This week marked the 35th anniversary of the Game Boy in the United States, and in order to celebrate this iconic birthday, Nintendo has decided to release a 2006 Game Boy Advance game that also came out on the DS. That's right, Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscribers are getting Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, a dungeon crawler roguelike starring an amnesiac hero who gets turned into an adorable pocket monster. That's cool news and all, but is this game worth playing? To answer that question, I flipped through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Nintendo Power and more classic magazines to see what the critics said back when this game first came out. Brace yourself, because there's going to be one major twist in this episode of Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew.


So far on the Nintendo Switch Online, we have a Pokémon puzzle game, Pokémon photography game, Pokémon trading card game and even a pair of Pokémon Stadium games. With all these Pokémon spin-offs, you might think there's nothing left for Nintendo to release. Well, think again, because here we have Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team on the Game Boy Advance. First released in 2006, this is a roguelike dungeon game where we explore randomly-generated stages to not only find Pokémon, but also to regain your memory. On top of the amnesia plot, Mystery Dungeon is also historically important for being the first Pokemon game to be released on two different generations of Nintendo hardware. Red Rescue Team is the Game Boy Advance version, while Blue Rescue Team launched at the same time on the Nintendo DS.

While that's certainly noteworthy, this release strategy ends up backing us into a corner. With both the Game Boy Advance and supped-up Nintendo DS versions hitting stores at the same time, do you want to take a guess which one the critics opted to review? Here's a hint: It's not the version that just hit the Nintendo Switch Online. That's right, everybody chose to review the Nintendo DS version. The good news is that the two games are virtually identical, give or take a few UI changes and some extra content. This is one of those rare cases where we're going to need to turn to the Blue Rescue Team to see what the critics thought of the Red Rescue Team.

If you want to know just how dire things are, Nintendo Power is literally the only magazine to review both the Game Boy Advance and DS versions ... and they didn't even bother splitting them into two different reviews. Giving Pokémon Mystery Dungeon a high score of 8 out of 10, Nintendo Power argued that the game was the best of both worlds, introducing “a new style of gameplay,” while also managing to keep many of “the elements that Pokémon fans know and love.” “Despite a few shortcomings, Mystery Dungeon will satisfy the needs of Pokémon fans while they hold their breath for the release of Diamond and Pearl. Mystery Dungeon is not perfect, but it's robust and original aspects form a game more solid than many expected.”

While Electronic Gaming Monthly only reviewed the Nintendo DS version, I will give them credit for at least mentioning that Red Rescue Team “is basically the same game.” There was a real divide between the critics, with Bryan giving the game a 6.5 out of 10 and describing it this way: “Playing as one of these cute critters, you make your way through rounds of randomly generated dungeons, and unlike traditional Pokémon bouts that can drag on, all the fights here are quick. Don't think this equates into repetitive button-mashing battles; you still need to think strategically when selecting from your ever-growing list of Pokémon and their signature moves. The real issue here [is the] resource management. For one thing, storing and retrieving items is too much of a hassle. And second, whoever came up with the idea of permanently losing your valuables every time you die should have their head examined.” Ray disagreed, giving the game an 8.5 out of 10. “Lord help me, but I couldn't get enough of this game. This Pokémon entry is a haven for soul-sucking leveling, although the typical series incentives have been stripped. But it's by sticking to solid RPG basics that Mystery Dungeon delivers the addiction.” EGM gave this Pokémon spin-off a solid 7.2 out of 10.

Unfortunately, it's all downhill from here. Game Informer hated the game, giving it a 3 out of 10, one of the lowest scores they've given to any Pokémon game. GamePro was also displeased, settling on a pitiful 2.5 out of 5. “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is a spin-off title that looks like a Pokémon game, but doesn't quite contain the same sense of magic that was so evident in the originals. Like most spin-off titles, Mystery Dungeon fails to capture the spirit and replay incentives that made the core product so irresistible to gamers of all ages. If endless dungeon crawling is your thing, then you should give this title a whirl. However, if monotonous gaming and skimpy Pokémon action aren't your thing, then this is one mystery that's best left unsolved.”

We don't need Detective Pikachu to figure out this case, because your enjoyment of Red Team Rescue is going to come down to how much you like dungeon crawling roguelikes. These days, gamers might be more open to losing a great deal of progress with every death, but that's still a hard pill to swallow. The critics either loved or hated this one, so give Mystery Dungeon a play and see which side you land on.