Pokemon took off like Team Rocket into the sky when the franchise debuted internationally in 1996. The late 90s and early 2000s were a golden age for the series, spreading like wildfire across playgrounds and gaming communities. Even today, Pokemon remains one of the biggest video game franchises in the world.
As a result, many video game companies have tried to profit off Pokemon's success. Some officially licensed games are blatant rip-offs, while others are less subtle, using the Pokemon name and gameplay as parodies of the popular series. These examples of real video games are some of the most notable Pokemon spoofs.
8 Monster Rancher
Only a year after the release of Pocket Monsters: Red & Green in Japan, the developer Tecmo released their own monster-collecting game. The first entry, titled Monster Rancher, was released on the original PlayStation. Unlike many other Pokemon rip-offs, this game was its own commercial and critical success.
The game was unique for allowing players to acquire monsters by inserting readable CDs into their game. Depending on the type of CD, players would receive different kinds of monsters that they could use to fight other monsters. The game remains a cult classic and was even ported to Nintendo Switch, Steam, and iOS in 2021.
7 Dinosaur King
Dinosaur King was initially released for arcades in 2005 before being ported onto the Nintendo DS. The game incorporates aspects from the Pokemon games, as well as the popular trading card game. In Dinosaur King, players use cards to scan real-life dinosaurs into the game that they can collect and battle with.
The turn-based battle system in this game is clearly referencing the Pokemon series' main gameplay features. However, Dinosaur King received a lot of multimedia support. The arcade game later received a manga, several anime series, and an actual trading card game that was separate from the original arcade game.
6 Invizimals
Novarama tried their hand at recapturing the magic of Pokemon with Invizimals, a franchise that launched on PlayStation Portable. This series incorporated AR technology to allow players to discover "Invizimals" living in the real world. Like Pokemon, the game also features elemental types like Fire, Ice, and Rock.
Fortunately, Novarama's efforts paid off, as Invizimals received numerous awards from publications such as IGN and Kotaku. It even received several sequel titles for PSP, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation 3. It also, like Pokemon, received an animated series that was made available to stream on Netflix.
5 Yakuza: Like A Dragon
This RPG published by Sega released for the PlayStation 4 in 2020, with later ports on Steam, Xbox One, and PS5. Unlike previous installments in the Yakuza series, the title follows a new protagonist named Ichiban Kasuga. Along the way, Kasuga comes across enemies, who are hilariously named "Sujimon."
The Pokemon references don't stop there. Defeating Sujimon adds them to Kasuga's "Sujidex," and a sub-plot finds Kasuga meeting a professor who studies Sujimon. The game features many other Easter eggs for Pokemon fans to discover, showing that the development team must have been huge fans of the iconic Nintendo franchise.
4 The Simpsons Game
The Simpsons Game was released on multiple consoles in 2007 and featured an original story penned by actual Simpsons TV writers. As a result, the game is very self-referential and features many video game-related pop culture references. One of those is a parody of Pokemon, adorably titled "Sparklemon."
In the fourteenth level of the game, "Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game," Homer and Lisa find themselves in a land reminiscent of Japan. There, they interact with many characters who spoof Japanese video game series, such as Katamari and Final Fantasy. The Sparklemon, created by Milhouse, are fought in turn-based combat.
3 Pocket Mortys
The Adult Swim show Rick & Morty is no stranger to pop culture references. However, in the iOS and Android title Pocket Mortys, the show's titular characters take on a Pokemon-esque role-playing game. Players control Rick, who catches clones of his grandson Morty and uses them to battle aliens and ricks.
Many Rick & Morty fans found the game charming, featuring voice acting from series creator Justin Roiland. However, other publications, like IGN, thought of it no more as a cash-grab that exits only to parody Pokemon. That being said, it may be a fun game to check out for fans of the animated series.
2 Pokemon Black & Blue
The Internet went wild when animals rights organization PETA released parody games. Featuring spoofs on Super Meat Boy and New Super Mario Bros, these games were created to spread awareness about topics such as animal abuse and vegetarianism. Among them is the Pokemon parody titled Pokemon Black & Blue.
While the objective of the game is to free Pokemon from their abusive trainers, that's definitely not what caught the Internet's eyes. The art style for the game depicts unsettling violence against Pokemon such as Pikachu, Oshawott, and Snivy. Suffice it to say, the discourse over these games didn't help PETA's cause all too well...
1 Pokemon Red, White, & Blue
... But that didn't stop PETA from trying again. In 2013, PETA followed up Pokemon Black & Blue with Pokemon Red, White, & Blue, which parodies the series' most-recent release, Pokemon X & Y. This game has more ambitious goals, as it finds Pokemon like Pikachu and Miltank facing off against McDonald's characters.
The game's art style remains similarly disturbing to Black & Blue. However, PETA also includes characters like Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar in the selection of abusive Pokemon trainers. The mixed messaging here still didn't appeal to gamers or anyone who already doesn't believe that games lead to real-life violence.