lifelong Pokémon fans will forever be chasing the high of booting up Legends: Arceus for the first time. The opening cutscene sees you meet Arceus, the Pokémon god himself, before being plunged back in time to the ancient Sinnoh region. But the moment that really sets fireworks off in your brain is the instant you take control of your character and throw a Poké Ball.
Legends: Arceus is the first “Open Zone” game in Pokémon history, and that new approach to world design made it feel like the franchise had finally been unshackled from the classic-formula mainline games, which had become increasingly restrictive since they transitioned to 3D. Having the freedom to run up to a Pokémon in the overworld and capture them without having to endure multiple battle turns felt like tasting seasoned food after years of eating only boiled chicken. Legends: Arceus’ modernised design makes for the most satisfying and immersive gameplay loop the Pokémon series has ever had, and that’s paired with dozens of captivating lore revelations. Your task in Legends: Arceus is to construct the first ever Pokédex, to use the first ever Poké Balls, and create the bond between man and monster that forms the basis of every other game in the series – it’s a prequel to the entire franchise, and just as brilliant as such a position would demand. With a wondrous setting and compelling gameplay, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the very best, like no spin-off ever was.
And those are our picks for the 10 best Pokémon spin-off games. Did we miss your favourite, or would you rank one of these games higher or lower? Let us know in the comments.
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