In the wake of a taste of world peace thanks to Pokémon Go, there's no question that the monster collecting franchise is about as ubiquitous video games around. Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The continued frenzy surrounding trading card values ensures almost daily Pokémon news stories. You'd be difficult to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million units. Even, unofficial Pokémon games achieve popularity annually.
However despite that pervasiveness and fame, some Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These represent games that didn't get their proper due, or were buried by the hype of the core series. They're Pokémon games released on doomed platforms or online offerings, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have blossomed 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 going beneath the surface.
Nevertheless, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, shall we?
Pokémon Ranch: The Cozy Forerunner
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the battling element of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the ordinary aspects that would come with owning a pet. Admittedly, modern titles include small features like these in modern games—you can pet, and feed 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 Wii is not that game. The downloadable-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to hold monsters from various titles. Reviews from its release noted Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. I'm not here to argue against these notions, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the closest we've come to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game is set on a farm where your personal Miis—get this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a significant part of the draw was observing what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a beautiful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a tiny companion. However, because The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its fullest potential. One might cry 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the upcoming Switch exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley sparked the enduring trend of comfort gaming. It was before the proliferation of passive games, and the video playthrough popularization of watching games you aren't playing. Most people never understood that Ranch's proposal to observe your critters as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream dedicated to broadcasting the game continuously. The individual who runs the channel states that, after nearly two decades of playing the game, he still has not encountered all that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: nobody knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Gone
Did you know that Pokémon once had an official tabletop game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to adapt the physical experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of free-to-play 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 slow progression for new figures.
All of these questionable mechanics obfuscated a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an excellent strategy game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," a YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, design, and features in general," a user wrote. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory monetization model, gave people little reason to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unique game board made for a great tactical experience for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating eyesore.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Gem
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 giving its blessing a game with a premise so silly, it was bordering on shitpost. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth with a team of ineffective monsters who literally can't do anything, I'm shocked we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the best possible version of the infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'karp raised to enter competitions to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, requires the player to pause before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that the developers loved and understood the community love around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things I wish the core series would do, like offering a diverse range of the same species of monster. I know it's not feasible for any Pokémon game to have 30 different colorings and patterns for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a particularly sophisticated 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 derivative titles, chances are that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you absolutely adore but contend that too few people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
