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.

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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.