What Are the 5 Best Pokémon Spinoff Games?
Did we all enjoy today’s Pokémon Presents? Despite the lack of information about a new mainline game, we got to take a peek at a bunch of upcoming spinoff games. Pokémon has a whole isn’t new to spinoff games, so I thought, why not take a look at some of the best spinoff games we’ve seen in Pokémon‘s long history? Let’s take a look.
Pokémon Conquest
This was a weird one. It took the world of Pokémon and crossed it with the Nobunaga’s Ambition series of historical strategy games. Released at the tail-end of the DS’ life in 2012, it took the Pokémon franchise from it’s turn-based RPG roots and injected it into a tactical RPG framework. The warpath of a medieval Japanese Warlord isn’t exactly the first setting that comes to mind when I think of Pokémon, but it’s just so weird and fun I’m glad it exists.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon isn’t just a spinoff game, it’s a spinoff series. Starting on the Game Boy Advance and continuing all the way to the Nintendo Switch, this series is a take of the Mystery Dungeon franchise. Take a Pokémon and guide them through a randomly generated dungeon to uncover it’s secrets and get to the bottom. The mainline Mystery Dungeon series is known for it’s crushing difficulty, but the Pokémon version is much more accessible.
Pokémon Trading Card Game
If you’re anything like me, you were obsessed with the Pokémon card game when you were younger. Well, Nintendo took the videogame that became physical cards and turned it back into a videogame. Releasing for the Game Boy in 2000, Pokémon Trading Card Game is a miniature RPG that sees the player battle to become the top Trading Card Game champion. All the rules and cards (at least, the ones that existed at the time) are present, and you have full control over the decks you can make. This was a great game that passed the time 20 years ago on long car trips.
Pokémon Puzzle League
If you’ve never played a Puzzle League (aka Tetris Attack aka Panel de Pon) then stop what you’re doing right now and go try it. I’ll see you back here in 4 days once the game finally removes it’s claws from you.
Pokémon Puzzle League is essentially just a version of Puzzle League with a Pokémon skin. But frankly, that’s all it needs to be. Puzzle League is a puzzle game (obviously) where blocks rise from the bottom of the screen and you’re able to swap the horizontal position of any two adjacent blocks. Match 3 or more and they disappear. It’s a simple concept but is incredibly addictive. Once you get good at the game and learn to make combos of matches it becomes incredibly fast paced and fun, and the multiplayer between two equally matched players is simply sublime. It was a hell of an addition to the N64 library.
Pokémon Snap
Could our top spot be anything but Pokémon Snap? The N64 classic is an on-rails shooter that sees the player shooting Pokémon not with a gun, but with a camera. Take photos of Pokémon across various environments and try for a high score. Not only was this a fun time, it was also the first time we got to see Pokémon in 3D, having released in North America almost a year before Pokémon Stadium.
These are far from the only Pokémon spinoffs worth playing, but they represent what I feel are the 5 best of the bunch. If you disagree – let me know! We all need more Pokémon in our life.
