In the wake of a vision of global harmony courtesy of Pokemon Go, there's no question that the creature-catching series stands as one of the most popular video games around. Pikachu is every bit as recognizable as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The ongoing excitement surrounding card prices guarantees near-daily Pokémon headlines. It would be difficult to find a pocket monster game that failed to move at least a few million units. Even, unofficial Pokémon games go viral every year.
However despite that pervasiveness and fame, some Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These are games that failed to receive their fair shake, or were buried by the excitement of the core series. They're Pokémon games stuck on doomed consoles or services, or were early forays onto new mediums. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that might have blossomed if they had received follow-ups or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering yet another recommendation for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to adjusting your spectacles and typing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Cozy Forerunner
Too many Pokémon games emphasize the battling element of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the ordinary realities that would come with owning a pet. Sure, modern titles include minor mechanics like these in recent entries—you can play with your monsters in camps. But I am longing 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 digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the precursor to Pokemon Home; that is, as a repository to hold monsters from different games. Reviews from its launch noted Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. I'm not here to argue against these claims, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've come to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game takes place on a farm where your personal Miis—imagine this—simply hang out with your pals. The activities with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the appeal was observing what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into cockfighting. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a beautiful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a small creature. However, because The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its complete potential. I'd say 'save 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 was released long before Stardew Valley kicked off the lasting craze of cozy games. It was prior to the proliferation of idle games, and the Let's Play popularization of watching games you aren't playing. Most people never understood that Ranch's proposal to observe your creatures as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. 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 still has not seen everything that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: nobody knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Tactical Board Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an official board game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the physical experience in a more accessible format. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's earliest ventures into the world of free-to-play phone games. Duel had the trappings of a gacha title where players could pay to win—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 tactical game with Duel today. "Words cannot describe how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Honestly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, design, and features in general," another commenter wrote. "I am convinced 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. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people few incentives to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unusual board structure made for a fantastic tactical experience for the few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Gem
Man, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some fun? 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 literally can't do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with raising the best possible 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. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, forces 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 fan culture around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was as likely to improve as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the great writing, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things one might wish the core series would do, like offering a diverse range of the same species of monster. I know 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 one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a particularly complex or profound game, but the kernels of genius were there. Sharply written events with unpredictable results 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 2026 GOTY season arrives.
With numerous 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 Pokemon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball with affection despite argu
