The main Pokemon games still aren't available via Nintendo Switch Online, but the next best thing is coming with one of the greatest spin-offs

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team cover art showing a group of four Pokemon gathered around a Magnemite mid-air
(Image credit: Nintendo)

As fans endure the endless wait for the classic mainline Pokemon games to make their way to Nintendo Switch Online, another surprise spin-off arrives - and it's almost just as good.

Sure, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is available to play on the Switch, but what about the Nintendo original that walked so the 2020 release could run? The OG is now making a return in its base 2005 form - the one many nostalgic fans know and love. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team will soon be available via a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, as revealed by Nintendo in a surprise announcement.

The classic spin-off is set to make its grand return next week on August 9. Red Rescue Team will mark the arrival of the first-ever Pokemon title from the age of the Game Boy Advance to launch on Nintendo Switch Online. When compared to the best Pokemon games from the mainline series, the roguelike RPG stands apart as a unique title thanks to its gameplay - in Mystery Dungeon, you are a Pokemon yourself rather than a trainer.

Red Rescue Team, much like Pokemon Red, dropped alongside its counterpart, Blue Rescue Team, when it was originally released. As of now, though, Nintendo has yet to announce that Blue Rescue Team will also come to Nintendo Switch Online. It's exciting nonetheless - I'm continuing to keep my fingers crossed for mainline games in the future myself,  but anything is better than nothing, and that certainly applies to the Red Rescue Team.

Love the timeless series? Here's everything we know about Pokemon Legends Z-A so far.

Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

Read more
Donkey Kong 94
Forget Pokemon Red and Blue, Nintendo's finally brought the secret best Game Boy game to Switch: an expanded version of Donkey Kong with 2425% more levels
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC artwork showing students on an exchange trip
The best Pokemon games, ranked from worst to best
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends Z-A: Everything we know so far
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
A single frame in the new Pokemon Legends Z-A trailer gives hardcore shiny hunters and Nuzlocke runners hope for a huge quality-of-life change
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Everything announced at Pokemon Presents 2025
Pokemon Pikachu
10 games like Pokemon for the discerning trainer
Latest in Pokemon
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shiny Cards
How to get Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's director appears to be a Xenoblade Chronicles fan, and I'm now feeling very validated about a tiny detail I spotted in the upcoming RPG's gameplay trailer
Pokemon TCG Pocket
Pokemon TCG Pocket is getting yet another new expansion as the addition of shinies and Gen 9 Pokemon keep free-to-play players drowning in new cards to collect
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shining Revelry
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shining Revelry release date and details
Pokemon GO
Despite new ownership's iffy history, Pokemon GO lead claims intrusive ads and playtime restrictions won't plague the game: "Not now, not ever"
Lego Pikachu tail over the top of the 'Who's that Pokemon?' anime screen
Lego Pokemon revealed for 2026 after 'shocking' Pikachu tease
Latest in News
A screenshot from MindsEye showing a character leaning out of a car, shooting another car with a gun.
GTA veteran says the games industry needs to "get smarter" about what people actually want: "There are so many games, and I think we're starting to feel the effects"
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says