7 Best Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Games, Ranked

"What if you woke up one day, and you were a Pokémon?" That question resonated with me as a kid, and led to my life-long interest and attachment with the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games. Back when the first games came out on the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo let you know that getting to play as a Pokémon this time was a big deal. I bought into their catchy phrasing, started the game, and I've seen myself as a Pikachu ever since.

Whether you're new to the series and want to know what the best games are, or have experienced a PMD game or two and want to know what to play next, I've got you covered. There aren't many Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games out there, but every single one is enjoyable in its own right.

7 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity

The Token "Meh" Entry

A lot of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games are great. Their gameplay is addicting, the stories have made a lot of us cry, and taking a team of Pokémon through a procedurally generated dungeon leads to a satisfying gamble of luck and strategy. When it comes to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity, it sounds pretty bad if it's the lowest on the list, right? That depends on if you think mediocrity is the real "bad" for video games, because Gates is kind of like a lukewarm hot chocolate to me. It's alright. That's pretty much it.

It was around Gen 5 that Pokémon started really caring about itself as a brand, and Gates To Infinity feels like it's fallen victim to that in this entry. It practically promotes Pokémon Black and White with its limited starter options. The story is fun, but it sometimes fails to come off as sincere, and the dungeons generate with awkward hallways a lot of the time. Still, I enjoyed it when I made my way through it, but it says a lot that I've returned to every game on this list but Gates.

6 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team

Just Like How It All Started Back in the Day...

I really wish there were more Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, just so I could have space between listing Gates To Infinity and then Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team. It's like serving dollar store-brand donuts next to gourmet ones. The Rescue Team games were where Pokémon Mystery Dungeon got started, and they absolutely still hold up today.

If you're new to Mystery Dungeon games, I'd recommend you start here so you can get used to the mechanics with the way they were when the game debuted. I'd also recommend you play these just for the fantastic sprites that were used during the series' run on the GBA and DS. Blue Rescue Team was held back by having a counterpart for the system that came before it.

5 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team

...But With A Twist.

The Rescue Team games set up the general plot of all the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games. You suddenly wake up as a Pokémon, with amnesia, with no idea how you ended up like this. You just know your name, and that you were a human up until now. You're found by a fellow Pokémon who calls upon you for help with the recent natural disasters and troubles local critters are facing. One good deed leads to another, and now you're part of a Rescue Team with your new Pokémon pal.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team isn't much different than Blue Rescue Team. Blue Rescue Team just used the DS' dual screens to show more information than they could on the singular Game Boy Advance screen, and the sound quality is better on the DS. Red Rescue Team reviewed better, though, as many critics didn't like that Blue Rescue Team didn't offer much in terms of upgrades over Red. Whatever version you play is up to you personally. The Rescue Team games are incredible and how I fell in love with roguelikes in general. It's only up from here.

4 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness

Another Win For Gen 4

Now squarely on the Nintendo DS, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness were great sequels in that they delivered more of what we loved, refined what was there, and expanded upon it in a much stronger way. The story was phenomenal and unforgettable. It dived into deeper lore between humans and Pokémon from the lens that Mystery Dungeon set up in the previous game while introducing more characters to get attached to. The ending plays out like the first game, but it says a lot that it hit so much harder, someone's heart just broke because I mentioned it.

The Explorers game also introduced Wi-Fi modes, Treasure Boxes, Gummies, and the standby adventure mode that kept you playing even if you were stuck in the main story. The game added all but two Pokémon from Generation 4, and expanded the starter roster to give players more options for those who enjoyed Diamond and Pearl. Hardly anyone talks about Explorers of Time and Darkness these days, though, but unlike most games that share that fate, it's for a very good reason.

3 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX

Everything From The Original Made Mega

This game didn't entirely review well with critics, but as someone who grew up with the original and played every game, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is great. I'd say it's the perfect entry point if you like Mega Evolution or just don't like pixel art somehow. Not that what Rescue Team DX did with the visuals isn't fantastic on its own. It took direct inspiration from the key art of the original games and adapted that to the entire game's art style. It feels like you're playing exactly what the game looks like on the outside; from shading to the general warmth of it all. It more or less plays the same, just made more modern.

Rescue Team DX doesn't add too many new features to the original experience besides Mega Evolution, Treasure Boxes, and Gummies. It does add some amazing cinematic cutscenes that only activate during the height of the story, though, which I adored. I'm aware, though, that if you haven't played Rescue Team before, these scenes might not be as cool for you as they were for me.

2 Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon

The Biggest Adventure Of Them All

After Gates to Infinity suffered from a bit of a branded push, Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon shows a bit of it in spades. At the same time, it also takes many of the concepts of what made Pokémon Mystery Dungeon good and brings them to new heights.

Super Mystery Dungeon tells a strong story about living as a human-turned-Pokémon, becoming a part of an Expedition Society, and uncovering a forgotten mystery that threatens the world alongside as many legendary Pokémon that the game could fit in its plot.

It offers a ton of neat twists on what had been the standard of the series since the GBA and DS games. The Harmony Scarves would allow you and your partner to evolve into your final evolution for boss fights, Mega Evolution could Mega Evolve fully evolved Pokémon, and a PMD ending tradition was completely flipped at the very end. Whoops, there I go! Breaking more hearts!

The only thing keeping me from putting this game any higher is that the way the game handles requests is very repetitive and boring. I get that it was to help with the fact that you can recruit every Pokémon as of Gen 6, but the fun is taken out of it with how side quests are just reduced to having to catch 'em all as always above anything else. This collection aspect is more or less SPMD's only post-game, and that gets old fast.

1 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

Only the Best Offers the Best of the Best

Of course, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is number one on the list. If you've played these games before, especially Sky, you understand why. It's all the improvements and the story of Time and Darkness, but with further additions that have yet to be topped.

After Time and Darkness, Explorers of Sky added its own quality of life improvements to the PMD formula. It also brought in many iconic locations like Spinda's Cafe and Shaymin Village, and filled up the Pokédex to include every critter around at that time. You can also unlock Special Episodes as you progress through the campaign. These tell side stories going into the lives of tons of NPC Pokémon while allowing you to play as them.

With all of these changes, Explorers of Sky truly feels like a deluxe Pokémon Mystery Dungeon experience that's hard to put down. It almost feels never ending. It's been a fan-favorite for 17 years now thanks to the sheer content and satisfying gameplay loop it offers. Even if we get a new PMD game in the future, it's going to be very, very hard to top what Sky brought to the table. I'd love to see them try, though.