In the wake of a vision of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, there's no question that the monster collecting series stands as one of the most ubiquitous video games around. The iconic Pikachu is just as recognizable as Disney's mascot, if not more so. The continued frenzy surrounding trading card values ensures near-daily Pokémon news stories. You'd be difficult to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games go viral annually.
Yet despite that pervasiveness and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These are games that failed to receive their fair shake, or were overshadowed by the hype of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games released on doomed consoles or services, or were pioneering attempts onto new mediums. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that probably would have blossomed if they had received sequels or modern remakes. Considering these factors, we won't be offering yet another reminder for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Relaxed Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the battling aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the everyday aspects that would come with owning a pet. Sure, modern titles include small features like these in modern games—you can play with your monsters in camps. But I am longing for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii is not that game. The downloadable-only title is best seen as the antecedent to Pokemon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from different games. Reviews from its launch noted Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to argue against these claims, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've come to a everyday life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game is set on a farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a significant part of the draw was observing what your monsters might do when not forced into battle. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a beautiful franchise built on the simple pleasures of living your life with a small creature. However, because The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its fullest potential. I'd say 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life sim.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was before the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Many never understood that Ranch's concept to watch your creatures as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a lack of substance. In actuality, Ranch's meticulous design was so extraordinary, there's a live stream focused on running the game 24/7. The individual who runs the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he even now has not seen all that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Gone
Did you know that Pokemon once had an licensed tabletop game with action figures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the physical experience in a more accessible form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first ventures into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha title where players could spend for advantage—and there was motivation to do so, given the slow progression for new pieces.
These poor design choices obfuscated a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an excellent strategy game with Duel anymore. "Words cannot describe how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment states, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, design, and features in general," another commenter declared. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people little reason to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a great tactical experience for the few folks who played Duel, but that playing field is also a daunting eyesore.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Gem
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a premise so absurd, it was verging on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt of useless monsters who literally can't do anything, I'm shocked we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the best possible version of the infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can jump the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, forces the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that the developers appreciated and got the community love around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's merciless random events, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things I wish the mainline games would do, like offering a wide variety of the same species of monster. It's understood it's not feasible for any Pokémon game to have 30 different variations for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially complex or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Witty events with outrageous outcomes that permanently influence how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will likely be in the conversation when Game of the Year season rolls around.
Given dozens of core games and derivative titles, it's probable that I didn't mention that particular Pokémon game you absolutely adore but contend that not nearly enough people played. It's acknowledged that some people look back on games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
