When was Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team first released in Japan?

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team were first released in Japan on November 17, 2005.

The paired games marked Pokémon’s first major entry in the Mystery Dungeon series. Chunsoft developed them, with Red Rescue Team for Game Boy Advance and Blue Rescue Team for Nintendo DS. Instead of controlling a human trainer, the player becomes a Pokémon after a personality test and forms a rescue team with a partner.

Their randomly generated dungeons and turn-based movement came from the broader Mystery Dungeon role-playing tradition. The games also introduced a story-led structure in which the player accepts rescue missions, recruits other Pokémon, explores changing floors, and battles hostile Pokémon.

The two versions were released on different Nintendo handhelds but were designed as companion titles. The games reached international markets in 2006. Their later remake, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, combined the Red and Blue Rescue Team stories for Nintendo Switch and was released in 2020.