Following a glimpse of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, it's beyond doubt that the creature-catching series is about as ubiquitous gaming titles in existence. Pikachu is every bit as recognizable as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The persistent pandemonium around trading card values guarantees almost daily Pokemon headlines. It would be hard-pressed to find a pocket monster game that failed to move at least a couple million copies. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games achieve popularity annually.
Yet despite that ubiquity and fame, there are still Pokémon games that remain underappreciated. These are titles that failed to receive their proper due, or were overshadowed by the hype of the core series. These are Pokémon games stuck on doomed consoles or online offerings, or were pioneering attempts onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have flourished if they ever got sequels or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering just one more recommendation for Pokémon 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 writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for those possessing refined tastes, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the battling aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the everyday realities that would come with owning a companion. Admittedly, there are small features like these in modern games—players may play with your monsters in bases. But I am longing for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii isn't it. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from different games. Critical reception from its release noted Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to argue against these notions, 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 Mii avatars—get this—simply hang out with your pals. The activities with Pokémon were basic, and a lot of the appeal 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 daily joys of coexisting with a tiny companion. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its complete potential. I'd say 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the upcoming Switch exclusive is just as much a puzzler as it is a life sim.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley sparked the enduring trend of cozy games. It was prior to the proliferation of idle games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't playing. Many never realized that Ranch's proposal to watch your critters as much as you play with them didn't mask a lack of substance. In truth, Ranch's meticulous design was so remarkable, a live stream dedicated to broadcasting the game 24/7. The streamer who runs the channel states that, after nearly two decades of playing the game, he even now has not seen everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Tactical Tabletop Game Gone
Did you know that Pokémon once had an licensed board game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the tabletop experience in a more approachable format. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first ventures into the world of freemium phone games. Duel had the trappings of a gacha game where players could pay to win—and there was motivation to do so, given the slow progression for new pieces.
All of these poor design choices masked a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I adored and miss this game," a YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "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 launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with connectivity problems. Bugs, alongside Duel's scummy monetization model, gave people few incentives to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, I'm still not certain things would end better. The unique game board made for a fantastic strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that playing field is also a daunting eyesore.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Experiment
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 useless monsters who literally can't do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that laugh at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with breeding the ultimate version of the notorious fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'karp raised to enter contests to see who can jump 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 events, where your Magikarp was just as likely to improve as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the great writing, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the mainline games 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 dozens of variations for a roster of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially sophisticated or profound game, but the kernels of genius 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 conversation when Game of the Year season rolls around.
With dozens of core games and spin-offs, it's probable that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you absolutely adore but argue that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
