Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series (Japanese: ポケモンのダンジョン Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, also ポケダン PokédanPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness official website (Japanese)) is a series of developed by Spike Chunsoft. Being the longest-running series of spin-off games, it currently includes eleven different games, and has been expanded into several manga and animated specials.
==History==
The first pair of games in the series, , were released on the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS in Japan on November 17, 2005, in North America on September 18, 2006, and elsewhere during the rest of 2006 and 2007. The games feature all 386 Pokémon from Generations I, , and . An anime adaptation loosely based on the game, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate!, first aired in Japan on March 23, 2007 and in the United States on September 8, 2006. A manga series based on the games, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team, was also released. In South Korea, only Blue Rescue Team was released, but the free PC demo Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gold Rescue Team was also available.
The second pair, , were released on the Nintendo DS in Japan on September 13, 2007, in North America on April 20, 2008, and elsewhere during the rest of 2008. They introduced almost all of the Generation IV Pokémon into the series, excluding and , which were not officially revealed at the time. Another anime adaptation, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness, first aired in Japan on September 9, 2007. It aired almost a year later in the United States on September 1, 2008. The manga Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing Exploration Team and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness were also based on the games.
Their third version, , was released in Japan on April 18, 2009, in North America on October 12, 2009, and in Australia and Europe in November 2009. This game has several additions to the storyline of Time and Darkness, including the addition of the Pokémon . The most recent anime adaptation, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness, aired in Japan on April 12, 2009, airing in the US a few months later, on October 9, 2009.
On August 4, 2009, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Keep Going! Blazing Adventure Squad!, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Let's Go! Stormy Adventure Squad!, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Go For It! Light Adventure Squad! were released for the Wii only in Japan as WiiWare games. Each game is slightly different from each other, with less story and background than other Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games. The three are the only Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games not to be released internationally and to be released exclusively on digital media, and are the first to be released on a home console.
The first solitary title, , was released in Japan on November 23, 2012, in North America on March 24, 2013, and in Europe and Australia in May 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS. The game features Generation V Pokémon in addition to Pokémon from previous generations. Two animated shorts based on the games were also produced.
, the most recent entry in the series, was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on September 17, 2015, in North America on November 20, 2015, and in Europe and Australia in February 2016. Being released during Generation VI, the game features all 720 Pokémon revealed at the time. Unlike previous Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, the game features cameo appearances by many characters who appeared in earlier entries.
On January 9, 2020, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, a remake of Red and Blue Rescue Team, was announced. It was released for Nintendo Switch worldwide on March 6, 2020. It is a mostly faithful remake with the addition of gameplay changes and enhancements and cross-generational evolutions.
==Gameplay==
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is an adaptation of the games. Like the core series Pokémon games, it has two gameplay modes; unlike the core series games, battle mode and dungeon mode are not distinct. It is a turn-based game, with each step, attack, or item use being counted as a single turn. 
The size of a party is limited to four in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (three in Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon), compared to six in the core series games. Furthermore, players are only able to directly control one Pokémon: their own character (or, later in the game, any other befriended Pokémon). The player's teammates are essentially autonomous, with player control being limited to general strategy such as avoiding Pokémon battles or not moving and staying in one place. The type of AI used by team members can be changed.
Most of the gameplay takes place within Mystery Dungeons, with many floors and hostile Pokémon. Due to the many dangers, exploration teams prepare for the challenges by using the many services offered at Pokémon settlements such as Pokémon Square and Treasure Town.
The games also feature storylines common in the aspects of the player having been transformed into a Pokémon and lost all memory of their human life, and an emotional separation from the befriended partner at the end of the main plot before the credits.
==List of games==
Gen.	Image	Title	Japanese title	Platform 	Release date 	Release date 	Release date 	Release date 	Release date 	Release date 	Release date
Gen.	Image	Title	Japanese title	Platform 	Japan 	North America 	Europe 	Australia 	South Korea 	Hong Kong 	Taiwan
 	 	 	 	Game Boy Advance 	November 17, 2005 	September 18, 2006	November 10, 2006	September 28, 2006	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	Wii U Virtual Console 	March 23, 2016 	June 23, 2016 	February 12, 2016	February 11, 2016 	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	Nintendo Switch Online	August 9, 2024 	August 9, 2024 	August 9, 2024 	August 9, 2024 	— 	August 9, 2024	—
 	 	 	 	Nintendo DS 	November 17, 2005 	September 18, 2006	November 10, 2006	September 28, 2006	August 30, 2007 	— 	November 17, 2005
 	 	 	 	Wii U Virtual Console 	March 23, 2016 	June 23, 2016 	February 12, 2016	February 11, 2016 	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	Nintendo DS 	September 13, 2007	April 20, 2008 	July 4, 2008 	June 19, 2008 	December 11, 2008	— 	September 13, 2007
 	 	 	 	Nintendo DS 	September 13, 2007	April 20, 2008 	July 4, 2008 	June 19, 2008 	December 11, 2008	— 	September 13, 2007
 	 	 	 	Nintendo DS 	April 18, 2009 	October 12, 2009 	November 20, 2009	November 12, 2009 	— 	— 	April 18, 2009
 	 	 	 	Wii U Virtual Console 	July 20, 2016 	June 23, 2016 	August 18, 2016 	August 18, 2016 	— 	— 	—
 	 	— 	 	Wii 	August 4, 2009 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
 	 	— 	 	Wii 	August 4, 2009 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
 	 	— 	 	Wii 	August 4, 2009 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	Nintendo 3DS 	November 23, 2012 	March 24, 2013 	May 17, 2013 	May 18, 2013 	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	Nintendo 3DS 	September 17, 2015	November 20, 2015 	February 19, 2016	February 20, 2016 	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	Nintendo Switch 	March 6, 2020 	March 6, 2020 	March 6, 2020 	March 6, 2020 	— 	March 6, 2020 	March 6, 2020
==List of animated episodes and short films==
==List of manga adaptations==
Image	English title 	Japanese title 	Volumes	Chapters	Summary
 	Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team 	ポケモン不思議のダンジョンギンジの救助隊Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team 	1 	6 	An adaptation of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team's main storyline. Nearly direct, but features a very different ending from the games.
 	 	ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 炎の探検隊Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing Exploration Team 	1 	6 	A manga adaptation of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness.
 	Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness (manga)	 	0 	1 	A 16-page manga adaptation of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness. Appeared in the Explorer's Guide book, which was included with pre-ordered copies of the games.
 	 	ポケモン超不思議のダンジョンそれいけ！新米調査団Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon: Go For It! Novice Investigation Team! 	 	 	A 32-page manga adaptation of Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. Takes place during the Lively Town segment of the story.
==Trivia==
* This series is the only spin-off series to:
** Have games released as pairs similar to the release model of the core series games. However, the computer programs Pokémon Project Studio Red and Blue (which are not part of a series) were also released as a pair.
** Receive a remake, with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX being a remake of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team.
==In other languages==
==References==
==Related articles==
Category:Game series
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de:Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
es:Saga Pokémon Mundo misterioso
fr:Pokémon Donjon Mystère (série)
it:Serie Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
ja:ポケモン不思議のダンジョン
zh:宝可梦不可思议迷宫（系列）