9 Best Nintendo Spin-Off Video Games - Ranked

If you have a friend who plays Pokemon, try and ask them what the first 3D games in the series were. Did they say X & Y? Get a new friend, because the magnificent Pokemon Colosseum was released on the GameCube in 2003, preceding XY by nearly a full decade.

In Colosseum and its sequel, Gale of Darkness, the Orre region struggles with evil teams using Shadow Pokemon, evil versions of Pokemon that have had their good natures sealed away artificially. With the Snap Machine, which allows the player to steal Shadow Pokemon, the player embarks to free Pocket Monsters of the villains' influence.

Pokemon is known for rigidly sticking to their classic formula, but the two GameCube games mixed up the usual components by operating almost exclusively in double battles. Introducing a wider world that the handheld games wouldn't see until years later, they innovated and set the stage for much of what the Pokemon franchise is today.

While the series has been dormant since the retirement of the GameCube, playing Pokemon on a console has been dearly missed. Hopefully the Nintendo Switch has plans to change that, but until then, these games are well worth replaying.