Following a taste of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, it's undeniable that the monster collecting series stands as one of the most popular gaming titles around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The continued pandemonium surrounding card prices ensures almost daily Pokémon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a couple million units. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
However in spite of that ubiquity and fame, there are still Pokémon games that remain underappreciated. These are games that didn't get their fair shake, or were overshadowed by the excitement of the core series. These are Pokémon games stuck on doomed consoles or online offerings, or were early forays onto different formats. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that might have blossomed if they had received follow-ups or contemporary re-releases. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering just one more reminder for Pokemon 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 typing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Relaxed Forerunner
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the combat element of the series, and far too few of them highlight the everyday realities that would come with owning a pet. Sure, modern titles include minor mechanics like these in recent entries—players may pet, and feed your monsters in bases. However, I'm dying for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Wii isn't it. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its launch said Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to dispute these notions, 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 ranch where your Mii avatars—imagine this—simply hang out with your Pokémon pals. The interactions with Pokémon were basic, and a significant part of the draw was watching what your monsters might do when not forced into battle. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a tiny companion. However, because The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its fullest potential. One might cry 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is just as much a puzzle game as it is a life simulation.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was before the rise of idle games, and the Let's Play popularization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never understood that Ranch's concept to observe your critters as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream focused on broadcasting the game continuously. The individual who operates the channel states that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he even now has not encountered all that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: nobody knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Gone
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an licensed tabletop game with action figures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 effort to adapt the physical experience in a more approachable format. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's earliest forays into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha title where players could pay to win—and there was incentive to do so, given the slow progression for new pieces.
These poor design choices masked a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical game with Duel anymore. "Words cannot describe how much I loved and miss this game," one YouTube comment states, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, game design, and features in general," a user declared. "I am convinced if it came out now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket together."
Regrettably, Duel's early release was plagued with connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy business model, gave people little reason to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unique board structure made for a fantastic strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating eyesore.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd Gem
Man, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some enjoyment? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a concept so absurd, it was bordering on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt of ineffective monsters who simply cannot do anything, I'm shocked we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with breeding the best possible version of the infamous 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. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, requires the player to wait before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that Select Button appreciated and got the fan culture around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's merciless random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Beyond 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. It's understood it's not practical for any Pokémon game to have dozens of 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 profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with unpredictable results that permanently influence how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when Game of the Year season rolls around.
With numerous core games and spin-offs, chances are that I omitted that one Pokémon game you absolutely adore but argue that too few people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly despite argu
