Best 10 Pokémon Games in 2026

I’ve always been interested in knowing which is the most popular game, with spin-offs on the table, btw. I know many people look at ratings, but I want real data I’ve personally collected, and I can explain why that’sappreciated.

A simple answer also, but please note, no fan-games, even if I like them; only official titles count.

Dozens of Pokémon games have been released since the franchise debuted more than 27 years ago. The main series is leading the charge, while numerous spin-offs keep offering a fresh take on everyone’s favorite Pocket Monsters, aiming to be the best, like no game ever was.

Back when the IGN team of resident Pokémaniacs battled with words, they decided on a list of the Top 10 best Pokémon games of all time. You can jump into coverage of the latest games in the series, Pokémon Scarlet Violet, which includes information on the latest DLCs, The Teal Mask and Indigo Disk.

There’s a reason your mom knows Pikachu. Over the past three decades, Pokémon has gone from being Satoshi Tajiri’s childhood dream to the highest-grossing entertainment franchise in the world. The pocket monsters’ legacy includes a wildly popular anime, widely-scaled trading cards, a movie starring Ryan Reynolds, and many, many games.

What excites me most are new entries in the series, dipping into the history of the franchise, and dialing up nostalgia. Pokémon: Legends Z-A is slated for release in 2025, set to return players to the Kalos region and reintroduce fan-favorite Mega Pokémon.

There’s a game for nearly every gamer. I love exploring new worlds, bonding with cuddly creatures, crawling through dungeons, solving mysteries, and battling other players. That’s why I trust a curated list of the best Pokémon games to play, including mainline and spin-off titles from throughout the franchise’s history.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Starting with Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the newest game in the series, I noticed how early returns suggest a fresh approach. The focus on monster collecting is clearly resonating with fans, and it feels similar to Pokémon Go, with a greater emphasis on collecting than battling, returning to the classic ‘Gotta Catch Em All’ theme. That ethos once drove the series in its heyday.

In my own review, I also raised concerns about Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ graphics and open world. They don’t quite do justice to its innovation. Yet, in defining how we play Pokémon, it boldly evolves how we explore, catch, and battle, rolling everything into an impressively seamless and addictively fun experience.

This title deserves to be counted among the very best Pokémon games. It is the first truly open-world Pokémon game, and it finally conveyed both awe and terror of life in a wild, untamed world filled with powerful monsters.

As players, we are integrated into the Galactic Expedition Team’s Survey Corps in Hisui, an ancient version of the Sinnoh region. You complete one of the first versions of the Pokedex, gather information on new Pokémon, and try to figure out what made them angry enough to rampage across the land.

The game demands ingenuity and quick thinking from players chasing dangerous Alpha Pokémon. These monsters move quickly and won’t think twice about cutting you down, so multiple approaches to battle matter, even outside of releasing your own Pokémon to fight.

You can occasionally avoid combat entirely by using light stealth mechanics. It feels like the first adventure highlighting realistic wild Pokémon behavior, and the perilous Hisui region feels more alive than most other mainline game locales.

New Pokémon Snap

The original Pokémon Snap felt both strange and wonderful, a small yet remarkable experience from the past that was well ahead of its time. Now, New Pokémon Snap offers a magnificent reimagining of the joy of Pokémon photography, and as a sequel, it feels bigger and smarter.

There are more Pokémon, areas, puzzles, and photo possibilities than the original game ever could have dreamed. New Pokémon Snap’s creatures feel adorable and alive, interacting with one another, the world, and the player in increasingly delightful ways.

It never fails to entice players to go just one more expedition to solve mysteries and get every single rare, beautiful shot. The new DLC makes it worthwhile to revisit, making New Pokémon Snap the ideal expansion of one of the most inventive spin-offs ever, saying something special.

Following the footsteps of one of the original Pokémon games on Nintendo 64, New Pokémon Snap revives the on-rails pocket monster photography series for the Switch. The original Pokémon Snap included 63 Generation One Pokémon, while the sequel includes 234 different Pokémon pulled from various mainline games.

The gameplay feels smoother, with more ways to interact with wild Pokémon, and photography feels reliable. In addition to being a solid dose of nostalgia for Pokémon oldheads, the game embodies the spirit of older titles.

There are tons of secret interactions throughout different courses that spawn new Pokémon to photograph. New Pokémon Snap becomes a sort of logic puzzle, where players experiment with different items on new Pokémon to discover cute animated interactions.

