In the wake of a taste of global harmony thanks to Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting series stands as one of the most mainstream gaming titles around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The persistent frenzy surrounding trading card values ensures almost daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a couple million copies. Even, unofficial Pokémon games go viral every year.
Yet despite that pervasiveness and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that remain overlooked. These are games that didn't get their fair shake, or were overshadowed under the excitement of the mainline series. These are Pokémon games stuck on ill-fated platforms or online offerings, or were early forays onto new mediums. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that might have flourished if they had received follow-ups or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering just one more recommendation for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Nevertheless, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and writing 'Well,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with discerning palates, agreed?
Pokémon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
Too many Pokémon games focus on the battling aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the ordinary aspects that would come with owning a pet. Sure, there are minor mechanics like these in modern games—you can play with your monsters in bases. But I am dying for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is best seen as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to hold monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its release noted Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to dispute these claims, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've ever gotten to a everyday life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game is set on a farm where your personal Miis—imagine this—just relax with your pals. The activities with Pokémon were simple, and a significant part 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 living your life with a tiny companion. 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 complete potential. I'd say 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzle game as it is a life sim.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was prior to the proliferation of idle games, and the Let's Play popularization of viewing games you aren't playing. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to watch your creatures as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a lack of substance. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream focused on running the game 24/7. The streamer who runs the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he even now 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 Tactical Board Game Gone
Are you aware that Pokémon once had an official tabletop game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to adapt the tabletop experience in a more accessible format. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the trappings of a gacha title where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive to do so, given the lengthy grind for new figures.
These poor design choices masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an excellent tactical game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, design, and content 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 early release was plagued with connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy monetization model, gave people little reason to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a great strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that playing field is also a intimidating visual mess.
Pokemon: 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 uncommon case of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a concept 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 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 raising the ultimate version of the infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'karp raised to enter competitions to see who can flop the highest. One drawback 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 raise its stats as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things I wish the mainline games 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 dozens of colorings and patterns 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 kernels of genius were there. Sharply written events with outrageous outcomes 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 conversation when Game of the Year season rolls around.
With numerous mainline entries and spin-offs, it's probable that I omitted 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 Pokémon Pinball with affection notwithstanding argu
