The 10 Worst Pokémon Games of All Time, Ranked
Writing from the Chicagoland area in Illinois, Robert is an avid movie watcher and will take just about any excuse to find time to go to his local movie theaters. Robert graduated from Bradley University with degrees in Journalism and Game Design with a minor in Film Studies. Robert tries his best to keep up with all the latest movie releases, from those released in theaters to those released on streaming. While he doesn't always keep up with the latest TV shows, he makes it a goal to watch nearly every major new release possible. He has been honing his craft and following any and all movie news all his life, leading up to now, where he has a vast knowledge of film and film history. He also logs every movie that he watches on his Letterboxd page, and has hosted a weekly online movie night with his closest friends for over 6 years.
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It's easy to view the Pokémon franchise largely by its massive success, starting off as a humble Game Boy game before transforming into the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. While the various movies, trading card games, and other merchandise help amplify the stature of the series, the video games that started it all are still the massive highlight of this franchise. However, not every Pokémon game has been as amazing as the franchise's reputation would have one to believe.
Between the failed experimental spinoff games and the few main series games that haven't lived up to the standard of the series, when a Pokémon game disappoints fans, it really leaves an impact. It also stings because the good to at least passable entries in the franchise massively outnumber the bad games that Pokémon has released, with this serving to only make the bad releases stand out that much more.
10 'Pokémon Sword and Shield' (2019)
On the one hand, it may seem a little strange to have Pokémon Sword and Shield on this list, as it's among the best-selling video games in the entire franchise and was a major step forward for the franchise as the first main series entry on home consoles. However, their stature as the first home console entries in the main series also placed a lot of expectations on it, expectations that were overwhelmingly missed in the eyes of fans. It didn't take long for fans to adopt Pokémon Scarlet and Violet as the clear upgrade and definitive Pokémon game on Switch instead.
The visuals aren't nearly as big of an upgrade from the previous 3DS entries, the main gameplay gimmick of Dynamax just isn't very compelling, and the game was massively plagued by the highly controversial "Dexit" controversy. Every previous main series Pokémon game allowed you to transfer every single Pokémon into the game with every Pokémon being usable, which Pokémon Sword and Shield ended despite the increased space and processing of a home console instead of a handheld. It isn't the biggest issue, but it speaks volumes to just how rushed the game feels.
9 'Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl' (2021)
Pokémon as a franchise had previously been more consistent in its remakes of classic titles than any other video game franchise, with games like Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen, Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver, and Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire being major hits with fans. However, a major strength of previous Pokémon remakes was how they added so much additional content and improved upon the flaws of the original game, aspects that were completely ignored for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
The game instead takes the approach of a more simplistic remake, mostly recreating Pokémon Diamond and Pearl one-to-one, even to the point of sharing a lot of the same bugs and fundamental flaws. The chibi aesthetic visuals were very disappointing to fans; the game was lacking a lot of the additional content that was added in Pokémon Platinum, and it doesn't even include any Pokémon that were added after the original Diamond and Pearl. This massively disappointing remake is easily the choice for the worst main series games in the franchise.
8 'Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure' (2011)
Educational learning-to-type games have been a classic of the digital era ever since the '90s with games like Typing of the Dead and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. While the concept of a Pokémon-centric keyboard edutainment game makes sense, Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure loses a lot of its impact when the game is only playable on the Nintendo DS and requires a Bluetooth peripheral keyboard that can't be used for any other game on the DS.
Even as an educational tool, the game largely fails, as players never learn to type any actual words and only type out the names of various Pokémon. It's a strange piece of Pokémon history, considering that the game didn't even have a North American release and was only released in Japan, Europe, and Australia. Maybe the game could have found success if it was actually released on a computer, but as a DS game, it's largely lackluster and ineffective as a tool, especially when the peripheral means it costs more than any other DS Pokémon game.
7 'My Pokémon Ranch' (2008)
With the Nintendo Wii being Nintendo's first foray into digital downloadable games from the internet, there was a lot of experimentation and releasing of smaller-scale apps and games to capitalize on this digital hub. My Pokémon Ranch stands out as one of these early experiments that, despite its charm and the nostalgia that gamers have for it, is little more than a fancy screensaver sold for $10. The game allows players to transfer Pokémon from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl to be stored in the app, with all your Pokémon having cute chibi models and hanging around a giant ranch.
On some levels, it's hard to even call My Pokémon Ranch a real video game, as there aren't many actual playable elements that act more as a tool, allowing for more storage if you are catching a bunch of Pokémon in Diamond and Pearl. However, when actual amazing games were also being offered on WiiWare, including World of Goo and Bit.Trip Runner, it feels absolutely jarring that this glorified app had a price tag to access.
6 'Pokémon Channel' (2003)
The first Pokémon game released on the Nintendo GameCube, Pokémon Channel has a very confusing existence, to the point where even describing what the game actually is feels difficult and wrong. The game has very loose interactive elements, as large chunks of the game see the player interact with Pikachu and watch various TV shows with them. There are the occasional playable aspects, such as exploring the 3D environment and having Pikachu interact with other Pokémon, but the vast majority of this game is watching shows with Pikachu.
The shows that you can watch are certainly fun and have a lot of charm to them, but when the only thing that you do in the game is watch these shows, it feels genuinely insane that this was a video game that was being sold for $50 in 2003. The only lasting legacy that the game has had is that after playing the game for long enough, you get access to a Jirachi to send to Generation 3 Pokémon games, while the main gimmick of this game was the implementation of e-reader trading cards that were discontinued in 2004.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Iconic Fandom Should You Join? Harry Potter · Lord of the Rings · Star Wars · Star Trek
Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you put on when you need cheering up, how deep you go into the things you love, what you argue about, what you keep on your shelf. Answer them and we will tell you where you belong. Four of the biggest fandoms on earth are taking new members, and they could not be more different from one another.
