Following a glimpse of world peace thanks to Pokemon Go, there's no question that the creature-catching franchise stands as one of the most popular video games around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as recognizable as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The persistent pandemonium surrounding trading card values guarantees near-daily Pokémon headlines. You'd be hard-pressed to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million units. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games go viral every year.
Yet despite that pervasiveness and fame, there are still Pokémon games that remain overlooked. These are titles that didn't get their fair shake, or were buried under the hype of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games stuck on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto new mediums. They're often also Pokémon games that might have blossomed if they had received follow-ups or modern remakes. Considering these factors, we won't be offering yet another reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're digging deep.
Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with discerning palates, shall we?
Pokémon Ranch: The Chill Forerunner
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the battling element of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the everyday aspects that would come with owning a companion. Sure, modern titles include minor mechanics 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 Nintendo Wii is not that game. The downloadable-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to hold monsters from different games. Reviews from its release noted Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. It's not my goal to argue against these claims, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the closest we've come to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game is set on a farm where your personal Miis—get this—simply hang out with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were basic, and a lot of the appeal was observing what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into cockfighting. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a wonderful franchise built on the simple pleasures of living your life 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 developed to its complete potential. One might cry 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the upcoming Switch exclusive is just as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch came out long before Stardew Valley sparked the enduring trend of cozy games. It was prior to the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of viewing games you aren't playing. Most people never understood that Ranch's proposal to watch your critters as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, a Twitch stream dedicated to broadcasting the game continuously. The individual who operates the channel maintains that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he still has not encountered everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: nobody understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Tactical Tabletop Game Gone
Did you know that Pokémon once had an official tabletop game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the tabletop experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha title where players could pay to win—and there was incentive to do so, given the lengthy grind for new figures.
All of these questionable mechanics obfuscated a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical 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. "Honestly I think this game was superior to 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 playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Regrettably, Duel's early release was plagued with server issues. Technical problems, 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 end better. The unusual game board made for a great tactical experience for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd Experiment
Man, 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 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 poke fun at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the ultimate version of the notorious fish. I'm not talking 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 evident throughout the experience that the developers loved and understood the fan culture around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's brutal random events, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the great writing, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the mainline games would do, like offering a diverse range of the same type of monster. I know it's not feasible for any Pokémon game to have 30 different variations for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially 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. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when Game of the Year season rolls around.
Given numerous core games and derivative titles, chances are that I omitted that particular Pokémon game you absolutely adore but argue that too few people played. I know that some people look back on games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball fondly despite argu
