Pokémon Arcade Games: Battrio, Tretta, Ga-Olé, Mezastar & More

Although the 80’s heyday of physical videogaming arcades has long since passed our friends in Japan still very much know how to capitalise on popular games/trends and have put out some great arcade machines. That being said it was almost obligatory that they gave Pokémon the oldschool arcade treatment. Check out the titles below and click on their posters to find out more about these Pokémon arcade games.

There are really two families here. Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. and Marvelous have run an unbroken chain of collectable-piece battle machines since 2007 – Battrio pucks, Tretta pucks, Ga-Olé disks, Mezastar tags and now Frienda – while Bandai Namco has produced a run of medal games tied to the anime, plus the arcade original of Pokkén Tournament. Almost all of them were Japan-only, though Tretta, Ga-Olé and Mezastar have since spread across East and South-East Asia.

16games listed
1platforms
1999–202425 years of releases
15full game pages here

Jump to a platform:

ArcadeArcade · 1999–2024

PlatformArcade (Japan; several machines later exported to East and South-East Asia)
SpanDecember 1999 (Dance! Pikachu, Japan) – present (Pokémon Frienda, running since 11 July 2024)

Pokémon: Wobbuffet Fell Down!

Arcade (medal game)

Japanese medal game based on the anime’s Battle Frontier saga and the playground game ‘statues’: spend medals to move Pokémon towards a goal guarded by another Pokémon.

Japan: —
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Namco Bandai
Publisher: Banpresto

Japan only.

Dance! Pikachu

Arcade (prize machine)Japan only

A Banpresto prize machine in which a large Pikachu figure inside a clear dome danced along to songs from the anime.

Japan: Dec 1999
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Banpresto
Publisher: Banpresto

Pikachu’s Great Surfing Adventure

ArcadeJapan only

A small steering game themed on the Orange Islands: guide a Lapras carrying Pikachu along a scrolling river inside a clear dome.

Japan: 2000
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Sammy
Publisher: Banpresto

Pokémon: Crayon Kids

Arcade (drawing machine)Japan only

A children’s drawing cabinet: colour in a Pokémon picture on a touchscreen and take your artwork home as a print.

Japan: Jul 2001
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Banpresto

Pokémon Battrio

Arcade

Puck-based battle machine in which three Pokémon fight on each side — hence the name, a blend of ‘battle’ and ‘trio’.

Japan: 14 Jul 2007
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Takara Tomy / AQ Interactive
Publisher: Takara Tomy
Status: Discontinuation announced 18 Apr 2012; machines replaced by Pokémon Tretta from July 2012.

Japan 14 Jul 2007; Taiwan May 2010. · Not released in North America, Europe or Australia. · Played with collectable Pokémon pucks.

Pokémon Get Round and Round

Arcade (medal game)

Japanese medal game: drop medals into a funnel so they land on scoring areas of a rotating platform and win more medals.

Japan: —
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Namco Bandai Games
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

Japan only.

Pokémon Tug of War Tournament: Absolutely Get Medal!

Arcade (medal game)

Medal game themed on tug of war and the Black & White anime: spend medals to summon Pokémon and pull ahead of the opposing side.

Japan: —
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Publisher: Banpresto

Japan only.

Pokémon Medal World

Arcade (medal game)

Large medal machine based on the Black & White anime, with six stations seating up to four players each.

Japan: 17 Jan 2012
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Namco Bandai Games
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

Japan only; first shown at the 49th Amusement Machine Show on 15 Sep 2011.

Pokémon Tretta

Arcade

Battrio’s successor, built around collectable Tretta pucks scanned into the machine to battle and catch Pokémon; later exported across East and South-East Asia.

Japan: 14 Jul 2012
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. / Marvelous AQL
Publisher: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Status: Overseas machines discontinued in 2023 (Bulbapedia). Japanese end date not verified; Ga-Olé took over from July 2016.

Rolled out in Japan from early July 2012; fully operational 14 Jul 2012 with the first set. · Taiwan 16 Apr 2016; Hong Kong 2017; English-language machines also in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. · Played with collectable Tretta pucks; a 3DS companion accessory, Pokémon Tretta Lab, followed on 10 Aug 2013.

Full game page →

Pokémon: Battle Nine

Arcade (medal game)

Four-player medal game based on Pokémon the Series: XY: spend medals to battle Pokémon and clear a bingo-style board of nine.

Japan: 8 Jul 2014
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Bandai Namco Games
Publisher: Bandai Namco Games

Japan only.

Pokkén Tournament (arcade)

Arcade

Bandai Namco’s Tekken-style one-on-one fighting game starring Pokémon, launched in Japanese arcades before the Wii U and Switch versions.

Japan: 16 Jul 2015
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Wide Japanese release 16 Jul 2015 after a limited location test. · North America got a single limited-time cabinet at Dave & Buster’s, Times Square, from 24 Sep 2015 — not a general release. · Later ported to Wii U (18 Mar 2016; Australia 19 Mar 2016) and to Switch as Pokkén Tournament DX (22 Sep 2017).

Full game page →

Pokémon Mega Get!

ArcadeJapan only

Catch Pokémon by throwing real balls at a big screen; a Nagetore BOX version followed in 2022.

Japan: Late 2015
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Bandai Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco

Pokémon Ga-Olé

Arcade

Tretta’s successor, played with collectable Ga-Olé Disks: battle and catch Pokémon at the machine and keep the disks to use again.

Japan: 7 Jul 2016
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. / Marvelous
Publisher: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Status: Japanese operation ended after the Grand Rush Set 5 release (end announced 25 Sep 2020; exact end varied by venue) as Mezastar took over; machines continue overseas.

Announced 13 Apr 2016; nationwide in Japan 7 Jul 2016. · Overseas: Taiwan 5 Dec 2020, mainland China 12 Dec 2020, South Korea 2 Aug 2021, Hong Kong 13 Oct 2021, Singapore 17 Nov 2021, Malaysia 27 Jan 2022. · Played with collectable Ga-Olé Disks; four series of five sets each.

Full game page →

Pokémon Mezastar

Arcade

Ga-Olé’s successor, played with collectable Mezastar tags that store Pokémon to battle with; its Japanese run ended in 2024 just as it began expanding abroad.

Japan: 17 Sep 2020
North America: —
Europe: —
Australia: —
Developer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. / Marvelous
Publisher: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Status: Japanese operation ended with Gorgeous Star Set 5 (from 18 Apr 2024); support enquiries handled until end of July 2024; succeeded by Pokémon Frienda. Still being rolled out overseas in 2025–2026.