In the wake of a taste of world peace thanks to Pokémon Go, it's undeniable that the creature-catching series is about as mainstream video games around. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The ongoing frenzy around trading card values guarantees near-daily Pokémon headlines. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a couple million units. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
Yet in spite of that pervasiveness and fame, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These represent games that failed to receive their proper due, or were overshadowed by the excitement of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games stuck on doomed consoles or services, or were early forays onto different formats. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that might have blossomed if they ever got follow-ups or modern remakes. Considering these factors, this list will not be just one more reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're digging deep.
Nevertheless, 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 discerning palates, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
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 living with a companion. Sure, modern titles include minor mechanics like these in modern games—players may play with your monsters in bases. But I am longing for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii isn't it. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from different games. Critical reception from its release said Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to argue against these notions, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've ever gotten to a everyday life Pokémon game.
True to its title, the game takes place on a ranch where your personal Miis—get this—just relax with your 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 battle. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a beautiful franchise built on the simple pleasures of coexisting with a tiny companion. However, because The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its complete potential. One might cry 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the upcoming Switch exclusive is just as much a puzzle game as it is a life sim.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of cozy games. It was prior to the rise of idle games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never understood that Ranch's proposal to observe your critters as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, a live stream dedicated to broadcasting the game 24/7. The streamer who runs the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of experiencing the game, he still 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 Strategic Tabletop Game Lost
Did you know that Pokemon once had an licensed tabletop game with action figures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 effort to adapt the physical experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's earliest forays into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha title where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive 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 anymore. "Words cannot describe how much I loved and miss this game," a YouTube comment states, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of depth, approachability, design, and features 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 connectivity problems. Bugs, alongside Duel's scummy monetization model, gave people little reason to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a great strategic challenge for the few folks who played Duel, but that playing field is also a intimidating visual mess.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Experiment
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some fun? 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. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth with a team of useless monsters who literally can't do anything, I'm shocked we don't have more Pokémon games that laugh at themselves.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with raising the ultimate version of the notorious fish. I'm not talking 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 train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that the developers appreciated and got the community love around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's brutal random events, where your Magikarp was just as likely to improve as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the great writing, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things I wish the mainline games 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 particularly sophisticated or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with unpredictable results that forever alter how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when 2026 GOTY season rolls around.
With dozens of core games and derivative titles, chances are that I omitted that one Pokémon game you absolutely adore but contend that not nearly enough people played. I know that some people look back on games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball with affection notwithstanding argu
