Following a glimpse of world peace thanks to Pokémon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting series is about as popular gaming titles around. Pikachu is just as famous as Mickey Mouse, perhaps even more. The ongoing excitement around card prices guarantees near-daily Pokemon headlines. It would be difficult to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a couple million units. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games go viral annually.
However despite that pervasiveness and fame, some Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These are titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were buried under the hype of the core series. They're Pokémon games released on ill-fated consoles 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 just one more recommendation for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Still, you may already know about these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to rearranging your glasses and typing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for those possessing refined tastes, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Forerunner
Too many Pokémon games focus on the combat element of the series, and far too few of them focus on the ordinary aspects that would come with living with a companion. Sure, modern titles include 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 Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Wii isn't it. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokemon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its launch noted Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. I'm not here to dispute these notions, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've come to a everyday life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game is set on a farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The activities with Pokémon were basic, and a lot of the appeal was watching what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into cockfighting. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a small creature. However, because 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 fullest potential. I'd say 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was prior to the proliferation of passive games, and the video playthrough normalization of watching games you aren't playing. Most people never understood that Ranch's proposal to observe your creatures as much as you play 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 dedicated to running the game 24/7. The individual who operates the channel states that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he even now has not seen all that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokémon once had an licensed tabletop game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize the physical experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of free-to-play 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 questionable mechanics masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, design, and content in general," a user wrote. "I truly believe if it came out now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket together."
Regrettably, Duel's early release was marred by connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy business model, gave people little reason to return. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unique game board made for a fantastic tactical experience for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Gem
Man, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a concept so absurd, it was verging on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a team of ineffective monsters who simply cannot do anything, I'm shocked we don't have more Pokémon games that laugh at themselves.
In 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 jump the highest. I'm not a fan is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, requires the player to pause before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that the developers appreciated and got the community love around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's brutal random events, 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 one might wish the core series would do, like offering a wide variety of the same type of monster. I know 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 we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a particularly sophisticated or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Witty events with unpredictable results that forever alter how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will likely be in the conversation when Game of the Year season arrives.
With dozens of mainline entries and spin-offs, it's probable that I didn't mention that particular Pokémon game you totally love but argue that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball fondly despite argu
