If there's any franchise that's no stranger to a spin-off or two, it's Pokémon. The inherent appeal of the little Pocket Monsters makes the series ripe for all kinds of genres and video games. Name a genre, and Pokémon has most likely done it.
Though some of Pokémon Friends ' puzzles can be fun, even the best ones begin to grow stale after only a few hours, as they're so quick to complete and pop up so often, which dampened our enthusiasm for unlocking Mudkip and Jirachi plushies to decorate our rooms.
Unfortunately, we have no desire to boot up Pokémon Friends daily for a few quick puzzles like how we rip packs in TCG Pocket , leaving us with the sense that this puzzle package will fade into the background with other casual Pokémon spin-offs, forgotten until the next Presents announcing a handful more overpriced puzzle packs. A shame.
Other than the odd camera-darkening problem, we actually like Pokémon Smile . It isn’t going to give Smash Bros. a run for its money or anything like that, but it isn’t trying to: it’s a light-hearted, free way of trying to inject a little fun into an otherwise mundane task.
Just bear in mind that it can be a little harsh when it comes to judging your brushing, and so you need to prepare your child for the reality that they won't be catching a Pokémon every time they play. Essentially, it's a fun little app to use to help get your kids into brushing their teeth, but little more than that.
For the first Pokémon game to be released on the DS, Pokémon Dash was something a little bit different. Using the stylus to control and race with Pikachu was a novel idea, but given the creativity of other DS games at the time, it soon became outdated.
It's also a little bit too short for what it is, and it takes only a handful of hours to complete all of the races. As a result, this is often considered one of the weaker Pokémon spin-offs. On a console that already has plenty of other games (mainline and side), this one isn't worth dashing for.
In the '90s and 2000s, everyone wanted to be friends with Pikachu, and what better way than talking to him through a microphone and having him act out all of your requests? Sadly, Hey You, Pikachu! is infamous for all of the wrong reasons.
At first glance, using the microphone seems like a technical marvel, but in practice, the game just doesn't work properly. With limited gameplay, Hey You, Pikachu! is more of a curio than something you should seek out and play. Still, it might appeal to the kids, and we are fans of weird, little-supported periphrals .
Pokémon Rumble Rush was charming and it could be fun if you like collecting things. Pokémon fans like that, right?
However, the awkward map feature and the requirement of refining ore to get gears to boost the Pokémon meant it was sometimes a needlessly frustrating grind, and with the inclusion of a two-week deadline between area swaps, there was unwelcome added pressure thrown into the mix.
This free-to-play Pokémon outing didn't set the world on fire, then — which meant the service shut down in July 2020, just a year after launching on iOS — but the truly dedicated fans who followed the Rumble series enjoyed it all the same.
My Pokémon Ranch was chock full of missed potential. There’s no question it was an ideal game for young, fledgling Pokémaniacs to freely watch and interact with cuddly Pokémon of all shapes and sizes while looking forward to new toys and Pokémon daily. As long as you kept your expectations in check, you may have found yourself charmed by this goofy WiiWare title.
A few seriously misguided storage-related decisions — such as no interface to conveniently organise all the Pokémon you have stored — compounded its problems, though.
Learn With Pokémon: Typing Adventure is an unexpectedly entertaining entry to the long list of Pokémon spin-offs. While it may not teach you how to type, you will learn how to quickly spell MIENSHAO or how to tell apart a Marill from an Azurill from a distance — utterly essential life skills, if you ask us.
This game is fun and challenging for both Typing Rookies and Master Typists alike; even so, it shouldn't be considered a must-buy, even for hardcore fans. Still, if you were in the market for a sturdy little Bluetooth keyboard and you also liked Pokémon, this was a solid purchase.
Pokémon Masters EX is a bit of a megahit now, with many Pokémon fans turning in for their dailies, events, and new characters. In fact, we'd say it's one of the most well-realised Pokémon mobile titles to date – especially in terms of presentation.
Partnering up with classic Pokémon characters is fun, and the game has only improved since its original release in 2019 (as Pokémon Masters ). There are loot boxes galore, of course, but in terms of mobile outings for the franchise, this is one of the better ones.
As a free-to-play downloadable Switch game, Pokémon Café ReMix is rather pleasant. The art style and designs are charming (especially when you recruit them and they get their uniforms), and the dishes you prepare are clever; the Fluffy Eevee Pancakes and Cheesy Rowley Pizza look particularly appetising. We think we’ll just skip straight to dessert, thanks.
The microtransactions aren’t massively intrusive, the energy system isn’t too debilitating, and the stages aren’t Candy Crush Saga -style efforts where it’ll take you 70 goes to get lucky enough to eventually clear them.
Pokémon Café won't keep you engaged forever, but it's a nice little distraction. Now, an espresso macchiato, por favore.
Did Hey You, Pikachu! need a spiritual successor? Probably not. But that's what Ambrella's Pokémon Channel is.
Swapping a microphone for the Nintendo e-Reader (at least in the US and Japan - the peripheral never launched in Europe), Pokémon Channel is an odd mixture of life-sim, tamagotchi-style pet-carer, and minigame collection.
It was pretty darn cute, plus you got a free Jirachi in Ruby & Sapphire . But there's just nothing to do. Wake up, watch TV, play with Pikachu — that's basically it. The idea of taking care of Pokémon is ripe for a decent game, and Pokémon Channel felt like a missed opportunity.
But hey, watching the weather with Pikachu isn't that bad, and there are lots of collectibles to keep the youngest Poké Trainers entertained.
Pokémon Quest is a fun little time waster that will satisfy your collect 'em all urges if you've exhausted everything the mainline Switch Pokémons have to offer.
You will have to splash some cash if you want to get the most out of it, but it's far from a money sink. You can get everything you need in a single purchase, or unlock most of it slowly by playing for free — it's one of the most generous 'freemium' systems out there.
Overall, Quest is a great jumping-off point for new fans of the series, and the cutesy art style just might win over veterans. No harm in giving it a shot.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump is a fascinating package. It has great style, but it severely lacks in gameplay. It feels like the epitome of a generic mobile title with a Pokémon twist, which is somewhat unfortunate. With no gameplay other than feeding the fish and playing 'Whose stat is bigger?', there's just unfortunately so little to the game.
It's definitely something fun to play on the bus or the train to kill time, but it just lacks the depth that we've come to expect from the other Pokémon mobile titles. While it's easy to recommend having it on your mobile device, it's hard to recommend paying for microtransactions.
Pokémon Rumble U is straightforward fun that's a far cry away from the main Pokémon titles, but it does pair some key strategic elements of the series with the button bashing – though there are definitely moments where there's too much going on to keep real track of, which does lead to more reliance on the latter than the former.
Despite its short length, there's lots to go back to when you consider the hundreds of Pokémon to collect and challenges to beat. It's not essential by any means, but it's a fairly decent multiplayer game.
Pokémon Link: Battle (or Pokémon Battle Trozei as it was known outside Europe) deserved to find a large audience. The match-three puzzle action was well done, and the emphasis on building combo attacks makes it feel significantly different from other examples of this genre.
There's also the appeal of collecting all 718 Pokémon — every known 'mon back in 2014 — and while the lack of online multiplayer felt like a missed opportunity, local co-op matches with friends filled the void to an extent. Like so many puzzle titles, repetition became an issue over prolonged periods, but the portable nature of the host platform made this ideal short-burst entertainment.
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See Also
Best Games Of All Time - Ranked Series Lists For The Biggest Video Game Franchises Guide: Pokémon GO Eevee Evolutions Ranked - How To Get Sylveon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Umbreon, Espeon, Vaporeon, Jolteon And Flareon Guide: Pokémon Sword And Shield: Pokédex Galar Region Guide: Pokémon GO Mega Evolutions List - How Get Mega Energy Guide: Pokémon GO Special Evolutions – How To Get Pangoro, Sylveon, Glaceon, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Sirfetch’d, Galarian Cofagrigus And More Guide: Pokémon GO – The Rarest Pokémon Including Wild, Shiny, Mythical And Regional Catches
