A lot of Pokemon games are legendary. We're talking about titles so beloved they have become collector’s items, like the sweeping joyride of HeartGold or the pixel-perfect charm of Emerald. There are entries in the franchise that are deemed timeless.
This article, however, is not about those games. This is the failed side of the franchise, and the moments when Game Freak or their various spin-off studios collectively said, “Let’s try something weird,” ended up giving us something plain disappointing.
These are the top 10 worst Pokemon video games of all time, the ones we'd rather leave on a PC and never touch again.
What are the worst Pokémon video games of all time?
Pokémon Dash thought endlessly swiping Pikachu across the DS' touch screen until your lower screen cracked open was fun. Pokemon Channel somehow mistook watching TV with Pokemon for the word “gameplay.” And let’s not forget Pokemon Rumble U, where excitement left the moment you realized the entire thing takes place in a single, tiny arena. These are Pokemon cautionary tales dressed in Poke-brand packaging. Curious? Buckle up, as it only gets worse from here on.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Before you bring out your torches and pitchforks, hear us out. Scarlet and Violet aren’t entirely bad. The story? Solid and diverse. The characters? Complex and fun. The gameplay loop? Addictive and convenient.
But let’s be brutally honest here. The release version was so buggy it could’ve been named Pokemon Beedrill Version. NPCs walked through walls or in the middle of your battles, models glitched ridiculously, and framerates dropped harder than a Snorlax using Heavy Slam.
And don’t get us started on the lack of level scaling. For this so-called open world, it felt more like you were carefully adventuring around areas you weren’t supposed to enter yet. Thankfully, the Switch 2 breathed new life into it, but yeah... after a few years.
Pokemon Shuffle
On paper, a Pokemon match-three puzzle game should be a critical hit. Instead, we got Pokemon Shuffle, a free-to-play game filled with more currencies than a worldwide bank.
Hearts, coins, jewels, and timers. Oh my. The difficulty curve also smacks you hard by stage 60, and if you weren’t paying up, you'll never see stage 61. It quickly turns from a casual, fun Pokemon game into a grindy paywall. You know it’s bad when the game feels like it’s actively trying to not let you have fun.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Who didn't have high hopes for these games? These were the long-anticipated Gen IV remakes. What could possibly go wrong? And yet, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl delivered a glorified reskin with less charm than the OGs.
The same flawed Pokedex and non-reusable TMs (like really, in 2021?). And an art style so chibi and lifeless it felt like the Switch's processor was on vacation. Worse still, the devs have completely ignored Platinum’s improvements?
Pokemon Channel
If your dream Pokemon experience involves watching TV with Pikachu while doing nothing exciting, congratulations, Pokemon Channel is here for you. For everyone else, this GameCube title is barely a game. And if it is, it's a bad one.
Professor Oak tasks you to watch television with Pokemon-centric shows. That’s it. Sure, Pikachu reacts to the shows, and there are a few adorable interactions. But gameplay, engagement, and the sense of accomplishment? It's not here. Better watch the news, it's more exciting.
Pokemon Dream Radar
This Nintendo 3DS title promised augmented reality adventure and delivered digital boredom. Pokemon Dream Radar was more of a hardware test than an actual game.
You point your 3DS around the room and shoot at floating clouds to catch Pokemon. That’s it, and with almost no depth, limited functionality, and a real chance of dropping your now-rare handheld during gameplay, it’s hard to argue the $3 price tag for this bad game was even worth it.
My Pokemon Ranch
At its core, My Pokemon Ranch is just additional storage software. But it includes mini-games, so that should add value. Well, not if those mini-games feel bland; they're just chores.
Your Pokemon get dumped into a bland land of a ranch and proceed to bounce around like toys in an arcade: no interactivity and no sense of progression.
If you want to watch static Pokemon jump slightly, then this will feel like paradise. For everyone else, note that we have Pokemon HOME, which at least doesn’t pretend to be a game.
Pokemon Rumble U
The Pokemon Rumble series started with promise, where Rumble Blast had simplistic action, but it also had depth, Diablo-like exploration, and a juvenile charm.
Pokemon Rumble U decided to discard all that and cram every fight into a small arena. The action becomes repetitive within minutes, and without any plot or meaningful reasons, the game becomes a mindless button-masher.
The NFC figures gimmick was neat, but even that couldn’t save this from a level of nothingness.
Pokemon Art Academy
It’s like Mario Paint met Pokemon but forgot to bring the fun with it. Pokemon Art Academy teaches you how to color Pokemon. That’s it. Sure, the lessons can be pretty thorough, and it might be the one if you’re looking to practice digital coloring. But as a game? There’s just zero excitement with no story or challenge.
You color a Pikachu yellow, then a Charizard orange, and then start questioning your life choices. You might as well buy some crayons and go wild with an actual coloring book.
Pokemon Dash
Take Pikachu and remove every other playable Pokemon. Then force Pokemon players to swipe endlessly on their Nintendo DS touchscreen to make Pikachu run in top-down races. That’s Pokemon Dash.
Races are repetitively bad, the tracks lack any real creativity or diversity, and you’ll soon realize the only thing getting a workout is your DS' touchscreen. With zero depth and no replay value, this game is more likely to cause carpal tunnel syndrome than fun. Your DS deserves better. So does Pokemon's yellow lightning mascot.
Hey You, Pikachu
The N64’s microphone accessory was ahead of its time, and Hey You, Pikachu wanted to capitalize on that. You could talk to Pikachu! Theoretically, that should’ve been awesome, but in practice, it was a glitchy mess where Pikachu misheard commands or wandered off constantly.
There’s almost zero progression and no real reward. It’s more of a novelty than a game, so it truly deserves the #1 ranking on this list.
For every Pokemon Legends: Arceus or Black 2 and White 2, there’s a forgotten misfire collecting dust and hate in the franchise's long video gaming history.
Luckily, with every bad game, there’s hope for redemption, especially with the release of Nintendo Switch 2. We just hope they don’t make Pokemon Beedrill Version a real thing, although now that we’ve said it out loud, someone from the Pokemon development team is probably considering it.