Digimon, the digital pet franchise that spun off from Tamagotchi, named after and features Digital Monsters, has been getting its own video games on consoles since the first Digimon World came out on the original PlayStation. The franchise continues to get video games even to this day.

RELATED:The Best Digimon Games Of All Time, RankedBut many Digimon games were never released outside of Japan due to various factors, and sometimes not even for an apparent reason, making international Digimon game releases more sparse than they could have been over the years, with international fans missing out on a handful of titles for a variety of platforms.

8 Pocket Digimon World

pocket digimon world

The original Digimon World may have had an international release, but Pocket Digimon World and its two expansions did not, probably due to their reliance on the Japan-exclusive PocketStation peripheral. In Pocket Digimon World, Jijimon opens a museum to preserve the history of the Digital World, but after evil Digimon steal the exhibits, he enlists the help of a tamer to reclaim them.

The tamer must then train a Digimon until it's strong enough to fight the culprits. In addition to the PocketStation compatibility and two expansions, Pocket Digimon World also featured a multiplayer Colosseum and the ability to transfer Digimon to Digimon World 2.

7 Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers

zero two tag tamer

The Tamer series was a series of Digimon games exclusive to the Japan-only Wonderswan family of systems. However, the first game did have an official English release for the Wonderswan Color known as Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer and Cathode Tamer: Veedramon Version.

Unlike all versions of the first Tamer game, which feel loosely connected to Digimon Adventure, the beginning of the 2000 sequel Tag Tamers takes place directly after Our War Game - the second act of Digimon The Movie - and leads into the events of Digimon Adventure 02. Like the other Tamers games, Tag Tamers stars Ryo Akamiya as the player character, with future DigiDestined Ken Ichijouji tagging along.

6 Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley

digimon medley

Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley was released for the WonderSwan Color in 2001 and is not part of the previously mentioned Tamer series. Unlike other WonderSwan Digimon games, Digimon Medley is episodic and has playable characters from the first three Digimon anime series.

The main plot has the cast of Digimon Tamers being forced to rewatch events based on those from the first two series. Battles are one-on-one and are fought through two different mini-games, with how well the player does determining whether the attack hits the opposing Digimon and how strong it is.

5 Digimon Story: Lost Evolution

digimon story lost evolution (2)

The three internationally released Digimon World titles, Digimon World DS, Dawn, and Dusk, respectively, are part of the Digimon Story series, which is why they're so different from the original Digimon World game. One of the Digimon Story games that didn't receive an international release was Digimon Story: Lost Evolution, which was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan in 2010.

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Lost Evolution made some changes from the previous games, including no longer having DNA digivolution, a different experience and digivolution system not relying on types, and the Sainou stat, which replaces spirit and is the number of times a Digimon has changed forms.

4 Digimon Story Super Xros Wars Blue and Red

super xros wars blue

The Digimon Xros Wars anime did receive an international release called Digimon Fusion. Despite toys being made for the series outside of Japan, the two versions of the 2011 Nintendo DS game based on the series never saw an international release.

Super Xros Wars has the player take on the role of series protagonist Mikey Kudo and plays similarly to past Digimon Story games, but adds Digimon and Digivolution methods from the Xros Wars anime series. There were no other Xros Wars games released on consoles, but select Digimon from the series still appeared in Digimon games released after Super Xros Wars.

3 Digimon World Re: Digitize/Re: Digitize Decode

digimon world re digitize

Digimon World Re: Digitize was first released for the PSP in Japan in 2012 and received an enhanced Nintendo 3DS port known as Re: Digitize Decode the following year. Re: Digitize has similar mechanics to the first Digimon World game, but more modern enhancements and quality of life improvements.

RELATED: Things Everyone Forgets About Digimon World

Re: Digitize centers around the GIGO network, which is the only communication network left, and as such, all of human civilization revolves around it. Digital Monsters is an MMORPG that's part of the GIGO network and connected to the Digital World, and protagonist Taiga and his friends are sent there to help rebuild File Island and solve the Blackening Phenomenon.

2 Digimon Adventure

digimon adventure psp

Digimon Adventure is a PSP game from 2013 based on the anime series of the same name that was made for its 15th anniversary. The game covers all of the first anime series and Our War Game, and besides being able to choose which characters are involved in which event, it follows the same story.

Additionally, all Digimon partners who never reached their Mega forms in the original series can unlock them through extra episodes featured in the game. Digimon Adventure features turn-based battles, but the system is different from previous Digimon games, with digivolution primarily being an in-battle mechanic.

1 Digimon Universe App Monsters

appli monsters 3ds

Digimon Universe Appli Monsters, or App Monsters, was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in 2016 and is based on the anime series of the same name. While App Monsters is still part of the Digimon series, it differs significantly from previous media.

It focuses on Appmon, which are digital creatures that are the manifested forms of different smartphone and tablet apps and have different evolution methods and levels and types than standard Digimon. App Monsters is set in the same universe as the anime series but follows different characters, although some still appear in the game.

NEXT: Digimon Survive: Digimon Who Have Never Appeared In a Game