In the wake of a vision of world peace thanks to Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the creature-catching series is about as mainstream gaming titles around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The continued excitement around trading card values ensures near-daily Pokémon news stories. It would be difficult to find a pocket monster game that failed to move at least a couple million units. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity annually.
Yet despite that ubiquity and fame, there are still Pokémon games that remain underappreciated. These are games that didn't get their proper due, or were buried by the hype of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games stuck on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that might have flourished if they had received follow-ups or contemporary re-releases. With these criteria in mind, this list will not be just one more recommendation for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're digging deep.
Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to rearranging your glasses and typing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for those possessing refined tastes, shall we?
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 focus on the everyday aspects that would come with living with a pet. Admittedly, modern titles include small features like these in modern games—players may pet, and feed 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 isn't it. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokemon Home; that is, as a repository to hold monsters from different games. Critical reception from its launch said Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. I'm not here to dispute these claims, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the closest we've come to a everyday life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game takes place on a farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—simply hang out with your Pokémon pals. The activities with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the appeal was watching what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a beautiful franchise built on the simple pleasures of coexisting 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. One might cry 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the upcoming Switch exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley sparked the enduring trend of cozy games. It was before the proliferation of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Many never realized that Ranch's concept to observe your creatures as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's meticulous design was so remarkable, a Twitch stream dedicated to running the game continuously. 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: nobody knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Tactical Tabletop Game Gone
Are you aware that Pokémon once had an licensed board game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to adapt 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 trappings of a gacha title 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 sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an excellent tactical game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, approachability, game design, and features in general," a user declared. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Regrettably, Duel's initial launch was marred by server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's scummy monetization model, gave people few incentives to return. 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 strategic challenge for the few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating eyesore.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Experiment
Man, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some enjoyment? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a concept so absurd, it was bordering on shitpost. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth with a team of ineffective 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 breeding the best possible version of the notorious fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter competitions 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 train 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 merciless random occurrences, 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 wide variety of the same type of monster. It's understood 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 particularly sophisticated or deep game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Witty events with outrageous outcomes that forever alter how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will likely be in the conversation when Game of the Year season arrives.
With dozens of mainline entries and spin-offs, it's probable that I didn't mention that particular Pokémon game you totally love but argue that not nearly enough people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
