Following a vision of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, it's undeniable that the creature-catching franchise is about as popular gaming titles in existence. Pikachu is just as famous as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The continued frenzy around card prices guarantees almost daily Pokémon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Even, unofficial Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
Yet despite that pervasiveness and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These represent titles that didn't get their fair shake, or were overshadowed 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 ever got sequels or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering yet another reminder for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to rearranging your glasses and typing 'Well,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for those possessing refined tastes, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Relaxed Precursor
Too many Pokémon games emphasize the battling element of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the everyday aspects that would come with owning a companion. Sure, there are minor mechanics like these in modern games—players may pet, and feed your monsters in bases. 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 best seen as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to hold monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its launch said Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous 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 slice-of-life Pokémon game.
True to its title, the game is set on a ranch where your personal Miis—get this—simply hang out with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the appeal was observing what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. Ideally, 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, I'm guessing we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its complete potential. One might cry 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the upcoming Switch exclusive is just as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley kicked off the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was prior to the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to watch your creatures as much as you interact with them didn't mask a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's meticulous design was so remarkable, a Twitch stream focused on running the game 24/7. The streamer who operates the channel states that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he still has not encountered all that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Tactical Board Game Gone
Did you know that Pokemon once had an licensed tabletop game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to adapt the physical experience in a more accessible format. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's earliest ventures into the world of free-to-play 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 pieces.
These poor design choices obfuscated a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy 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. "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 am convinced if it launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's initial launch was marred by connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory monetization model, gave people few incentives to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unique game board made for a great tactical experience for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting eyesore.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Experiment
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a premise so silly, it was verging 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.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the ultimate version of the infamous fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, forces the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that Select Button loved and understood the community love around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's merciless random occurrences, where your Magikarp was as likely to improve as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the core series would do, like offering a diverse range of the same type of monster. It's understood it's not practical for any Pokémon game to have 30 different variations for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially sophisticated or deep game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with unpredictable results that forever alter how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when Game of the Year season arrives.
With numerous core games and spin-offs, chances are that I didn't mention that particular Pokémon game you totally love but contend that not nearly enough people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball with affection despite argu
