Ranking The Best Digimon Video Games

Digimon is a prolific multimedia property that’s been around for nearly three decades and has its humble origins as a series of virtual pet toys. Many Digimon fans associate the franchise with its diverse anime series, which have accumulated more than 500 episodes since the original Digimon Adventure. That being said, Digimon has also celebrated a rich life in the video game industry and its first release even predates the original anime by a few months.

There are more than 50 Digimon games that cover a wide range of genres including digital pet simulators, RPGs, fighting games, racers, and even card battle titles. There’s a rich legacy to the many different Digimon video games. However, some releases have made a greater impact than others and are absolute must-play titles for any Digimon fan.

10 Digimon Racing Gives Digimon Hijinks A Kart Racer Makeover

Most Digimon games are RPGs or action titles, but the Game Boy Advance’s Digimon Racing is an exciting change of pace that transforms the series into a creative handheld kart racer. Digimon Racing is a satisfying evolution to what the Game Boy Advance previously accomplished with Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Crash Nitro Kart. It’s far from a lazy and half-baked use of the Digimon IP, which could have easily happened with this being one of the few American-developed Digimon games. Digimon Racing packs a lot into its package with a roster of 11 characters that features many popular anime Digimon, like Agumon, Gabumon, Palmon, Patmon, Tentomon, and Veemon. Digimon Racing borrows a lot from Mario Kart, like item-based attacks, but it also introduces “kart hopping” where players can jump on other racers to slow them down.

Digimon Racing features another unique gameplay element where players drive over energy hotspots that increase an energy meter that allows the players’ Digimon racer to progressively ascend their evolutionary line and become stronger with greater access to special attacks. This expands the game’s roster to 40 different Digimon racers. Digimon Racing includes 15 diverse tracks, plus boss battles that rely on action elements and combat, rather than conventional racing. Digimon Racing excels when it comes to its gameplay, but the addition of excellent music and sturdy multiplayer mechanics make it one of the Game Boy Advance’s best racing titles.

9 Digimon Rumble Arena 2 Is The Franchise’s Standout Fighting Game

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Digimon is a franchise that’s so steeped in combat, so a four-player fighting game that’s akin to Super Smash Bros. makes a lot of sense. Digimon Rumble Arena 2 is the sequel to the original PlayStation’s predecessor, and it makes excellent use of its superior gaming hardware. Part of the joy of this title is just how great the Digimon models look and how much they’ve been upgraded from the previous game. DigimonRumble Arena 2 features a satisfying roster of popular Digimon from the anime’s first four seasons, including villains like Diaboromon, that includes nearly 50 characters when all the digivolutions are taken into consideration.

Digimon Rumble Arena 2 involves a unique system where the acquisition of orbs pushes each character closer to their subsequent digivolutions, which helps them unleash greater chaos and more powerful special attacks. There are also seven diverse mini-games that are included that will keep fans satisfied if they ever grow weary of direct Digimon duels. Digimon Rumble Arena 2 is still a great multiplayer party title for anyone who wants to dig out their older gaming hardware, but it suffers from outdated controls that do hold it back in comparison to other Digimon games. That being said, a modern DigimonRumble Arena reboot would no doubt do well and excite a whole new generation of fighting game fans who also love Digimon.

8 Digimon World DS Is A Creative & Comprehensive RPG Adventure

The Digimon World series is incredibly plentiful, but despite this Nintendo DS title’s localized name, it actually belongs to the Digimon Story franchise. Digimon World DS doesn’t stray far from the standard Digimon Story formula where players raise, train, and evolve unique Digimon. That being said, this DS iteration features the right gameplay, and it makes strong use of its online functionality so that players can cooperate together and create rare and special creatures.

DigimonWorld DS primarily draws from the DigimonSavers/Digimon Data Squad anime series, even though there’s diverse representation that will satisfy all Digimon fans. It’s incredibly easy for gamers to log dozens — or even hundreds — of hours in this handheld RPG as they farm the perfect Digimon party. Digimon World DS is a great entry RPG for any curious newcomers to the franchise, but it’s also deep enough to resonate with seasoned Digimon gamers.

7 Digimon Battle Spirit Is A Stripped Down Handheld Fighter

Digimon‘s connection with Bandai means that there are many Digimon titles that are exclusive to Bandai’s WonderSwan Color Japanese handheld. However, some of the WonderSwan Color’s more successful titles received mainstream localizations that were ported over to the Game Boy Advance, like Digimon Battle Spirit, an entertaining 2D fighter. In 2001, it was still a novelty to get a Digimon fighting game on a Nintendo platform and this particular release is significant for being the first game by developer Dimps, who would later make waves with their Dragon Ball fighting games.

Digimon Battle Spirit has a complete roster of 12 characters that pull from Digimon‘s first three seasons, with a particular emphasis on Digimon Tamers, including some deeper cut digivolutions, like BlackAgumon. Digimon Battle Spirit revolves around players trying to defeat Millenniummon before he corrupts the Digital World. There’s fairly simplistic gameplay and controls, but this is better than the alternative of a fighting game that’s overly complicated. The graphics and music are a major selling point in Digimon BattleSpirit and this bare-bones fighting game still has a surprisingly active player base more than two decades later.

6 Digimon World Is A Landmark Game That Helped Put Digimon On The Map

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Digimon has left its mark on the gaming industry in many different ways. However, when people think of Digimon video games, it’s largely the Digimon World franchise that comes to mind. There are more than a dozen different Digimon World iterations, but the original 1999 PlayStation game still stands out with audiences, even though each successive entry adds more to the equation and updates the franchise. Digimon World delivers a strong burst of nostalgia, but the game is also so much more than that. Digimon World was groundbreaking for being an equal mix of virtual pet-raising simulator and battle RPG, akin to Pokémon.

