The Pokémon franchise not only stands as one of Nintendo’s most popular brands, but also one of their most experimental. Once it was proven that these characters were successful enough on their own, Game Freak and Nintendo came up with a lot of ideas for spin-off games set in the universe.
Dancing around with titles like Pokémon Play It! and Pokémon Stadium, it was clear that there was a lot of power in having these characters appear in other types of games. The more consumers patronized Game Freak with their spin-off titles, the more they wanted to keep doing them. As of right now, Pokémon is one of Nintendo’s biggest money makers and is often the “guinea pig” when it comes to exploring new avenues of game design.
While this led to some genuinely great spin-off games, it also led to some extremely odd choices. The Pokémon series was given titles where you talk to Pikachu through a microphone and where you snap pictures of various Pokémon in their natural habitats. As a matter of fact, a lot of Nintendo’s strangest spin-off games came from Pokémon. Some of them were well-designed titles, but they were still awfully weird in concept.
With that in mind, we’ll be digging through an odd corner of the Pokémon series as we look at 20 of the weirdest Pokémon spin-offs ever created. On top of that, we’ll also be taking a look at five Pokémon spin-offs that ended up being so great that we want them remade.
25 Hey You, Pikachu!
With the release of the N64 came a little game called Hey You, Pikachu! Designed solely with the N64 mic in mind, it was an attempt to showcase the new equipment by allowing the player to speak directly to Pikachu.
The little critter would then respond to the player’s requests with certain actions.
However, that’s all there was to the game. It was extremely shallow and didn’t give players a lot of mileage outside of the initial novelty of talking to Pikachu.
24 Pokémon Battle Revolution
Pokémon Stadium proved successful enough on the N64, so Game Freak decided to keep making games that built off of the concept. There were the GameCube games that incorporated a full story and new engine as well. However, going into Pokémon Battle Revolution on the Wii, Game Freak dialed it back a lot. The game was only good for stadium battles and didn’t have any story or explorable world. The only reason people got it was to battle their friends on the big screen.
23 Pokémon Trozei
When you think of Pokémon, a fast-action puzzle game is not the first thing that comes to mind. Despite that, Game Freak wasn’t afraid of attempting this formula on the Nintendo DS.
The game had players matching Pokémon faces in order to clear puzzle boards.
Believe it or not, it was popular enough to gain a sequel in the form of Pokémon Battle Trozei on the 3DS. Then, that game paved the way for Pokémon Shuffle to become one of the current titles on mobile devices.
22 Pokémon Quest
The newest Pokémon spin-off to join the ranks is Pokémon Quest. This game seems to be inspired by the beloved Pixelmon. It starts you off with a Pokémon that you then take into outside areas where it battles others to gain levels. Then, you return to a hub where you can attract other Pokémon to join your team. The game was announced and released on the Nintendo Switch on the same day, but it was eventually added to mobile devices a few weeks later.
21 Remake: Pokémon Colosseum/XD: Gale Of Darkness
Taking the Pokémon Stadium formula and building a new story around it is exactly what Pokémon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness did. Set in a new region with a few new mechanics, there was a lot of potential for these games to become the next big thing. With a proper remake, a lot of the shortcomings could quickly be ironed out as well as the gameplay experience properly fleshed out to allow for much more seamless travel through the world.
20 My Pokémon Ranch
At its core, My Pokémon Ranch was just a glorified PC storage for owners of Diamond and Pearl. It was a download title on the Wii Shop that would allow you to transfer Pokémon into a ranch where they would be depicted in a new, cartoon-y art style.
With more Pokémon you added into the ranch, the guide character, Hayley, would then reward you with Pokémon for free.
Players who added enough Pokémon into the ranch would receive a Phione and a Mew.
19 Pokémon Rumble
A new art style was developed with My Pokémon Ranch, and Game Freak wasn’t going to let it die so easily. Pokémon Rumble was another Wii Shop title that would allow you to control Pokémon and have them travel through levels where they would battle several Pokémon at the time with the hope of going up against legendary Pokémon. With the Poéemon depicted as “toys,” players could collect many of them to use in the arenas where they would fight against numerous powerful Pokémon at a time.
18 Pokémon Play It!
Pokémon wasn’t just popular as a game series, but as a trading card game as well. In a weird moment of inception, Game Freak decided to make video games based around the card game. The weirdest one was easily Pokémon Play It!.
It wasn’t weird because of how the game worked, but because of how the game looked.
The 3D characters shown off in the game were downright creepy, and some of the animations and sound effects seemed off. Still, the core TCG remained intact.
17 Pokémon Dash
If you ever thought to yourself that a Pokémon racing game would be a formula for success, you’d be dead wrong. Pokémon Dash was a game on the DS where you would take control of various Pokémon and race them.
