Pokemon is one of the most lucrative franchises in the world, and naturally it has had a large number of spin-offs over the decades as a result. Some of these spin-offs become larger series of their own that grow and change over time, like Mystery Dungeon, but some - like Conquest and Colosseum - are left behind despite a significant portion of the fan base calling for the contrary.
The world of Pokemon spin-offs is in an interesting place right now. It seems like a lot of the spin-off attention is focused more on the mobile gaming world at the moment, with titles like Pokemon Unite, the new Pokemon Sleep, and the massive hit Pokemon GO. Not everything is mobile, though, with recent games like New Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Legends Arceus keeping console spin-offs alive. The franchise has so many more successful spin-offs from the past, however, and they're largely being ignored, much to the chagrin of many players who grew up hoping for more entries.
Pokemon Conquest Deserves a Chance
The combination of Pokemon's massive set of unique monsters with unique abilities and the tactical RPG battling system of series like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics is a match made in heaven that remains a hidden gem on the DS. Even though Pokemon Conquest has a fairly small community, at least by franchise standards, it still begs for a sequel, if for no other reason than the potential that this title shows.
The biggest criticism laid against Pokemon Conquest by many is that it can feel a bit too simplistic at times. The combat and the number of obtainable Pokemon would benefit greatly from expansion, something that a sequel could build upon perfectly. At the time of Conquest's release, Fire Emblem was still a franchise that Nintendo considered largely unviable in the West. It was literally a month after the release of Conquest that Fire Emblem: Awakening hit North America and launched a wave of popular Fire Emblem titles that remain relevant to this day. In light of that, there's really no excuse to not bring a new Pokemon tactical RPG to the Switch. There's certainly a market for this genre, and the recent Advance Wars ports will only hold genre enthusiasts' attention for so long.
Pokemon Colosseum Should Make a Comeback
Unlike Pokemon Conquest, Pokemon Colosseum managed to at least squeeze out one sequel before being sealed in the vault. Prior to Generation 6, both Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness were the only references gamers had for what this franchise could look like in the world of 3D, and they achieved a level of quality that some argue the main series' 3D titles have yet to match.
Really, these games should have set the standard for the franchise moving forward. It was very apparent to most who played this spin-off series that double battles are the optimum way to experience Pokemon's combat system. It allows for so much more variety and experimentation while reducing the groan-worthiness of some moves like Protect, which serve no purpose other than extending a battle's length unnecessarily in most single-battle contexts. On top of that, the level of detail in battle animations is purely unmatched by anything the franchise dishes out today, something that is truly shocking considering the nearly 20-year gap between Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
For some reason, rather than continuing down the trail that the two Colosseum games blazed, the mainline Pokemon series continued on its path of introducing new battle systems every generation only to underutilize and ultimately forget them, like Gen 5's triple and rotation battles. If that's the path the main games will continue to take, it would at least be nice to get a new Pokemon adventure in the Orre region sometime soon.