Following a glimpse of world peace courtesy of Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting franchise stands as one of the most popular gaming titles in existence. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, if not more so. The continued excitement surrounding trading card values guarantees almost daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games go viral every year.
However despite that pervasiveness and fame, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These represent titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were buried under the excitement of the core series. They're Pokémon games stuck on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto new mediums. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that might have flourished if they ever got sequels or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering yet another reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Well,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for those possessing refined tastes, agreed?
Pokémon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the battling aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the ordinary aspects that would come with owning a pet. Sure, modern titles include small features like these in modern games—players may pet, and feed your monsters in camps. However, I'm longing for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii isn't it. The downloadable-only title is most accurately viewed as the precursor to Pokemon Home; that is, as a repository to hold monsters from different games. Critical reception from its launch said Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. I'm not here to argue against these notions, but it compels 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—simply hang out with your Pokémon pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a significant part of the draw was watching what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a wonderful franchise built on the simple pleasures of coexisting with a small creature. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its complete 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 was released long before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was prior to the proliferation of idle games, and the Let's Play normalization of viewing games you aren't playing. Many never understood that Ranch's concept to observe your creatures as much as you interact with them didn't mask a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a live stream dedicated to broadcasting the game 24/7. The individual who operates the channel states that, after nearly two decades of playing the game, he even now has not seen all that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: nobody understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Tactical Board Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an licensed tabletop game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the physical experience in a more approachable format. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's earliest forays into the world of free-to-play 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.
All of these questionable mechanics 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," one YouTube comment states, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, game design, and features in general," another commenter declared. "I am convinced if it launched now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket together."
Regrettably, Duel's early release was plagued with server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's scummy monetization model, gave people few incentives to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a fantastic tactical experience for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Experiment
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a concept so silly, it was bordering on shitpost. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt of useless monsters who literally can't do anything, I'm shocked we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with breeding the ultimate version of the notorious fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can flop the highest. I'm not a fan is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, requires the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that Select Button appreciated and got 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 eaten by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things I wish the mainline games would do, like offering a diverse range of the same type of monster. It's understood it's not practical for any Pokémon game to have 30 different colorings and patterns for a roster of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially sophisticated or deep 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. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when 2026 GOTY season rolls around.
With numerous core games and spin-offs, chances are that I didn't mention that particular Pokémon game you absolutely adore but contend that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people look back on games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball with affection despite argu
