In the wake of a glimpse of world peace thanks to Pokemon Go, there's no question that the creature-catching series is about as popular video games in existence. Pikachu is every bit as recognizable as Mickey Mouse, perhaps even more. The continued excitement around trading card values ensures almost daily Pokemon headlines. You'd be difficult to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a few million units. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
Yet despite that pervasiveness and fame, there are still Pokémon games that remain overlooked. These are titles that didn't get their fair shake, or were buried by the hype of the core series. They're Pokémon games stuck on ill-fated platforms or services, or were early forays onto new mediums. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that probably would have flourished if they had received follow-ups or modern remakes. Considering these factors, we won't be offering just one more recommendation for Pokemon 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 writing 'Well,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Cozy Forerunner
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the combat element of the series, and far too few of them focus on the everyday realities that would come with owning a pet. Admittedly, modern titles include small features like these in recent entries—you can play with your monsters in camps. But I am longing for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Wii isn't it. The downloadable-only title is best seen as the antecedent to Pokemon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from different games. Reviews from its release noted 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 takes place on a ranch where your personal Miis—get this—just relax with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were basic, and a significant part of the appeal was watching what your monsters might do when not forced into battle. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of living your life with a tiny companion. But since The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its fullest 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 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 creatures as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a lack of substance. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream focused on broadcasting the game 24/7. The streamer who runs the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of experiencing 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 Strategic Board Game Lost
Did you know that Pokemon once had an official board game with action figures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to adapt the tabletop experience in a more accessible form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's earliest ventures into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the trappings of a gacha game where players could spend for advantage—and there was motivation to do so, given the lengthy grind for new pieces.
These questionable mechanics masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," a YouTube comment reads, years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Honestly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, design, and features in general," another commenter wrote. "I truly believe if it came out now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's initial launch was plagued with server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory monetization model, gave people little reason to return. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unique board structure made for a great strategic challenge for the few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating 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 giving its blessing a game with a premise so absurd, it was verging on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth with a full belt of useless monsters who literally can't do anything, I'm shocked 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. This isn't about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'karp raised to enter contests to see who can flop the highest. I'm not a fan 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 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 just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the great writing, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things I wish the core series would do, like offering a diverse range of the same type of monster. I know 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 we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially complex or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with outrageous outcomes 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 mainline entries and spin-offs, chances are that I didn't mention that particular 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 with affection notwithstanding argu
