Nintendo DS Mystery Dungeon editions: Blue, Time, Darkness and Sky
Compare original Blue Rescue Team with Red on GBA and the three Nintendo DS Explorers games, with release years and edition-specific features.
Original Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team for Nintendo DS. First released in Japan on 17 November 2005; North America on 18 September 2006, Australia on 28 September 2006 and Europe on 10 November 2006. Red Rescue Team is the paired Game Boy Advance game. Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky have their own stories and rules.
Identify the game on your cartridge
Four Mystery Dungeon titles were released for Nintendo DS: Blue Rescue Team, Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness and Explorers of Sky. Red Rescue Team belongs to Game Boy Advance. This guide’s survival and starter guides cover original Blue; the table places the other editions beside it.
| Game | Original platform | First release | Story and setting | Key distinction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Rescue Team | Nintendo DS | 2005 | Original rescue-team adventure | Dual screens and optional touch controls; the edition covered by this guide. |
| Red Rescue Team | Game Boy Advance | 2005 | Paired version of the same rescue-team adventure | Single-screen GBA presentation and different communication hardware; some Pokémon availability differs. |
| Explorers of Time | Nintendo DS | 2007 | New Explorers campaign in Treasure Town and Wigglytuff’s Guild | Paired with Darkness; Pokémon and item availability differs between those versions. |
| Explorers of Darkness | Nintendo DS | 2007 | Same central Explorers campaign as Time | Counterpart version with its own Pokémon and item availability. |
| Explorers of Sky | Nintendo DS | 2009 | Expanded edition of the Explorers campaign | Adds five Special Episodes, Spinda’s Café and a revised hero/partner selection. |
Blue and Red share the rescue adventure
Blue and Red use the same central story and original hero/partner pool. The largest immediate difference is their hardware: Blue offers two-screen information and optional touch controls, while Red uses the GBA presentation. Pokémon availability and communication methods also differ, so choose a reference that names your version when those details matter.
Time and Darkness begin a different campaign
The Explorers pair moves the story to Treasure Town and Wigglytuff’s Guild. They share their central campaign while differing in some available Pokémon and items. Their starter roster and recruitment systems differ from Rescue Team, so the Blue hero table is not a Time or Darkness selection guide.
Sky expands the Explorers campaign
Explorers of Sky builds on Time and Darkness with five Special Episodes, Spinda’s Café and changes to the playable hero and partner roster. It follows the Explorers setting and story rather than continuing the Blue campaign on the same save. When following a Sky guide, keep its added locations and systems attached to that edition.
Check the edition before using a feature guide
Rescue Team DX is a later Nintendo Switch remake. Its freely selected hero, expanded partner selection, Rare Qualities and other revised systems do not describe the original DS cartridge. For this page, use the Blue quiz and partner table and original dungeon rules.
Blue is the original DS rescue story. Time and Darkness share the later Explorers story; Sky expands that story.