Pokemon’s best spinoff is coming to Nintendo Switch Online, though not the best version of it

One of Pokemon’s best spin-offs, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, is coming to Nintendo Switch Online.

No, you didn’t miss a Nintendo Direct, but all the same the red and white game developer did announce a new title coming to its Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack this week, which just so happens to be the fan favourite title Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team. This classic spin-off of the monster catching series puts you in the shoes of a Pokemon for a whole entire game, and you don’t have long to wait until you can try out the very first entry, as it’s coming to Switch Online next week, August 9. Important to note, though, is that it’s just Red Rescue Team coming to Switch.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team was released way back in 2005 (or 2006 for those of us in the US and EU) for the Game Boy Advance, but its counterpart Blue Rescue Team was released on the exact same day for the Nintendo DS. As it stands, Nintendo hasn’t made any kind of Virtual Console or Switch Online collection of DS games, meaning that the best version of the two games is unplayable unless you own an original copy of the game, or happen to own it on the Wii U’s Virtual Console (which, as a reminder, you can no longer buy games digitally on since the console’s eShop was shut down).

Blue Rescue Team isn’t drastically different from Red, but it is better in a few key areas: the second screen allows you to keep track of your map more easily, as well as your teammates’ status, and the music and sound design is better too due to simply being a better console. Still, the Mystery Dungeon spin-offs are some of Pokemon’s best, so it’s certainly nothing to be sad about that you can play the original on Switch now.