Pokémon Games that Prove the Series Can Still Surprise Players

The Pokémon franchise has recently turned 30-years-old and is still releasing highly successful titles to this very day, a prosperous milestone that only a few other video game franchises have achieved.

It's often difficult for developers and publishers alike to keep a 30-year-old franchise popular among new and older audiences alike, but Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company have managed to achieve the impossible over the years.

While the mainline Pokémon titles have largely remained the same in gameplay mechanics and tone over the years, the Pokémon franchise has often managed to pleasantly surprise fans with its unique and innovative spinoffs.

8 Pokémon Conquest

Pokémon in Feudal Japan

As far back as 1998, the Pokémon franchise has continuously experimented with spinoffs titles such as The Pokémon Trading Card Game and Hey You, Pikachu!, but one of the most surprising early spinoffs games was the crossover with Nobunaga's Ambition, Pokémon Conquest.

A Nintendo DS tactical RPG, Pokémon Conquest has players embody a young warlord of the Ransei region as they attempt to conquer and unify all 17 kingdoms in the region using Pokémon and defeat Sengoku period daimyo Oda Nobunaga.

The gameplay, world design, and story of Conquest were unlike anything seen in the Pokémon franchise when it first launched, and while it didn't sell exceptionally well, it proved that Pokémon games could effectively work in historical time periods and more complex RPG subgenres.

7 New Pokémon Snap

An Unexpected Comeback

Over the years, Nintendo has published dozens of Pokémon spinoffs, and while many of them became fan-favorites and received a few sequels, it seldom revisited past Pokémon spinoffs in the late 2010s and 2020 save for New Pokémon Snap.

The long-awaited sequel to the Nintendo 64 cult classic Pokémon Snap, New Pokémon Snap is a similar photography-focused game set in the Lental region with players being tasked by Professor Mirror to take pictures and observe Pokémon exhibiting the mysterious Illumina phenomena.

Given that Pokémon Snap was a 22-year-old game when New Pokémon Snap launched on the Nintendo Switch, the launch of the new game was a complete but welcome surprise and may point to the potential of other past Pokémon spinoffs returning one day, like Conquest and Pokémon Ranger.

6 Detective Pikachu

Pokémon with a Sherlock Twist

The 3DS era was a prosperous and experimental period for the Pokémon franchise as it saw mainline games be rendered in complete 3D graphics instead of sprites for the first time with Pokémon X and Y, but arguably the 3DS's most experimental Pokémon game was Detective Pikachu.

The franchise's first true adventure spinoff game, Detective Pikachu has people play as a young Tim Goodman as he partners up with a talking, inquisitive Pikachu to solve local, typically minor crimes whilst investigating the disappearance of Tim's father, Harry Goodman.

Detective Pikachu received rather mixed reviews overall, but it's more narrative focus compared to other Pokémon titles was an interesting change, with its story going on to be adapted into the first live-action Pokémon film of the same name and followed-up on in the 2023 sequel, Detective Pikachu Returns.

5 Pokémon GO

A Global Mobile Phenomenon

Pokémon is one of the most successful multimedia franchises in the world, and while most of its mainline games have sold millions of copies across the globe, none of them have impacted and reshaped real-life social interactions like Niantic's Pokémon GO.

A free-to-play augmented reality mobile game, Pokémon GO is centered around people exploring the real world to encounter and catch wild Pokémon near designated PokeStops and use them to take control and battle opponents at Pokémon Gyms located at real-life buildings and structures, such as Cinderella Castle at Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

As soon as Pokémon GO released in 2016, it immediately became a massively popular global phenomenon among Pokémon fans and non-Pokemon fans alike, encouraging people to explore the world around them to discover rare types of Pokémon, and it's easy to understand catching mechanic going on to inspire Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu! and Eevee!

4 Pokkén Tournament

Pokémon's First Proper Fighting Game

With the Pokémon franchise primarily being centered around Pokémon battles, it was only a matter of time for The Pokémon Company to officially release a dedicated Pokémon fighting game, and they eventually did just that with Pokkén Tournament.

Developed by Bandai Namco to be a hybrid of traditional Pokémon battle mechanics with the fighting gameplay of Tekken, Pokkén Tournament doesn't have much of a story, with the game instead focusing on PvP and PvE battles between 23 Pokémon such as Blaziken, Croagunk, and Decidueye.

While Tournament may not be as complex or intricate as other fighting games, it still proved that Pokémon battles could be more dynamic and fun to compete in with recent releases such as Pokémon Legends: Z-A beginning to inch more and more towards the Tournament's style of battle mechanics.

3 Pokémon Unite

Diving into the World of MOBAs

Ever since 2015, the Pokémon franchise has had an ever-increasing presence in mobile gaming, experimenting with Pokémon in other genres, with one of the most unique and popular mobile Pokémon titles being Pokémon Unite.

A free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game, Pokémon Unite pits small teams of three, four, or five people, each playing as a particular Pokémon, against each other by capturing wild Pokémon for points and knocking out opposing Pokémon.

No one expected Pokémon to ever be adapted into the world of MOBA games, but TiMi Studio Group managed to pull it off, allowing casual and competitive players to play Pokémon in a way never seen before.

A Breath of Fresh Air

When mainline Pokémon games were first announced to be coming to home consoles for the first time with the Nintendo Switch, many fans were extremely excited about their potential, but fairly disappointed by how restrictive and repetitive they turned out to be.

However, Game Freak completely surprised fans when they released Pokémon Legends: Arceus after Pokémon Sword and Shield, a game set centuries in the past, back before Pokémon trainers were popularized, and Poké Balls were just being created in the Sinnoh region, known as the Hisui region back then.

In a way, Arceus could be considered to be the first open-world Pokémon game as it allowed players to freely explore the wild Hisui region, encountering and stealthily catching Pokémon while attempting to avoid being attacked by Pokémon and discovering the origins of mysterious, dangerous spacetime rifts.

1 Pokémon Pokopia

The Highest Rated Pokémon Game of All Time

In the lead up to Pokémon's 30th anniversary, Pokémon fans expected new and exciting games to launch in 2026, but most fans never expected a crafting-focused, social simulation game like Pokémon Pokopia to release, let alone it becoming the highest rated Pokémon game of all time.

Set years after natural disasters wrecked most areas of the world, forcing humanity into space, Pokopia has players embody a Ditto transforming itself to resemble its former trainer as it sets out to help Professor Tangrowth heal the land, help local Pokémon, and rebuild Pokémon Centers and other structures.

A perfect mixture of Minecraft's crafting mechanics with Animal Crossing's social mechanics and the innate allure of Pokémon, Pokémon Pokopia is a wonderful game that truly showcases the endless possibilities of enthralling games set in the world of Pokémon.