Highlights

  • Pokemon spin-off games like Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Colosseum provided a unique and immersive battle experience in 3D on larger screens.
  • The mainline Pokemon games have seen improvements in battle animations, but they are still limited and could benefit from extensive visual updates.
  • Bringing back Pokemon battle simulators could not only enhance the gameplay experience but also give Pokemon more personality and charm, similar to what was seen in previous spin-off games.

The Pokemon franchise has a long list of spin-off games, each with a diverse identity. Despite their uniqueness, they maintain strong ties to the mainline games. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, for example, keep level-up movesets from FireRed and LeafGreen but completely shake up the core gameplay. There’s another series of Pokemon spin-offs that The Pokemon Company seems to have put to rest, though.

Pokemon Stadium and its sequel were released on the Nintendo 64 and breathed life into the franchise. Due to the graphical limitations of the first and second generations of games, battling was not very immersive as the Game Boy couldn’t provide fluid, detailed animations. The Stadium games allowed players to link Nintendo 64s to Game Boys and battle with their very own Pokemon in 3D on a television screen. This is a significant visual component for the franchise and continued on the GameCube and Wii with Pokemon Colosseum, XD: Gale of Darkness, and Battle Revolution, respectively. Nintendo’s next console would greatly benefit from another Pokemon battle simulator, despite the series’ jump to 3D over 10 years ago.

pokemon scarlet violet indigo disk dlc promo art with blaziken serperior primarina
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Pokemon’s 3D Sprites Over The Years

Gameplay screenshot from Pokemon Colosseum

3D sprites have existed in the Pokemon series since Stadium and Snap, but the mainline games didn’t introduce them until X and Y on the Nintendo 3DS. Yet, there seems to be a glaring difference between the animations of the spin-off games and the mainline ones.

Pokemon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness were one-of-a-kind entries in the franchise in that they managed to combine RPG elements of the original games with the battle simulation of the Stadium series. Players could still connect their Game Boy Advance copies of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire to the GameCube and battle on the big screen, but Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness also provided full-fledged story modes.

Pokemon Battle Revolution on the Nintendo Wii returned to Stadium’s style of gameplay, with essentially no story mode and a heavy focus on mere battling. The game’s emphasis on battling, however, filled it with tons of personality. Each Pokemon had such vibrant idle animations, and was an impressive graphical showcase of the Wii’s capabilities, compared to previous Nintendo consoles.

Why Battle Simulators Should Make A Return

Pokemon Battle Revolution Staravia attacking a Chingling

Pokemon’s jump from 2D sprites and overworlds to 3D has been somewhat controversial. Generation 6 on the 3DS was a smooth transition from the DS era of games, yet the issue primarily exists with future releases in the series. Generations 7 and 8's Pokemon sprites look similar to the ones used in X and Y, a questionable choice as the latter was released on the Switch, Nintendo’s most recent console. Scarlet and Violet certainly improved and reworked the way tons of Pokemon look, yet a sizable number still looks comparable to how they did on the 3DS in 2013.

The battle animations in the mainline series have seen improvements since the handheld games, but still feel limited. Seeing as there are over 1,000 Pokemon in the National Pokedex at the moment, Game Freak may be prioritizing other elements of gameplay. This is where the franchise’s battle simulators of the past could come back to life.

The battling spin-off games were by no means necessary additions to a fan’s collection, but they gave so many Pokemon rich personalities and charm. It could be interesting to see Pokemon’s official video game competition take place in new titles that solely focus on battling, as they have done in the past.

Online ladders, like those that currently exist in Scarlet and Violet, could also be implemented. A story mode would be a nice addition, but where the franchise would truly benefit is in its personality. New Pokemon Snap demonstrates how the series benefits from strong visuals, and Nintendo's anticipated Switch 2 could be the perfect platform to elevate that further.