The problem was that the tracks were so bizarre that you never knew where to go.
Being on the DS, the controls were also fairly awkward. It’s mind-boggling as to why Nintendo wouldn’t have tried something a bit bolder to have a second Mario Kart in a way.
16 Remake: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue/Blue Rescue Team
There have been a lot of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, but some of the best are still the first two. Having a streamlined process for befriending Pokémon to your team as well as a story worth getting invested in, these were titles that could keep players busy for hours.
While newer games have utilized the 3DS’s hardware, they still did away with the Friend Zones that were so popular in the first games.
Anyone trying to get all of the Pokémon had their work cut out for them.
15 Pokémon Conquest
If you thought Pokémon couldn’t go anywhere after being a puzzle game, we present to you Pokémon Conquest. This title was a crossover between Pokémon and Nobunaga’s Ambition.
The result was a strategy game where characters would use Pokémon to battle each other.
Surprisingly, the game wasn’t awful, but seeing Pokémon in a strategy title where you have to place them and think about attacks is a weird mix. It’s certainly something that no one was expecting, even after Hey You, Pikachu!.
14 PokéPark Wii
The PokéPark series was fun on paper; give Pikachu a big environment to run around in and interact with other Pokémon. Then, use the ones you befriend in different attractions. However, the mix in execution was a little odd. It essentially turned the Pokémon series into a Mario Party game without the boards and multiplayer. What was left of the game felt increasingly hollow and like a missed opportunity. Its sequel, PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond was more of the same.
13 Pokémon Puzzle League
For the most part, the Pokémon games are disconnected from the anime. Then there was Pokémon Puzzle League on the N64. Not only was it given full anime cutscenes and all of the respective characters, but it wasn’t even a real Pokémon game. Instead, you have to take the role of Ash as you completed puzzle challenges that were loosely based on Tetris Attack. It was certainly odd seeing the game on the N64 yet not taking advantage of the hardware.
12 Pokémon Channel
It seems that Hey You, Pikachu! wasn’t enough for Game Freak, as they worked on a successor to the game in the form of Pokémon Channel for the GameCube. This game would allow to communicate with Pikachu once more and interact with all sorts of Pokémon. It had a few minigames as well as a series of TV channels that you could watch with Pikachu at any point in time. Then, if you were diligent enough, you could even encounter the mythical Jirachi.
11 Remake: Pokémon Ranger
Instead of a young boy finding his way in the world, Pokémon Ranger puts you in the shoes of a confident person ready for action. The game has players exploring a world in real time where capturing Pokémon is temporary and involves drawing circles around them in rapid succession (it’s much more fun than it sounds). A remake of these games could make full use of the Nintendo Switch’s HD Rumble and gyro controls if they weren’t thrown onto the 3DS first.
10 Pokémon Pinball
Of all the Nintendo franchises to get turned into pinball games, Pokémon is certainly an odd choice. Not only did Game Freak create a Pokémon Pinball for the GameBoy, but they did it again with the GameBoy Advance but with some updates to bring in characters from Ruby and Sapphire. Apart from the Pokémon aesthetic and some unique touches, the games play just about like you’d expect, complete with obstacles, limited lives, and the works. However, it also allows players to capture Pokémon.
9 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Keep Going!
The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series proved to be one of the more popular spin-offs for the franchise, with Red Rescue and Blue Rescue Team paving the way for a great new series. However, Game Freak decided to have a Wii Shop release for the games in the form of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Keep Going! The gimmick here was that there were three different versions of the game and the Pokémon looked like they did in My Pokémon Ranch. However, the games were only released in Japan.
8 Pokémon Battrio
Released only as an arcade machine in Japan, Pokémon Battrio allows players to play special discs with Pokémon on them. Then, by scanning them on the arcade cabinet, they can use the creatures in the actual game (similarly to how Skylanders or Disney Infinity work). The game is structured around two trainers fighting with three Pokémon at a time. They can each be moved by sliding the discs around on the board. You can also collect berries when they drop.
7 Pokémon Snap
If there’s one thing that no one expect Pokémon to have, it was a game based on taking photographs. Yet Pokémon Snap came out on the N64 and happens to be a beloved title by many fans to this date. However, it involved an on-the-rails gameplay style where players would take the role of Snap from the Pokémon anime. As you would pass Pokémon, it would your job to take photos of them. That’s all there really was to the game.
6 Remake: Pokémon Rumble U
Pokémon Rumble U is one of the weakest games in the Pokémon Rumble series. However, Game Freak was onto something with the idea. All they would have to do is rework the game and give players a lot more to do. Furthermore, they could change the art style and use models from the mainline Pokémon games. Instead of having standalone NFC figures, they could release their own line of Amiibo with the game, essentially guaranteeing Nintendo piles of money in the process.
