10 Pokémon Games You've (Probably) Never Played

For those born between 1985 and 1995 (give or take a couple of years), Pokémon has been something of a cornerstone of our childhood, much how things like Minecraft and Fortnite are for those in Gen Z.

What started with the three basic colour games of Red, Blue, and Yellow has now spawned one of the most successful franchises not only in gaming but of all entertainment, competing with the likes of Star Wars, Harry Potter and Marvel.

The majority of people will likely know Pokémon from its core series developed by Game Freak where a young Pokémon trainer seeks to become the very best, like no one ever was. However, such a financially lucrative IP will always draw attention from development studios who want to bolster the profile of their game by using an already established brand.

It also makes sense for the IP holder; Nintendo get a spin-off game that could potentially be very successful and can put as much or as little as they want behind it in way of support with very little risk on their part.

These Pokémon games can be played using a Bluetooth keyboard, with poker-style chips on arcade machines, on specific Japanese phones and by shouting at a Pikachu telling him how much you love him.

Unlike most of the games on this list, Pokémon Snap for the N64 was actually pretty widely available in all regions. It does however live in the shadows of more popular spin-off Pokémon games, with my best guess being that when kids had to choose between whether to ask their parents to buy them the 3D battling simulation experience of Pokémon Stadium or a rail shooter with a Kodak, there was no contest in their adolescent brains.

Pokémon Snap was, as previously mentioned, a “rail-shooter” where you played as Pokémon photographer Todd Snap who toured Pokémon Island to get photographs for Professor Oak to assist his research. As you progressed through the game, you would earn more and more items to interact with the various levels that would change things in the environment like knock hiding Pokémon out of trees or opening a secret route.

The game was supplied to thousands of hotels in Japan, and even had an associated contest that would send the winner to Australia. You could even take your cartridge to Blockbuster or Lawson’s in North America to get your in-game photos made into stickers.