25. Pokémon Ranger (DS)

Pokémon Ranger takes a while to get going — at times you'll feel like you are just walking from capture to capture, with little gameplay in between. The number of different Pokémon, their different attacks and figuring out when is best to draw those rings keeps things interesting, but it can get repetitive. Capture Challenges are enjoyable diversions and there's certainly entertainment to be had here, but ultimately this is a fun yet forgettable Pokémon spin-off.

24. Pokémon Art Academy (3DS)

Pokémon Art Academy is no gimmicky spin-off. It's a well-realized, totally engaging experience that will appeal to both the curious and long-term fans alike, and uses its host of versatile, recognizable characters to put across a broad range of styles and techniques. The lessons are enough to get anyone up and running, and with Miiverse it's easier to share your masterpieces online than ever before. Those who aren't interested in the subject matter may want to give this a miss, but tempting new additions to the mechanics and a healthy dose of charm should win over almost anyone eager to get drawing again.

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube765k
Watch on YouTube

23. Pokkén Tournament (Wii U)

Pokkén Tournament attempted to break into the fighting game genre with a bang, although it remains relatively niche. It stripped back unnecessary complexity from the controls which made it easy to pick-up-and-play, but with a skill ceiling that left hardcore fans with plenty of room to explore. The visuals could have been sharper — something that's also true for the only-slightly improved DX port on Switch — but these are grotesquely outweighed by the sheer polish and replayability of the core gameplay. As a lovechild of such disparate properties as Tekken and Pokémon, Pokkén Tournament was a spectacularly scrappy surprise.

22. Pokémon Puzzle League (N64)

Pokémon Puzzle League is really just Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack with a Pokemon makeover. That's not bad though, because it's still the same brilliant block puzzler. Panel de Pon fanatics will have the time of their lives regardless, but the Pokémon wrapper helps draw in and hold the attention of new players long enough for the puzzling to grab hold. With the added Pokémon anime nostalgia factor that's grown over the decades, there's even more reason to investigate Pokémon Puzzle League if it passed you by all those years ago. It's still the same old game, and it still rocks.

21. Pokkén Tournament DX (Switch)

This re-heated Wii U port, the unholy lovechild of Tekken and Pocket Monsters, is a Pokémon fan's dream come true. Rather than relying on turn-based combat to see who is the very best, you can take to a 3D arena and smash seven shades of poop out of a rival 'mon to finally decide once and for all who is (Nido)king or queen. Robust single and multiplayer options make Pokkén Tournament DX one of the most impressive competitive fighters on Switch, although the lack of mechanical depth may put off serious fighter fans.

20. Pokémon Stadium (N64)

Pokémon Stadium was a revolutionary step up for the monster-catching franchise, and that's not just due to the fact that we got to see all 151 critters in full-fledged 3D. The inclusion of the GB Tower, as well as allowing players to experience Pokémon characters in fun new ways through minigames and the Pokémon Lab, felt remarkably fresh and offered a new perspective on our repository of 'mons. Sure, the battling can get a bit repetitive and lengthy, but the awesome visuals, animations, and commentary can help keep this from becoming mundane. If you're playing this on NSO, you're of course limited to rental teams, but there's plenty to love here if you're an OG fan. And the Lickitung sushi minigame is ace.

19. Pokémon Puzzle Challenge (GBC)

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge is a deceptively meaty experience from Intelligent Systems, with plenty of content to keep you occupied for hours at a time, or you can simply dip into it every so often for a few minutes if that’s what you prefer. The Pokémon theme was hardly a necessity, but it gives the Challenge mode a bit more substance, and probably drew in a lot of people that might have otherwise overlooked this brilliant little puzzler.

18. Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire (GBA)

Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire is an enjoyable entry-level pinball game designed to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Its colourful, charming visuals look great, and the vast number of Pokémon available to catch and evolve means that if you’re looking for a long-term dip-in, dip-out sort of game, you’ll have plenty to keep you occupied. It can become a bit tedious if played extensively, though, so it’s much better to enjoy it in short bursts.

17. PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond (Wii)

PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond is a simple game, but that's by no means a bad thing. The warm, welcoming graphics and fantastic music are the perfect frame for a game of this type. It's straightforward but it's fun, and at the end of the day that's all that really matters. Those who aren't Pokémon fans probably won't be as enamoured as those who can sing the Pokérap from memory, but for Pikachu's devoted followers, this is super effective.

16. Pokémon Pinball (GBC)

Built on the foundation of Kirby's Pinball Land from HAL Laboratory, the original Pokémon Pinball on Game Boy Color released back in 1999 and combined the fundamentals of pinball with the Pocket Monsters' mantra, Gotta Catch 'em All. Developed by Jupiter (the talented team pumping out Picross after Picross these days), it featured two tables — Red and Blue — and charged you with not only scoring big points, but also capturing the 151 Kanto region Pokémon as you did so.

Throw in a special rumble-enabled cartridge, and you've got one of the best Pokémon spin-offs ever. Its GBA sequel played with the same idea to similarly great effect.

15. Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (DS)

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs brings in a range of different Pokémon to keep things interesting and new additions such as aerial and underwater sections. The story gets a bit too talkative at times, and whilst there's a variety of things to do there's a disappointing lack of challenge in the main quest. The "multiplayer" missions are challenging but that's mostly as a result of having to tackle them solo. Like the Ranger series in general, there's fun to be had with Guardian Signs but it's not a must-buy Pokétitle.

14. Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (DS)

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, like its predecessor, takes a while to get going and the gameplay can get repetitive, but there's a variety of attacks to learn to deal with that helps to keep things interesting; if you like collecting Pokémon, tracking them down will keep you busy. The tweak to the capture process puts an end to the sometimes frustrating failures of the previous game, but it does lessen the challenge somewhat. Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia is an enjoyable game — if you like the first, then you'll like this one even more.

13. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (Switch)

A beautiful game with potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay, there's still no getting away from the fact that this is an ageing GBA title at its core. The dungeon-crawling genre has evolved over the years to try and make things feel less repetitive, and while Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX does add some features to modernise the process a bit, they tend to fall flat. It's still fun in bursts, it just gets samey after a while.