As for side games...
Pokemon Stadium is great, and I like Pokemon Snap (railway camera shooter). I also like Pokemon Conquest (RTS) and the Pokemon Ranger (uhh... action I guess) series. The Mystery Dungeon ones have a lot of fans, but I personally loathe every last Roguelike games.
--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest