In the wake of a vision of world peace courtesy of Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting franchise stands as one of the most mainstream video games in existence. Pikachu is just as identifiable as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The persistent pandemonium surrounding trading card values ensures near-daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be difficult to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a few million units. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games achieve popularity annually.
Yet despite that pervasiveness and fame, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These represent titles that failed to receive their proper due, or were buried under the excitement of the core series. These are 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 blossomed if they ever got sequels or modern remakes. Considering these factors, this list will not be yet another reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Nevertheless, these might be these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to adjusting your spectacles and writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokémon Ranch: The Cozy Forerunner
Too many Pokémon games focus on the battling element of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the ordinary realities that would come with living with a companion. Sure, there are small features like these in modern games—you can play with your monsters in camps. However, I'm longing for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii is not that game. The downloadable-only title is most accurately viewed as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its launch said Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to dispute these notions, but it behooves 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 Pokémon 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. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a beautiful franchise built on the simple pleasures of coexisting 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 realized to its fullest potential. One might cry 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the upcoming Switch exclusive is just as much a puzzle game as it is a life sim.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of cozy games. It was prior to the rise of idle games, and the video playthrough popularization of viewing games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never realized that Ranch's concept to observe your creatures as much as you play 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 individual who runs the channel maintains that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he still has not seen all that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: nobody understood you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Tactical Tabletop Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an licensed tabletop game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize the tabletop experience in a more accessible format. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first ventures into the world of free-to-play mobile gaming. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha game where players could pay to win—and there was motivation to do so, given the lengthy grind for new pieces.
These poor design choices masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an excellent strategy game with Duel today. "Words cannot describe how much I loved and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, game design, and content in general," a user declared. "I am convinced if it launched now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was marred by connectivity problems. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people little reason to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would end better. The unusual game board made for a fantastic strategic challenge for the few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd Experiment
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 approving a game with a premise so absurd, it was verging on shitpost. Considering 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 charged with raising the ultimate version of the infamous fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter competitions 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 train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that Select Button loved and understood the community love around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was 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 wide variety of the same species 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 especially complex or deep game, but the kernels of genius were there. Sharply written events with outrageous outcomes that permanently influence how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will likely be in the running when Game of the Year season arrives.
Given numerous mainline entries and spin-offs, it's probable that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you totally love but argue that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people look back on games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly despite argu
