In the wake of a glimpse of world peace thanks to Pokémon Go, there's no question that the monster collecting series is about as popular gaming titles in existence. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The persistent pandemonium surrounding card prices ensures near-daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games go viral annually.
Yet in spite of that pervasiveness and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that remain underappreciated. These represent games that didn't get their proper due, or were overshadowed under the excitement of the core series. They're Pokémon games released on ill-fated consoles or online offerings, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have flourished 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 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and typing 'Well,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the combat aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the ordinary realities that would come with owning a pet. Admittedly, there are small features like these in modern games—you can play with your monsters in camps. However, I'm dying for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii isn't it. The downloadable-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from various titles. Reviews from its release said Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to argue against these notions, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the closest we've ever gotten to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
True to its title, the game is set on a farm where your Mii avatars—get this—simply hang out 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 not forced into battle. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a wonderful 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 developed 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 puzzle game as it is a life simulation.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley kicked off the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was before the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of viewing games you aren't playing. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to watch your critters as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a lack of substance. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a live stream focused on running the game continuously. The streamer who runs the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of experiencing the game, he even now has not encountered everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Gone
Did you know that Pokémon once had an official board game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to adapt the tabletop experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's earliest 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.
All of these questionable mechanics obfuscated a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical game with Duel today. "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 complexity, accessibility, design, and features in general," another commenter declared. "I truly believe if it came out now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's initial launch 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 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 few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting eyesore.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Gem
Man, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some enjoyment? 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 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 raising the ultimate 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 flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, requires the player to pause before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that Select Button loved and understood the fan culture around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's brutal random events, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might 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 variations for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a particularly complex or profound 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 rolls around.
Given numerous mainline entries and derivative titles, chances are that I didn't mention that particular Pokémon game you totally love but contend that not nearly enough people played. It's acknowledged that some people look back on games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