⚡Harry Potter(Wizarding World)
💍Lord of the Rings(Middle-earth)
⚔️Star Wars(A Galaxy Far Away)
🖖Star Trek(The Final Frontier)
01
What do you put on when you need cheering up? Nobody is brave about this one.
02
How deep do you go into something you love? There is no shallow end here, only different deep ends.
03
What do you and your friends actually argue about? Every fandom has one argument it has been having for years.
04
How do you feel about a room full of strangers? Every one of these comes with a very big room.
05
Where would you rather spend a week? Pick on instinct rather than on budget.
06
What do you believe about people, mostly? All four of these stories have an answer, and they disagree.
07
What is actually on your shelf? Look over at it before you answer.
08
What do you actually want from a story? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your fandom.
Membership Confirmed Your Fandom Is…
Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you would be having within a week.
Harry Potter
You belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting you.
- You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within about five minutes and has never stopped.
- This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every single person in your life would be.
- The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you do with things you love.
- The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the arguments are about to start all over again.
Lord of the Rings
You belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture.
- You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it.
- This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly alarming, and it has good reasons for that.
- Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all, which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes.
- Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make that argument.
Star Wars
You belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity.
- You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that.
- Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly 1980 with no sign of resolution.
- The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score and the look of a used and dented galaxy.
- You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good time.
Star Trek
You belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done.
- You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major franchise still willing to say the future might be better.
- The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else.
- Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar.
- You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you will always find somebody willing to have it.
5 'Detective Pikachu Returns' (2023)
While far from a masterpiece, the original Detective Pikachu game was a charming spinoff adventure mystery game that found strength in the charm of its characters and an effective, approachable mystery story, at least enough charm to inspire a film adaptation. However, the eventual Nintendo Switch sequel that attempted to capitalize on the increased interest in this character following the movie, Detective Pikachu Returns, completely removed any of the goodwill that could have existed for the Detective Pikachu spinoff franchise.
Considering the fact that the biggest strength of the original game was its story and characters, it feels absolutely jarring that this sequel features a jarring story with terrible pacing, and the characters are lacking any of the charm of the previous game. It's easily the worst Pokémon game of the modern era of the franchise, being a cataclysmic misfire of tone and style that stands as one of the worst Pokémon spinoffs in over a decade.
4 'Pokémon Battle Revolution' (2006)
The Pokémon Stadium games and their equivalents on the GameCube were largely designed as a way to play Pokémon Battles in 3D on home consoles, but still had experiences and strengths that allowed them to stand on their own outside of being a battle simulator. However, this archetype of game took a massive step backward with Pokémon Battle Revolution, a game that is nothing but Pokémon battles and sections off massive chunks of the game if you don't connect your teams from the Pokémon DS games.
This isn't to say that a game that is nothing but 3D battles can't work, as Pokémon Champions is massively successful in the modern day with this formula, but Battle Revolution was being sold as a full-price $50 game and omitted major features of previous games. While the N64 Pokémon Stadium games had minigames and let you play the handheld games on the console, and the GameCube Games had fully-fledged story modes, Battle Revolution has zero content outside of its battles, even worse now that the official online servers were shut down in 2014.
3 'Pokémon Rumble U' (2013)
Pokémon Rumble started out as a simple yet enjoyable spinoff series on WiiWare, yet it managed to receive a surprising number of sequels that dwindled the little passion that people had for this spinoff, with Pokémon Rumble U being the absolute worst of this middling spinoff franchise. However, Rumble U goes beyond simply being a basic beat-em-up like other entries in the series, and embraces an absolutely sickening and predatory mechanic as its core selling point.
The game abandons the actual levels and gameplay elements of previous entries in the series to create an experience largely centered around the usage of real-life figurines that you would purchase and connect to the game via the Wii U gamepad. It predated Amiibo as Nintendo's first foray into the toys-to-life world, yet completely misunderstood how to make it work, with these figures frankly not doing nearly enough to be worth purchasing for this basic, repetitive beat-em-up.
2 'Pokémon Dash' (2004)
The Nintendo DS is still one of Nintendo's biggest console successes, so it would only make sense that there were so many Pokémon spinoffs released to capitalize on the success of the console, on top of the main series games being some of the best-selling games on the console. While some spinoff games were massively celebrated, Pokémon Dash is an absolute failure of a racing game that is tedious to play, lacking in content, and relies way too much on the gimmicks of the console instead of being a compelling game on its own.
The top-down racing game requires the player to use the stylus on the bottom screen to control Pikachu (the only playable character in the game) through various checkpoints on a map. It quickly gets tiring after constantly sliding the stylus across the bottom screen, made worse when the core gameplay isn't very engaging, and it's severely lacking in content. This sorry spinoff was quickly forgotten as every other DS Pokemon game managed to be more enjoyable and kept players engaged for longer than a few minutes.
1 'Hey You, Pikachu!' (1998)
One specific element that can be attributed to every other game on this list, even the ones that seem to have very little redeeming qualities, is that they actually worked as intended and could be easily played without overwhelming frustration at technical issues. The same cannot be said for the N64 virtual pet game Hey You, Pikachu!, a game where the player attempts to control Pikachu through a microphone peripheral that they talk into, only for the game to rarely ever comprehend what you are actually saying.
Even if the game actually worked, there really wouldn't be much to write home about, as the game doesn't have much to offer aside from seeing Pikachu interact with the world and get into all sorts of shenanigans. However, with a microphone peripheral that doesn't really work and a core gameplay loop that mostly has the player getting enraged at a Pikachu that won't listen to the player, Hey You, Pikachu is a test of patience and simply not worth the effort.
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