Following a glimpse of global harmony courtesy of Pokémon Go, it's beyond doubt that the creature-catching series is about as popular gaming titles around. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The continued pandemonium surrounding trading card values guarantees near-daily Pokémon news stories. It would be difficult to find a pocket monster game that failed to move at least a few million units. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
However in spite of that pervasiveness and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These are games that didn't get their proper due, or were overshadowed by the excitement of the core series. They're Pokémon games released on doomed platforms or online offerings, or were pioneering attempts onto new mediums. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have blossomed if they ever got follow-ups or contemporary re-releases. Considering these factors, we won't be offering yet another reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Still, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokémon Ranch: The Cozy Forerunner
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the combat aspect of the series, and far too few of them focus on the everyday realities that would come with living with a companion. Admittedly, there are small features like these in modern games—players may play with your monsters in camps. But I am dying for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from different games. Reviews from its launch said Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to argue against these claims, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've come to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game is set on a ranch where your personal Miis—imagine this—simply hang out with your Pokémon pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the draw was watching what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into cockfighting. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of living your life with a tiny companion. 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. One might cry 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life sim.
Ranch was released well before Stardew Valley sparked the enduring trend of comfort gaming. It was prior to the rise of passive games, and the video playthrough popularization of viewing games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never understood that Ranch's proposal to watch your creatures as much as you play with them didn't mask a lack of substance. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, a live stream focused on broadcasting the game continuously. The individual who operates the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he even now has not encountered everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Tactical Board Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an official board game with action figures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the physical experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of free-to-play mobile gaming. Duel had the trappings of a gacha title where players could pay to win—and there was motivation to do so, given the lengthy grind for new pieces.
These poor design choices masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel today. "Words cannot describe how much I adored and miss this game," a YouTube comment states, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, game design, and content in general," a user declared. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Regrettably, Duel's initial launch was marred by server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory monetization model, gave people little reason to return. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a great strategic challenge for the few folks who played Duel, but that playing field is also a intimidating visual mess.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd Gem
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a premise so absurd, it was bordering on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a team of ineffective monsters who simply cannot do anything, I'm shocked we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with raising the best possible version of the notorious fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'karp raised to enter competitions to see who can flop the highest. I'm not a fan is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, requires the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that the developers loved and understood the fan culture around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the great writing, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things I wish the mainline games would do, like offering a wide variety of the same species of monster. I know it's not practical 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 particularly sophisticated or deep game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with unpredictable results that permanently influence how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the conversation when Game of the Year season arrives.
With dozens of core games and derivative titles, chances are that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you totally love but argue that not nearly enough people played. I know that some people look back on games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly despite argu
