Image via Neoseeker
While most people know Pokémon as a series of catching wild animals, its spinoffs tell many different stories. Among these is Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, a series by Spike Chunsoft where players take direct control of Pokémon in order to travel through strange and dangerous new lands. It’s not as successful as the main series, but it found its own level of notoriety - which is to be expected, considering how widespread the Pokémon brand is.
The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games provide unique gameplay and stories not found anywhere else in the franchise. It’s interesting to see how far its titles evolved throughout the years, alongside how successful they truly managed to be. The only games that won’t be included on this list are the Japan-only Wiiware titles; while numbers for them aren’t known, it’s safe to assume they’d be on the bottom, anyway.
The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Games In Order of Copies Sold
- 5. Rescue Team DX
- 4. Gates to Infinity
- 3. Super Mystery Dungeon
- 2. Rescue Team
- 1. Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky
5. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - 1.26 Million Copies Sold
A remake of the original Rescue Team titles, Rescue Team DX is the latest Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game to be released. While it follows the same story, it features numerous graphical and mechanical improvements, bringing features from other titles that even the mainline Pokémon games neglected to add. It’s an overall improvement to the originals, and while it falls to the bottom of this list, the fact that its release was only around two years ago shows that this game might still find even greater success.
4. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity - 1.31 Million Copies Sold
Though it featured new mechanics and a heart-wrenching story, Gates to Infinity is one of the more controversial Mystery Dungeon titles. Between not allowing players to recruit all Pokémon they encounter and not even having every Pokémon up to the game’s release, Gates to Infinity was somewhat more restrictive than previous titles. But it gave a breath of new life into the Mystery Dungeon series, featuring 3D models and completely original enemies for players to face. Thanks to this title, the series was able to improve in new ways.
3. Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon - 1.65 Million Copies Sold
Image via Bulbapedia
Perhaps the most ambitious title of the series, Super Mystery Dungeon features every single Pokémon up to Generation 6. Through plenty of twists and turns, references to previous Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, and new mechanics such as Mega Evolution and Wands, Super Mystery Dungeon has an amount of content that overshadows many games today. It’s the latest game in the series that isn’t a remake, and it makes one wonder what a brand-new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon title would look like today.
2. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team - 5.28 Million Copies Sold
Back when Pokémon Mystery Dungeon was still in its infancy, it relied on separate versions like the mainline titles do today. Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team released on the GBA and DS, respectively, kicking off the series with the common theme of a human being turned into a Pokémon. The formula of exploring randomly-generated dungeons and connecting with Pokémon-turned-characters kicked off a following for the series, and even with the remake, these titles are worth looking back on to see how it all started.
1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky - 6.37 Million Copies Sold
Image via Neoseeker
Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness didn’t change much of Rescue Team’s formula. But it didn’t have to; instead, it built off of a fantastic foundation and gave it an even better story with more characters and charm than ever. A third version, Explorers of Sky, added even more story content and mechanics; some even consider it as one of the best Pokémon games of all time.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is overshadowed by the main series, but it has a grand appeal of its own. While its recent successes aren’t as amazing as other Pokémon games, it’s still a consistent million-seller.
With more marketing and budget, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games have the potential to surpass some mainline titles. One can only hope that such potential will be realized someday, and that more people will experience the wonder and excitement of these underrated gems.
Sources:
070427e.pdf (nintendo.co.jp)
Nintendo Sales Update - IGN (archive.org)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness - Wikipedia
090508e.pdf (nintendo.co.jp)
100507e.pdf (nintendo.co.jp)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity for Nintendo 3DS (vgchartz.com)
160427_4e.pdf (nintendo.co.jp)
Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon for Nintendo 3DS (vgchartz.com)
200507_3e.pdf (nintendo.co.jp)
