Following a taste of global harmony thanks to Pokémon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting series stands as one of the most popular gaming titles in existence. The iconic Pikachu is just as famous as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The continued frenzy around card prices ensures near-daily Pokemon news stories. It would be hard-pressed to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a few million copies. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity annually.
However despite that ubiquity and fame, some Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These represent titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were overshadowed under the excitement of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games stuck on ill-fated platforms or services, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that might have flourished if they ever got follow-ups or modern remakes. Considering these factors, we won't be offering just one more reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the battling aspect of the series, and far too few of them focus on the everyday realities that would come with owning a companion. Sure, modern titles include small features like these in recent entries—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 downloadable-only title is best seen as the antecedent 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 outright hideous game. It's not my goal to dispute these notions, but it behooves 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 Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your pals. The activities with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the appeal was observing what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a beautiful franchise built on the simple pleasures of living your life with a small creature. However, because The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its fullest potential. One might cry '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 long before Stardew Valley sparked the enduring trend of cozy games. It was prior to the proliferation of passive games, and the Let's Play popularization of watching games you aren't playing. Most people never understood that Ranch's concept to observe your critters as much as you interact with them didn't mask a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's meticulous design was so extraordinary, a live stream dedicated to 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 seen everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an official board game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize 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 hallmarks of a gacha game where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive to do so, given the slow progression for new figures.
These questionable mechanics masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical game with Duel today. "I can’t express how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Honestly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, game design, and content in general," another commenter declared. "I am convinced if it launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket together."
Regrettably, Duel's initial launch was marred by server issues. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people few incentives to return. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would end better. The unique board structure made for a great strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating eyesore.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd Gem
Wow, 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 silly, it was verging on internet meme. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a team of useless 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 notorious fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. 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 phone 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 community love 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. Apart from the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also tried out 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 practical for any Pokémon game to have dozens of 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. Sharply written events with unpredictable results that forever alter how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when Game of the Year season rolls around.
Given numerous core games and spin-offs, it's probable that I omitted that one Pokémon game you totally love but contend that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly despite argu