The game’s story acts as a decent introduction to the Digimon universe. Players control a human character who is brought to File Island’s File City to help the Digimon from losing their memories and becoming dangerous. Gameplay is divided into battle and Digimon raising, the latter of which involves a player raising a single Digimon from an egg into its Fresh, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, and Ultimate forms until that Digimon expires, becomes an egg again, and the process repeats. It’s a unique system that has plenty of kinks but establishes a successful formula that’s lasted for decades.

5 Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Red & Blue Expands & Improves Upon The Series’ Formula

The Digimon Story RPG series found a lot of success on the Nintendo DS, but some of its best entries unfortunately never made it out of Japan. 2011’s Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars took a page out of Pokémon‘s book by releasing both Red and Blue versions that feature minor differences and cooperation between the complementary titles is necessary to get the full Super Xros Wars experience. Digimon Story: SuperXros Wars doesn’t try to reinvent the franchise, but it manages to improve upon existing elements and breathes new life into the Digimon Story experience through its incorporation of Digimon Fusion characters and mechanics.

The game even features Digimon Fusion‘s protagonist, Mikey Kudo, as its main character. There’s a lot to experience in Super XrosWars and players are likely to spend a lot of time with the title if they want to obtain all 393 unique Digimon. It’s one of the most substantial Digimon titles for the Nintendo DS.

4 Digimon World Dawn & Dusk Add Greater Nuanced To The DS Digimon Experience

Digimon World Dawn and Digimon WorldDusk — or as they’re known in Japan, Digimon Story Sunburst and Digimon StoryMoonlight — are the second entries in the Nintendo DS’s Digimon World/Story series. However, the pair of games function more as spiritual sequels than direct continuations of Digimon World DS, besides the games’ final boss. Digimon World Dawn and Dusk are deeper games through their expanded roster of more than 400 unique Digimon and the paired release model that provide subtle differences.

The two games feature different areas to explore and Dawn includes more aqua, bird, dragon, and holy Digimon species, while Dusk caters more towards dark, machine, organic, and beast Digimon species. Players prepare parties of three to six Digimon that participate in turn-based dungeon crawl-style RPG battles. Digimon World Dawn and Dusk received some criticism for their tedious story quests and for not doing enough to improve upon their predecessors. That being said, they’re still superior to Digimon World DS and anyone who just picks up these games, rather than immediately going from Digimon World DS to Dawn and Dusk is unlikely to have complaints.

3 Digimon Survive Is A Vigorous Visual Novel Experience That Celebrates All Things Digimon

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Digimon Survive is a recent Digimon release that celebrates the anime’s 25th anniversary. Thankfully, Digimon Survive rises to the occasion and delivers a passionate experience that’s worthy of over two decades of Digi-content. DigimonSurvive is a creative genre mash-up that combines visual novel adventures with tactical survival titles. Visual novels aren’t for everyone, but Digimon Survive develops an engaging gameplay loop where the player’s story decisions influence how their adventure develops and their Digimon’s respective evolutionary process.

It’s a game that can be beaten in only a few hours, but it takes ages to unlock and experience everything for those who want a complete playthrough and to meet all 117 unique Digimon. Digimon Survive is a risky swing that’s an acquired taste, but the type of game that Digimon needs to experiment with more in order for this series to survive. It’s a beautiful example of the Digimon series’ limitless potential.

2 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Tasks The Player To Solve Rich Digi-Mysteries

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth keeps the franchise’s JRPG momentum going, but it adds an effective modern twist by letting players choose to be a cyber detective or dangerous hacker who takes on Digimon-based mysteries. It’s an inventive angle that brings a lot to the table. Cyber Sleuth‘s core game is rich in content, but there’s also an exceptional New Game Plus mode that makes it even better. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth gets a lot of things right, but it’s also not a perfect Digimon game.

The game’s incessant grinding and long campaign are seen as deterrents to some, even if they’re fairly par for the course concessions for most JRPGs. It’s also worth mentioning that 2019’s Cyber Sleuth sequel, Hacker’s Memory, is also quite excellent, but ultimately more of the same and slightly lacking in a way that the original Cyber Sleuth isn’t. Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition combines the two games together and features an expanded roster of 341 unique Digimon.

1 Digimon World: Next Order Evolves The Franchise Into An Open World Masterpiece

There’s a lot of trial and error across the Digimon World series, but Digimon World: Next Order feels like the true evolution of everything that these games can be. Digimon World: Next Order improves upon the franchise’s existing formula by turning the game into a sprawling open-world RPG. Players build a team of two partner Digimon, but there’s a ton of customization and freedom that properly incentivizes replay. Next Order also simplifies the grand total of unique Digimon to 232, which is comprehensive without feeling overwhelming.

However, the best part of the game is how it adds a whole farming and town-building simulation element as players plant crops, upgrade buildings, manage a community, and establish a robust “Digi-metropolis.” It’s a smart way to draw in new audiences who previously had no interest in a Digimon game. Originally released for the PlayStation Vita, Next Order‘s subsequent ports for home consoles smooth out the original game’s minor glitches and elevate the game to even greater heights. It’s not just the best Digimon World game; it’s the most impressive Digimon game, period.

Digimon

Created by

Akiyoshi Hongo

First Episode Air Date

March 7, 1999

Video Game(s)

Digimon Survive , Digimon All-Star Rumble , Digimon World: Next Order , Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth