Who doesn’t love a good spin-off title? For those uninitiated, “spin-off” is a term to refer to titles in a franchise that don’t place their primary focus on the main plot or genre of the core games in that series. As an example, think of Mario Kart or Mario Party in relation to the Super Mario franchise. While both titles feature the core cast of loveable Super Mario characters, each game’s focus isn’t on platforming but racing and board game mechanics, respectively.

Now, if there was ever a series that knew how to make a fantastic spin-off, it was Pokémon. The core appeal of Pokémon is so simple that translating it over into another genre is relatively easy. We’ve seen other RPG titles such as Pokémon Coliseum but, Pokémon Company has also allowed their property to delve into different genres such as a dungeon crawler or on-rail shooter of sorts with the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games and Pokémon Snap, respectively.

Now, we fans have unfortunately not received a traditional Pokémon spin-off in some time. While various mobile titles have been released, the Nintendo Switch has been left out in the cold with the exceptions of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon remake and New Pokémon Snap. So, I’ve decided to list some Pokémon spin-offs from the past that I believe still hold some untapped potential for new and innovative games. Now without further ado, let’s begin.

5.Pokémon Ranger

Ukulele Pichu with other Pokemon

What happens when you mix the wonderful world of Pokémon with Park rangers? You receive one of the most unique Pokémon series to date. One of the core aspects of Pokémon is the ability to capture your favourite pocket monster and add them to your growing collection. Pokémon Ranger, however, turns that idea on its head by instead having the player temporarily call upon the power of and wild Pokémon they “capture” to solve puzzles and stop natural disasters.

The series began on the Nintendo DS with the release of the original Pokémon Ranger. Followed by its two sequels, Shadows of Almia and Guardian Signs. Despite the series ten-year long hiatus, I see plenty of potential left in the series mechanics. The ability to use a Pokemon’s specific abilities for puzzle-solving was a creative idea allowing for any approach to solving a problem. Imagine there is a forest fire raging, and the player needs to stop it. This could allow plenty of variety in how one would approach the task. Capture a water-type Pokémon to put out the flames or a Pokémon with the sandstorm ability to smother the fire. 

Another idea could be if a large gap sits between the player and some endangered Pokémon. Use an Ice or Grass Pokémon to build a bridge or a Flying-type to whisk them across. The endless creative ideas excite me to see how a potential Pokémon Ranger on Switch would function.

4.Pokémon Stadium

Pokemon Stadium Boxart

One of my favourite titles for the Nintendo 64, Pokémon Stadium and its sequel were battle simulators that allowed players to construct any type of team they wanted from the various Kanto and Jhoto mons introduced at the time. Now there has already been some discussion on why we haven’t received a new title in the Pokémon Stadium series. According to Game Freak’s Shigeru Ohmori comment on the matter, the original Stadium was made to surprise audiences who had only seen the Pokémon in 2D sprites with no colour. Now with Pokémon being in full 3D and colour, there wouldn’t be a reason to make a new Stadium title unless they could innovate in some significant way.

Now while there may not be any major innovation that can be made to the formula of the Stadium titles, I believe they can still serve another function. One of the reasons Game Freak had to remove such a large number of Pokemon from Sword and Shield was due to development efforts. However, a title such as Pokémon Stadium wouldn’t require the construction of entire maps to travel over and instead could fully function as a battle simulator.

 This would allow more development to be given to incorporating Pokémon as well as improving the visuals and animations for battle in this title. Similar to how much more expressive the Pokémon appeared to be in the original two Stadium games.

3.Pokémon Dash

Pokemon Dash Boxart

Quite a bit more obscure than the previous entries, Pokémon Dash was quite a mediocre Pokémon Racing title for the Nintendo DS that had players take control of various Pokémon to race along an obstacle course. Despite the execution of this game being quite poor, the core concept is unbelievably fascinating.

Pokémon have such unique body types, and movement abilities that the fact all the original could think to have them do was race along a bland plane of grass is a huge missed opportunity. Relay races should be the focus for a new racing title, allowing players to select a team of Pokémon. 

Knowing the course would allow the best selection of Pokémon to traverse the landscape. Such as building a team of water Pokémon that can move well on both land and water in a course that incorporates both these elements together. This could turn the original Pokémon Dash from an underwhelming racing game to a far more dynamic title.

2.Pokkén Tournament

Pokken Tournament DX Roster

I’m genuinely shocked it took until the Wii U for Nintendo and the Pokémon Company to capitalize on the inherent fighting abilities of Pokemon for a fighting game but, here we are. Pokkén Tournament is a 2D fighting game that has players pit two Pokémon against each other in a one-on-one duel.

This title is in a far better place than the other entries on this list. Especially when one takes into account that a deluxe version of this title was ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2017. However, I believe now is the best time for the Pokémon Company to enlist Namco Bandai’s assistance once again to develop a sequel to this title.

The core gameplay is already fantastic, and Pokkén Tournament is beautiful. The only major additions I would suggest is more Pokémon, such as the extremely popular Greninja and for more effort to be put into explaining the mechanics of this title to casuals during its marketing. Perhaps a Pokkén Tournament themed Direct?

1.Pokemon Conquest

Major Characters in Pokemon Conquest

Quite the “out of left-field” title but turned out to be an incredible title for the Nintendo DS. Pokémon Conquest is a strategy RPG developed by Koei Tecmo as a crossover between the Pokémon franchise and Nobunaga’s Ambition. The title places the player in a war-torn world where they play the role of leader and must command their army well in order to survive encounters with invading kingdoms.

My favourite aspect about this title is how it translates the Pokémon world into the setting of feudal Japan. From Pokémon being deployed as soldiers alongside their partner trainer to everybody’s armour mirroring the appearance of their partner Pokémon. Everything about this game’s style and concept is begging for a sequel, and now would be a better time than any to release one.

Not only is Nintendo’s own strategy RPG series, Fire Emblem, soaring in popularity right now, introducing the genre to plenty of new players. The developers of Pokémon Conquest Koei Tecmo, have an even stronger relationship with Nintendo then they did when this title was made, thanks in part to collaborations such as Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors

Pokémon is a franchise that means so much to me, and one of the aspects that be into it as a child was the various spin-off titles released for consoles. They give us fans a look into the wonderful world of Pokémon that we don’t see very often, and so I hope we see plenty more spin-off titles to come.  This is where I throw the discussion to you. What are some of your favourite Pokémon-related spin-offs? What is one spin-off you’d love to see return? Join the discussion down below and until next time, thank you so much for reading!

If you’re interested in more Nintendo related opinions, check our list for The Legend of Zelda’s 35th anniversary