ThePokemonfranchise has over two decades of history in its wake.Pokemonhas been a source of inspiration for other developers all across the industry, even nearly creating its ownsubgenre of games calledPokemonclones. However, it’s not just the corePokemonentries that has been inspiring others in the video game landscape, as it has a variety of successful spin-off titles and series. One of the most successful of those spin-off series is thePokemon Mystery Dungeonseries of games.
ThePokemonMystery Dungeonseries first debuted on both the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS simultaneously, withPokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue TeamandBlue Rescue Team, respectively. Now, with the newly revealed remakes of those titles,Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, the series is once again coming into the spotlight – and for the first time on a home console. This is just the next step in what has been a very interesting history and origins for the spin-offs.
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First, let’s take a look at what exactly a Mystery Dungeon game is. The Mystery Dungeon subgenre was conceived by a Koichi Nakamura, best known as the founder of the development and localization company Chunsoft and theco-creator of theDragon Questseriesalongside Yuji Horii. Nakamura developed the first title, the Japanese onlyTorneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon, as the first entry in the Mystery Dungeon subgenre. The game was a rogue-like dungeon crawler inspired by the 1980s game,Rogue. Additionally, the game was set in theDragon Questuniverse, with the main character being the merchant Taloon fromDragon Quest IV.
While the series originally shared a universe withDragon Quest, the second game in the series, calledMystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer,featured all original characters. Again, this title was a rogue-like dungeon crawler. However,Shiren the Wandererincentivized players to take on repeated playthroughs in order to improve their items and weapons for their next run. While theShiren the Wandererseries of games would eventually become its own series of Mystery Dungeon titles, the first game is still known as the second entry in the Mystery Dungeon series.
Finally, the last prominentMystery Dungeonseries developed by Chunsoft was theChocoboseries. Inspired by theFinal Fantasyseries recurring creature, the Chocobo, the games feature a wide variety of spin-off titles in genres like racing, minigame collections, and of courseMystery Dungeongames based on the bird-like creature. TheChocoboseries of Mystery Dungeon games have been around since the late 90s, but only three games in the series have ever been brought to North America and with limited success.
All in all, the firstPokemon Mystery Dungeongame’s formula did not stray too far from the original Japanese titl’s. The gameplay features the main character traveling around heavily randomized dungeons, battling monsters, and collecting items and gold. While the main objective of the first game was to level up the player’s home and shop, thePokemon Mystery Dungeongames rely on a main narrative that eventually lead to the games conclusion.Like anotherPokemonspin-off series,Pokemon Ranger, thePokemon Mystery Dungeongames have always had main narratives to give context to the gameplay.
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As mentioned before, the first games in thePokemon Mystery Dungeonseries werePokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue TeamandBlue Rescue Team. WhileRed Rescue Teamwas released on the Game Boy Advance andBlue Rescue Teamwas released for the Nintendo DS, the two titles did not differ greatly from each other. Aside from a handful of exclusivePokemonand some visual adjustments made for the unique layout of the DS, the game’s were nearly identical to one another. While this makes it easier toremake both titles at once, many industry members criticizedBlue Rescue Teamfor not taking full advantage of the DS’s hardware.
EveryPokemon Mystery Dungeongame’s story follows the player character who was originally a human but awakens to find themselves in the body of a Pokemon. The earlyPokemon Mystery Dungeontitles started with a personality quiz that would determine what Pokemon the player would play as for the duration of the game. It was a novel idea that allowed players to feel a sense of attachment to the Pokemon they were chosen to be, while being a nice nod to themainline games use of Pokemon natures. In later games, the quiz became optional or removed altogether in favor of letting players pick their preferred Pokemon.
Red,Blue, andRescue Team DXfocus onPokemon up to the third generation of the games, specifically fromPokemon RedandBluetoPokemon RubyandSapphire. The story follows the player character and their partner as they form a rescue team in order to help the main character regain their memories of their life as a human. At the same time, the team undertakes missions to help Pokemon suffering from the increasing natural disasters plaguing the land and to seek out the cause of those disasters. While the narrative is somewhat simple and straightforward, it is still a quaint little story that succeeds in giving even more personality to fan favorite Pokemon.
The games followingRedandBlue Rescue TeamwerePokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and a third release calledExplorers of Sky. Again, the only core gameplay differences between these versions are a handful of items andPokemon exclusive to each of the versions, something that has been a tradition in the mainline series ofPokemongames.
Explorers of TimeandDarknessheavily improved on the narrative aspect of the previous title, fleshing out both thePokemonworld and the characters who inhabit it. Among many fans,Explorers of Skyis considered the best entry in thePokemon Mystery Dungeonseries for both its gameplay and storytelling. The game even saw a somewhatsurprising re-release on the Wii U virtual console, much to many fans' excitement.
Unfortunately, the series would see a slight dip in quality with the first entry released for the Nintendo 3DS,Pokemon Mystery Dungeon:Gates to Infinity. WhileGates to Infinitybrought the series into 3D and added some interesting tweaks to gameplay mechanics, the overall experience was lacking when compared to the previous entry.
The game’s story was often tedious and slow going, feeling like aSaturday morning children’s cartoonrather than the surprisingly mature narrative offered by the previous entry. Additionally, the number of available Pokemon was heavily limited to only around 144, while the starting Pokemon were limited to five as opposed to previous entries 21.
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Thankfully, the following entry was a vast improvement overGates to Infinity,beingPokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. This title was released two years afterGates to Infinityand rectified many of the issues of its predecessor.Super Mystery Dungeonincluded all 720 available Pokemon at the time of its release and featured a starting roster of 20 Pokemon. Additionally, the game introduced mechanics like Alliances, Mega Evolutions, and incorporated fairy types into the gameplay. While many would say it’s not the best entry in the series, it was still a good step forward.
While thePokemon Mystery Dungeonseries might not be themost well-known or celebrated spin-off seriesin thePokemonfranchise, it certainly has its own cult following. For good reason, as these titles offer up something that no otherPokemonspin-off series offers. TheMystery Dungeonseries offers up an engaging gameplay loop and fleshes out thePokemonworld in an entirely different way than the mainline entries do.
By focusing on the Pokemon themselves, these games give fans a new perspective on the world and the beloved creatures who inhabit it. ForPokemonfans who’ve missed this series, keep an eye out forPokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, as it looks to be a promisingremake that surely should not be missed.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DXreleases March 6 exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
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