Top 10 Spin-off Pokèmon Games, Ranked (According To IGN)

The main Pokèmon game may get a lot of special attention, but that doesn’t mean fans should skip out on all the other entries in the series.

You Are Reading :Top 10 Spinoff Pokèmon Games Ranked (According To IGN)

Category : Pokemon

Ever since its debut in the mid-90’s, Pokèmon has continued to be one of the biggest franchises in existence, not simply in gaming. Every year, fans wait with bated breath to see what mainline game will be released, but the Pokèmon Company soon realized that one pair of games each year wouldn’t even be enough to sate the hunger that the franchise left people with. So, they started partnering with other companies, such as Spike Chunsoft, to develop spin-off titles that could hold fans over while they wait for the next main game.

Today, we’ll be taking a look at the top ten highest-rated spin-off games, at least according to IGN. Be warned, Mystery Dungeon fans, although it’s a fantastic spin-off series it didn’t rate well with critics and it won’t be found anywhere on this list.

10 Pokèmon Ranger: 7.1 / 10

Starting off this list is Pokèmon Ranger, a game that was able to creatively utilize the touch-screen controls of the Nintendo DS its full potential. Using what the game dubbed a ‘capture stylus’, players would draw circles around Pokèmon in order to try to catch them. As simple as that sounds, as the game progresses it got significantly tougher and featured puzzles so challenging they rival some of the large building or cave puzzles in mainline games.

The original was pretty well-received too, as the series went on to have two more installments, but neither did nearly as successful as the original and it’s unlikely that fans will get another Ranger game.

9 Pokèmon Colosseum: 7.5 / 10

At the number nine spot, is Pokèmon Colosseum, which released for the GameCube in 2003 in Japan and a little later in America in 2004. This game was very different from mainline games, as instead of catching wild Pokèmon and fighting other trainers, the player fights trainers that have ‘Shadow Pokèmon’ that the player can then snag from them in order to save them. It’s a very unique and interesting concept, and though the graphics are fairly dated, it’s still worth revisiting today.

This entry also has unique animations for Pokèmon and moves that can stand up against some of the animations still used in the most recent entries.

8 Pokèmon Stadium 2: 7.5 / 10

Coming in at number eight is the sequel to Pokèmon Stadium, fittingly titled Pokèmon Stadium 2. Although it is incredibly similar to the game that came before it, it added enough extra content in the form of the Johto Pokèmon being added. This was also the very first time that Generation 2 Pokèmon were brought into full 3D, which at the time had to have been incredibly exciting for fans of the region.

Players were also able to import any Generation 1 or 2 Pokèmon from those games into Stadium, so they could still battle with their same familiar friends instead of having to start entirely from scratch.

7 Pokèmon Snap: 7.8 / 10

Next up is none other than Pokèmon Snap, taking the seventh spot on today’s list. Snap brought with it a wonderfully inventive twist- instead of being a trainer who catches Pokèmon, you play as an aspiring photographer who’s come to assist Professor Oak in his research by snapping pictures of Wild Pokèmon in their natural habitat as well as simply exploring the island in which they live.

This is a particularly loved spin-off by fans, as we’ve heard fairly recent requests for a remastered Snap to be made, despite the game coming out in 1999.

6 Pokèmon Pinball: 8 / 10

Coming in at number six is Pokèmon Pinball, which released in America for the Game Boy Color in 1999. If you’re already familiar with pinball, then you’ll know the core gameplay mechanics, but this game has enough of a Pokèmon-inspired twist to be worth buying. The two maps available are the Red Field and the Blue Field, fitting the original titles of Red and Blue, as well as the ability to ‘catch’ Pokèmon to fill up the Pokèdex.

Even today, we would love to see a Pokèmon Pinball featuring all eight of the current generations.

5 Pokèmon Trozei: 8 / 10

Taking the fifth spot on today’s list is Pokèmon Trozei, a puzzle game that’s also known as Pokèmon Link in Europe, which released for the Nintendo DS in 2004. In Trozei, players would have to match rows of four or more Pokèmon together to make a match and go through various levels.

There actually is a story mode to the game which manages to get rather in-depth for a game that would otherwise just be a re-skinned puzzle game, and for more casual fans who enjoy that sort of thing, it was a pretty solid title overall.

4 Pokèmon Stadium: 8.2 / 10

Well, well- looks like in this case, the original ranked higher than its sequel! Taking the fourth spot on today’s list is Pokèmon Stadium, the predecessor to the second game. It’s very similar to its sequel, but only features the first generation of Pokèmon as it released in 1999 before we had access to the Johto’s catalog of creatures. There’s a stadium mode, along with a battle mode where the player goes through all eight Kanto gym leaders again before facing the Elite Four and eventually their rival.

It’s well known that this one was well-received as it went on to receive a second game to match the second generation, and fans would love to see another one for more recent systems.

3 Pokèmon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire Edition: 8.8 / 10

The third spot goes to the successor to Pokèmon Pinball, this time released on the Game Boy Advance in the form of Pokèmon Pinball: Ruby And Sapphire. As the name suggests, instead of only having access to the first generation of Pokèmon, the players have three, so there’s nearly three times as much to try to fill out your Dex with. In addition, there are several different maps to play on as well as a handful of minigames that keep the game feeling fresh and exciting rather than a basic pinball reskin.

Plus, the Advance simply had more capability than the original GBC, and it really shows with how much of a step up this one was. It makes us thirst for a Gen 8 pinball game even more- it’d be perfect on the Switch!

2 Pokèmon Puzzle Challenge: 9 / 10

The number-two spot on this list goes to none other than Pokèmon Puzzle Challenge, which plays fairly similarly to Tetris Attack but with a nice Pokèmon re-skin. Unlike Tetris, there are six different modes for the player to choose from and one of them even includes a somewhat decent story alongside it. The player assumes the role of Ethan, the male protagonist from Johto, and must make their way through all of the Johto gym leaders. Different Pokèmon are unlocked depending on which mode of the game the player beats, adding a nice layer of replayability for those completionists.

The game must have been fairly popular as it was re-released for the 3DS Virtual Console in 2014.

1 Pokèmon Conquest: 9 / 10

Topping off the list is Pokèmon Conquest, a Nintendo DS title that later got an enhancement along with the Nintendo DSi. Although the core Pokèmon games could be considered RPGs, this one featured much more heavily on strategy, team composition, and doing exactly what is required on each map to achieve victory. Two teams of up to six Pokèmon each would battle against each other, and depending on the location, the player would have different objectives to clear the level.

Conquest featured Pokèmon up to the fifth generation, which is one of the highest generations to feature any kind of spin-off title, as after this the company seemed more invested in the mobile market for spin-offs rather than system spin-offs.

See more : PokemonWe