In the wake of a glimpse of global harmony thanks to Pokémon Go, there's no question that the creature-catching franchise is about as mainstream video games in existence. The iconic Pikachu is just as recognizable as Mickey Mouse, perhaps even more. The continued excitement around trading card values ensures near-daily Pokemon headlines. It would be difficult to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a few million units. Even, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
Yet despite that ubiquity and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that remain overlooked. These are games that didn't get their fair shake, or were overshadowed by the excitement of the core series. They're Pokémon games released on ill-fated platforms or online offerings, or were pioneering attempts onto new mediums. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that probably would have flourished if they ever got follow-ups or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, this list will not be just one more reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Still, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and writing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokémon Ranch: The Cozy Forerunner
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the battling aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the ordinary aspects that would come with owning a companion. Admittedly, there are small features like these in modern games—players may play with your monsters in camps. But I am dying for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is best seen as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to hold monsters from different games. Reviews from its launch said Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. I'm not here 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 takes place on a farm where your personal Miis—imagine this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The interactions with Pokémon were basic, and a significant part of the appeal was watching what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into battle. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a beautiful franchise built on the daily joys of living your life with a small creature. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its complete potential. One might cry 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the upcoming Switch exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley kicked off the lasting craze of cozy games. It was before the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to watch your critters as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, a Twitch stream dedicated to running the game continuously. The individual who operates the channel maintains that, after nearly two decades of playing the game, he even now has not encountered everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Gone
Did you know that Pokémon once had an licensed board game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the tabletop experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first ventures into the world of freemium phone games. Duel had the trappings of a gacha title where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive to do so, given the slow progression for new figures.
All of these questionable mechanics obfuscated a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel anymore. "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 better than TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, game 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 combined."
Regrettably, Duel's early release was marred by server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory monetization model, gave people little reason to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, I'm still not certain things would end better. The unique game board made for a great strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that playing field is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Experiment
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some enjoyment? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a premise so silly, it was verging on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt of ineffective monsters who simply cannot do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that laugh at themselves.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with raising the best possible version of the infamous 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, forces the player to pause before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that the developers appreciated and got the fan culture 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. Beyond 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 species of monster. I know it's not feasible for any Pokémon game to have 30 different variations for a roster of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially sophisticated or profound game, but the kernels of genius were there. Witty events with unpredictable results that permanently influence 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 rolls around.
Given dozens of mainline entries and spin-offs, it's probable that I omitted that one Pokémon game you totally love but contend that not nearly enough people played. I know that some people look back on games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball with affection despite argu