If you like the idea of experiencing Pokémon behavior in natural habitats, not aimless milling around overworld spawns in games like Sword and Shield, then New Pokémon Snap is the game for you.

Pokémon Sword and Shield 

From my time replaying Pokémon Sword and Shield, I felt how they brought an impressive array of quality-of-life improvements that work for casual gym-badge acquirers and competitive battlers alike. This game may lack a complete National Pokédex, but it still feels welcoming and smart.

The Random encounters are largely replaced as Pokémon frolic in the overworld, and the innovative new Wild Area makes exploration and backtracking smooth and easy. I liked how Pokémon moves are changed at will in a Pokémon Center, making choosing something new less agonizing and less shadowed by consequences.

With the introduction of new items like Nature Mints, plus breeding mechanics, battle-ready Pokémon feel realistically within reach. By removing long-standing barriers, the design allowed experimentation, creativity, and fun to flow like never before.

As the first mainline Pokémon games to release on Switch, they were a little rough around the edges and deeply embroiled in controversy, yes, I remember Dexit. Still, they introduced novel mechanics, and building competitive teams felt simpler than ever.

The Galar region and its Wild Area are a great way to connect disparate locations in a simple badge-hunting adventure, where Pokémon encounters feel more natural in the overworld. It’s a calmer pace that I personally enjoyed.

While Dynamaxing was not as popular as Mega Pokémon, it was the next best thing, offering a power boost for a few turns in battle. This added a new layer of strategy to competitive play and forced players to think about which Pokémon they wanted to Dynamax and when to Dynamax Pokémon.

The Battle Tower was not extensive postgame content, but it allowed players to earn items, change natures, reset EVs, and max IVs on each member of the team. That flexibility kept me testing builds for hours.

By Generation eight, it was the first time online battling with perfect Pokémon became accessible to casual players without hacked Pokémon. That’s enough to make a Sword.

Pokémon Puzzle League

Pokémon Puzzle League quietly stands among the best-looking games on the Nintendo 64, and seriously, it still holds up today. Borrowing heavily from the look of the anime circa the 90s, it includes clips, voice-acting, and other flourishes.

These touches were more commonly found on disc-based systems of that era, which makes this title feel special. It takes an otherwise unassuming puzzle game and positively drenches it in Pokémon, something I noticed even on my first replay.

The design focuses on recreating gym battles from the original games, while also featuring duels with Team Rocket. At its core, it is effectively a reskin of Panel de Pon, an outstanding Super NES puzzle game.

Here, blocks are cleared by arranging colors in horizontal and vertical lines. This is combined with the familiar look of the anime, which makes it immensely entertaining as a competitive puzzle game.

Matches can drain away entire afternoons, something I’ve personally experienced more than once. It’s deeply loved among Pokémon fans and puzzle enthusiasts alike.

The game truly deserves to be remembered as an excellent Pokémon game in its own right. If you’re looking to play this game in 2024, a Nintendo Switch Online subscription makes it easy.

Shield truly stands out.

Pokémon Go

Back in 2016, The Pokémon Company joined forces with augmented reality game developer Niantic to create Pokémon Go, a mobile game that took the world by storm. I still remember that magical Summer when it seemed virtually everyone was outdoors on a personal Pokémon adventure.

It began with a simple premise of seeking out Pokémon to catch in real-world spaces, and then went on to become an expansive mobile game packed with more than just Pocket Monsters. Everything from PVP battling to Team Rocket was added, making Pokémon Go an impressively robust game.

The game shows no sign of slowing down, thanks to numerous updates adding new Pokémon, special spawn events, and even Pokémon Go Fest. This is where Trainers all over the world meet up to play together, making Pokémon Go a one-of-a-kind, endlessly entertaining experience.

The Kanto region makes a return on Nintendo Switch with Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee, which are extremely kid-friendly games. They make Generation One Pokémon accessible to anyone by cutting out most wild Pokémon battles and giving players a cute, strong partner Pokémon.

These titles retread the original Pokémon gym challenge but incorporate 3D graphics and Pokémon Go catching mechanics to revitalize and refresh a tired adventure. Like many Nintendo Switch Pokémon games, it’s very easy to draft a competitive team.

With Exp. Candies, bottle caps that max out IVs, and more, training feels smooth. Shiny Pokémon hunting is also easier, using a new method allowing players to chain Pokémon catches from the same species to boost the odds of running into elusive chromatic oddities.

