With Pokémon Stadium coming back to the Nintendo Switch, its mini-games return once again. The best mini-games provide endless fun, and nostalgia.
With the announcement of Pokémon Stadium's appearance in the games catalog for Nintendo Switch Online's pricey Expansion Pack, for the first time in years, this Pokémon side series and its mini-games are being given the attention they deserve. While many Pokémon games focus on the idea of a grand adventure to become the greatest Pokémon Trainer, this Nintendo 64 classic keeps players confined to simply fighting Pokémon Battles, as well as some other side content, including some clever mini-games.
One of the strongest points of the game is the Kids Club section, which features nine games to allow those who are tired of repeatedly taking part in Gym Battles to take a break and unwind with some fun challenges. These mini-games, much like Nintendo's very own Mario Party, are quick and simple tasks where up to four players can compete for victory. Featuring some of the earliest Pokémon designs from Generation 1 leading the mini-games, players can get lost in this mode and forget the main game entirely.
Related: Pokémon's Most Shocking Battles, Ranked
While all of Pokémon Stadium's mini-games are fun in their own right, some of them are definitely more frustrating than others. Whether due to impossible controls or boring design, some of these Kids Club games fall flat. That being said, many are extremely fun, rivaling those of Mario Party itself, showing off fun mechanics and ideas. These nine mini-games will largely be ranked on how much fun they are to play, which includes how well they control and how much strategy goes into it, and how good the overall presentation is, including how well they implement Pokémon themes into the game concept.
In this mini-game, players take control of the Ground-type Sandshrew, a Gen 1 Pokémon with regional variants, as it attempts to dig a hole in the earth to find water. Players control the Mouse Pokémon by alternating presses of the L and R buttons on the N64 Controller. These controls are extremely frustrating to keep up with, making the game nearly impossible beat quickly. Also, the repeated mashing motion can quickly lead to hand cramps, or broken buttons on the controller. With how uninteresting the design of this game is, it's not worth the potential damage.
For "Magikarp's Splash," the player must repeatedly jump with Magikarp, reaching a certain height and trying to get as many jumps in as possible. The key to winning this jumping contest lies in the player's ability to time the jumps perfectly for when Magikarp touches the ground. The premise is extremely simple, and is the most forgettable mini-game in Pokémon Stadium despite featuring fan-favorite Water-type Pokémon, Magikarp (but not its complicated Hoenn version). Not much can be said about this game, it just involves pressing one button, with a certain rhythm for a short amount of time. It often feels like there isn't really much a player can do to improve in this game, leaving many bored with it entirely.
Following the previous two, the mini-games from here on out have a jump in quality. In this game, the player must mash the A button to quickly run as a Rattata, dodging hurdles to stay ahead. While this mini-game is another mashing game, the hurdles, as well as the racetrack visuals, help keep this game from becoming too repetitive. However, the camera angles in "Run, Rattata, Run" can at times become atrocious, preventing players from easily dodging hurdles and giving others an unfair advantage. Other than that, much like the deceptively powerful Pokémon Rattata, even at level one, this mini-game proves to be a little basic.
"Thundering Dynamo," the mini-game featuring Electric-type Pokémon Pikachu and Voltorb, falls again into the category of a button-mashing mini-game. Being the last and best of those games on the list, "Thundering Dynamo" has players quickly pressing the A and B buttons depending on which is prompted. If the button press is correct, the meter fills up, if it is incorrect, the meter rapidly drains.
Related: Every Legendary Titan Pokémon, Ranked
This game is short and sweet, perfect for its simple mechanics. Unlike the other two, due to its speed, it doesn't hurt to play nearly as much. Also, the aesthetic of the game is great, though it could stand to feature more of Pokémon's many Electric-types.
"Clefairy Says," featuring Pokémon's near replacement for Pikachu, Clefairy, is a memory based mini-game tasking players with remembering the pattern of directions that Clefairy points in. This game features some of the strongest aesthetic value in the game, placing participants in a classroom, and having the Clefairy sing and dance as it follows the pattern. This alone is enough to bring it to the number 5 spot. The gameplay itself is fun, but uninteresting as there is no special strategy that goes into the game, besides having a better memory. Unlike "Thundering Dynamo" however, it utilizes its mascot Pokémon extremely well.
"Ekans' Hoop Hurl" will always be an interesting example of a mini-game that is extremely fun, and presents both it's involved Pokémon, Red and Blue trickster Diglett and Ekans, in interesting ways yet falls flat in terms of controls. The game has players competing to toss Ekans to circle Digletts and score points. Since it's a free for all, and golden Digletts can appear for extra points, a lot of strategy and planning goes into each ring toss. However, the controls in this mode are very touchy, making it extremely hard to quickly line up shots in the fast-paced chaos, leaving the middle row of Digletts all but unobtainable for human players. Despite these downsides, the game is still a blast to play.
"Snore War," featuring Drowzee, culprit of a Pokémon GO Shiny glitch hits all the right notes in terms of style, gameplay, and replay-ability. In this game, players have to time button presses with the swinging of a pendulum to keep their Drowzee awake. As it picks up speed, players are left in a frantic battle to rapidly keep pace with their opponents. The winner being the last Drowzee standing adds to the level of fun, leading to hectic scenarios and nail-biting finishes. Plus, the music and atmosphere in this game mode are fantastic, perfectly fitting Drowzee's aesthetic.
"Rock Harden" is by far the most mechanically unique, and fun to play mini-game in Pokémon Stadium. Featuring everyone's favorite mid-evolution Bug-types, Metapod and Kakuna, players must use the ability Harden to block rocks before they come crashing down on their heads. The player can use harden as long as they press the A button, but holding it down will drain their health.
Related: Every Pokémon Ultra Beast, Ranked
This leads to many strategies, from playing it safe and using long hardens to avoid massive damage from the rocks, to trying for frame-perfect presses of the A button, that will let your Pokémon stay up for as long as possible. The only thing lacking in the game is fun Pokémon aesthetic. While not as bad as a few of the other mini-games, the rocks could have potentially been Geodudes instead of plain boulders, or even launched from a Rock-type Pokémon like Rhyhorn or its evolved form, Rhydon. However, the use of the iconic move Harden and nod to Bug-type Pokémon's natural weakness to rock saves it, landing it the second place finish in the rankings.
Finally, the number one spot has to go to "Sushi Go-Round," the mini-game featuring Lickitung. This game features the perfect combination of all three elements of a good Pokémon mini-game: fun gameplay, good Pokémon aesthetic, and the potential for strategy. Players in this mode must eat various sushi around a conveyor belt, trying to rack up the highest bill possible. Eating the same sushi in a row will increase a score multiplier giving massive points.
From this, many interesting strategies emerge, like going for cheaper, but more common, food items, or only eating the most expensive item, and trying to gain a huge bonus from its multiplier. On top of this, the use of Lickitung and its retractable tongue running around a sushi bar is extremely charming, and controls very well, being one of the few mini-games that do. "Sushi Go-Round" is definitely the mini-game to look out for in Pokémon Stadium on the Nintendo Switch.
While some mini-games stand out more than others, each one has their place in the overall game. Although this isn't the main focus of Pokémon Stadium, many cherish fond memories of these mini-games. With Pokémon Stadium's rerelease coming in 2023, it won't be long before those memories can be visited again.
Ryan is a part-time writer, part-time streamer who spends most of his free time video editing, or playing video games. Graduating from the College of the Holy Cross in 2022 with an English, and Theater degree, Ryan is extremely excited to begin writing for all the video games he loves, especially Genshin Impact.