In the wake of a taste of world peace thanks to Pokemon Go, there's no question that the creature-catching series is about as popular video games around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The continued excitement around card prices guarantees near-daily Pokémon news stories. It would be difficult to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a few million units. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games go viral annually.
Yet despite that ubiquity and popularity, some Pokémon games that remain underappreciated. These are games that didn't get their fair shake, or were buried under the excitement of the core series. These are Pokémon games released on doomed consoles or online offerings, or were early forays onto new mediums. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that might have blossomed if they had received sequels or contemporary re-releases. Considering these factors, this list will not be just one more recommendation for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and typing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with discerning palates, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Cozy Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the combat aspect of the series, and far too few of them highlight the ordinary aspects that would come with owning a pet. Sure, modern titles include minor mechanics like these in recent entries—you can pet, and feed 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 Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from different games. Reviews from its release noted Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. I'm not here to argue against these notions, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the closest we've come to a everyday life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game is set on a ranch where your Mii avatars—get this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The activities with Pokémon were basic, and a significant part of the draw was observing what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into battle. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a small creature. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its complete potential. One might cry 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzle game as it is a life sim.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was prior to the proliferation of idle games, and the video playthrough normalization of watching games you aren't playing. Many never understood that Ranch's concept to observe your creatures as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so remarkable, there's a Twitch stream focused on broadcasting the game 24/7. The individual who operates the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of experiencing the game, he even now has not seen everything that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: no one knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Tactical Tabletop Game Gone
Did you know that Pokémon once had an licensed board game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to adapt the tabletop experience in a more approachable format. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first ventures into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the trappings of a gacha game where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive to do so, given the lengthy grind for new figures.
These questionable mechanics obfuscated a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," a YouTube comment states, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Honestly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, game design, and features in general," another commenter wrote. "I truly believe if it came out now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's initial launch was plagued with server issues. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people little reason to return. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, it's unclear things would end better. The unique game board made for a fantastic strategic challenge for the few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting eyesore.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Experiment
Man, 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. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt of useless monsters who literally can't do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with raising the ultimate version of the infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can jump the highest. I'm not a fan is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, forces the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that Select Button appreciated and got the fan culture around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's merciless random events, where your Magikarp was as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things I wish the core series would do, like offering a diverse range of the same species of monster. I know it's not feasible for any Pokémon game to have 30 different colorings and patterns 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 kernels of genius were there. Witty events with outrageous outcomes that forever alter how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when Game of the Year season arrives.
With dozens of mainline entries and derivative titles, chances are that I omitted that one Pokémon game you totally love but contend that too few people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