They aren’t the hardest Pokémon games, and not the best generation one titles either, but Pokémon Go on a home console remains a very appealing prospect, all the same.

Pokémon Emerald

Pokémon Emerald arrived as the worthy successors to Ruby and Sapphire, introducing double battles, abilities, and natures that finally made team building feel deep. As someone who played these games on release, it took everything good from earlier titles and made it truly polished.

Perhaps the most fleshed-out third version in history, this franchise entry brought forth several worthwhile changes. Top among them was the Battle Frontier, which made the most complete and rewarding post-game content the series had seen.

The seven different Frontier Brain trainers challenge you across distinct facilities that offer a serious challenge. As a longtime Trainers’ fan, this level is arguably one that hasn’t been met since, a testament to its enduring quality.

Even more than two decades after its release, Pokémon Emerald remains one of the best Pokémon games ever made. The first mainline Pokémon remakes ever released may seem a little barebones when compared to contemporary design.

Those games vastly improved the original games from 1996, when Pokémon Red and Blue were revolutionary for their time, yet incredibly flawed. Back then, games had Pokémon frozen by random chance, waiting to thaw, or trapped in a move like Fire Spin or Bind.

You couldn’t do anything during the duration of that effect, and certain type match-ups didn’t perform as supposed. FireRed and LeafGreen fixed these issues and added more content to already aging Gen One titles.

With the addition of a graphical facelift, refined mechanics, and expanded movepools, they updated things to reflect the current status of gen three games. Still, Pokémon Emerald made battles less frustrating, giving players more autonomy to build a team in interesting new directions.

While Pokémon Red and Blue are always revered for kicking off the franchise, if you want to take a look at Pokémon mania today, you’re better off picking up FireRed and LeafGreen.

Pokémon Conquest

Pokémon Conquest is a unique and unmissable Pokémon game that feels bold even today.
The pairing of Pokémon with a strategy game like Nobunaga’s Ambition came from left field, yet it works astonishingly well.

Among the best Pokémon spin-off titles, it builds a fantastic world with its own rules. Here, warriors link with Pokémon instead of catching them, and they grow and evolve alongside each other.

The vibrant characters, drawn from history, and cool Pokémon add a new spin to catching them all. On the battlefield, environmental obstacles and positioning add an extra strategic layer to the familiar battle system.

This element-focused design makes it feel like a true strategy RPG with unique flair. Pulling from multiple sources, the combo feels sweet, especially if you enjoy Fire Emblem.

As a tactical RPG, the focus is on uniting warriors under one banner and overcoming adversity. You conquer the kingdoms of the Ransei region, guided by a rich plot tied to historical events.

Inspired by Japan’s Warring States period, the hero must defeat opposing forces. The goal is to seek counsel from a local legendary Pokémon and restore peace. Starting with a partner Eevee, players can recruit 200 species into their army.
Each monster brings a single skill to contribute in battle.

Both warriors and warlords provide one-time buffs to their Pokémon units. When you conquer the entire Ransei region, you unlock an additional 16 postgame story chapters.

Many chapters reference actual historical events, which stood out to me as a longtime fan. For Fire Emblem fans and Japanese history buffs, this is a perfect introduction to the Pokémon franchise.

Seen through this lens, it becomes more than a game; it’s a full monster battler phenomenon.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green were the games that started it all and truly deserve to be lauded. They helped in establishing a worldwide monster-catching phenomenon that changed gaming forever.

Later, Game Freak proved that memory alone is not enough with FireRed and LeafGreen.These titles balance nostalgia with reality, showing how rose-colored originals can be improved. As fantastic remakes, they focused on introducing numerous new features. A recap of previous activities, the first attempt at wireless trading, and smoother battling stood out.

The brand new area, the Sevii Islands, added depth beyond nostalgia. There were massive improvements to typing, battling, and Pokémon moves added over later generations. While Red and Blue still hold a warm place in our hearts years later, this is the best way to re-experience Kanto. The excellent region of Kanto feels alive again through modern design.

As the first mainline Pokémon remakes ever released, they may feel a little barebones when compared to contemporary games. Still, they vastly improved the original games from 1996. Back then, the games were revolutionary for their time, but also incredibly flawed games. A Pokémon frozen had no random chance to thaw out, which felt unfair.

If a Pokémon was trapped by a move like Fire Spin or Bind, it couldn’t do anything. The duration of the effect made certain type match-ups feel broken and didn’t perform as supposed.

FireRed and LeafGreen fixed issues and added more content to already aging Gen One titles. With the addition of a graphical facelift, core mechanics and movepools were refreshed.

They were updated to reflect the current status of gen three games like Pokémon Emerald. This made battles less frustrating, giving players more autonomy to build team setups. That freedom pushed combat in interesting new directions I still appreciate today. Pokémon Red and Blue remain revered for kicking off the franchise.

But if you want to take a look at Pokemania today, you’re better off picking up FireRed and LeafGreen.

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

The Gen 5 era marked a revolutionary era for the Pokémon franchise, delivering the first-ever direct sequels in the form of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. These games encapsulate everything great about the original Black and White games, built on a solid foundation.

By introducing the Unova region again with all-new Pokémon, the games tell a captivating story with an all-time great rival, N. The music absolutely shreds, and the sequels truly soar to new heights.

A massive Pokédex brings creative monster designs and unique typings, which notably mix legacy Pokémon into early-game team building. This makes every battle feel more exciting as the story builds beyond the first game.

The journey feels epic, leading to a hard-earned payoff in the overall narrative. Visually, the games take full advantage of Nintendo DS hardware with breathtaking 3D vistas.

From dense cities to cinematic bridge traversals, the intricate details stand out throughout the adventure. Even years later, I still notice small touches that make Unova feel alive.

The post-game is incredible, letting you catch numerous legendaries and sharpen your battling skills. Challenges like Black Tower and White Treehollow truly test mastery.

You can also try your luck in the Battle Subway and relive history in the Pokémon World Tournament. Together, these modes create a definitive Pokémon experience I still recommend without hesitation.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Among the best Pokémon games, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver stand tall by respecting the original Pokémon Gold and Silver as near-perfect sequels. They built on the first-generation Pokédex with an expanded Pokédex, adding two new types that balanced weakness across the resistance chart.

What impressed players most was the entire Kanto region as a bonus after beating the Johto Elite Four. Back in 1999, these were ambitious undertakings, set in the Johto region, supported by developer Satoru Iwata.

Later, Crystal refined the idea with a male trainer, a female trainer, animated Pokémon sprites, and an enhanced story focused on Suicune. These original games already felt special, but the remakes delivered a better experience.

The Gen 4 games brought updated graphics, smart core changes, and meaningful quality of life changes. Together, they shaped a definitive Pokémon experience that felt thrilling, challenging, and deeply rewarding, especially when fighting Red and being the very best.

The generation two games once suffered from a lackluster variation in early game Pokémon, weak wild Pokémon, and rough late game training. Those pacing issues hurt the longer mainline titles, but the fourth-gen remakes rectified issues cleanly.

A robust postgame keeps Pokémon fans engaged, while competitive players can enter the Battle Frontier to test their might. I still enjoy the Pokeathlon, where trainers join athletic competitions instead of battles.

You can bond with Pokémon by letting them walk with Pokémon, both inside the game and outside the game, using the PokeWalker accessory. Few peripherals from Game Freak fit the mainline series this well.

These titles remain bona fide classics, proving that modernizing games can keep them relevant today.

Gaming Overview chart

Upcoming Pokémon Games

With Pokémon Scarlet Violet 2 DLCs out, it feels like we’ve reached the end of the 9th-generation Pokémon games era. From my time following every mainline release, this quiet phase usually hints at what’s coming next.

The status of the 10th-generation announcement remains unclear, and no new Pokémon titles have been confirmed. Still, with the Nintendo Switch 2 release window getting closer, I expect fresh Pokémon games to arrive sooner than many think.

The recent release success of Palworld surprised even long‑time fans like me, and it left the door open for more games like Pokémon. That kind of competition often pushes the Pokémon franchise to evolve in smart ways.

When people talk about the Top 10 best Pokémon games of all time list, these transition years matter most. They shape how future Pokémon games’ order and mechanics are planned.

I always tell readers to share their thoughts, hot takes in the comments, because every favorite Pokémon franchise pick is personal. Some even compare spin‑offs to the best Pokémon movies or follow a full guide to Pokémon games in order.

So, thanks for watching, and keep an eye on what’s next for the series—this era could redefine what we call the best Pokémon games. Long‑time fans will know why moments like these often end up cited by IGN later on.