In the wake of a glimpse of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, it's undeniable that the monster collecting series is about as mainstream video games in existence. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The persistent pandemonium surrounding card prices guarantees near-daily Pokemon headlines. You'd be hard-pressed to find a pocket monster game that failed to move at least a few million copies. Even, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
Yet despite that ubiquity and fame, some Pokémon games that are totally overlooked. These are titles that didn't get their fair shake, or were buried by the excitement of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games stuck on ill-fated platforms or online offerings, or were pioneering attempts onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that might have flourished if they had received follow-ups or contemporary re-releases. With these criteria in mind, this list will not be just one more recommendation for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to rearranging your glasses and typing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with discerning palates, agreed?
Pokémon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
Too many Pokémon games focus on the battling element of the series, and far too few of them focus on the ordinary aspects that would come with owning a pet. Admittedly, modern titles include small features like these in recent entries—players may pet, and feed your monsters in bases. However, I'm dying for a Pokémon game more in the vein 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 Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to hold monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its launch noted 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 ever gotten to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game takes place on a farm where your Mii avatars—get this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The activities with Pokémon were simple, and a significant part 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 start of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a tiny companion. But since The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its complete potential. I'd say 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was before the proliferation of idle games, and the Let's Play popularization of viewing games you aren't actively controlling. Many never understood that Ranch's proposal to observe your creatures as much as you interact with them didn't mask a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's meticulous design was so remarkable, there's a Twitch stream focused on running the game 24/7. The streamer who operates the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he even now has not seen everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: nobody understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Gone
Did you know that Pokemon once had an official tabletop game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the physical experience in a more accessible form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's earliest forays into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the trappings of a gacha game where players could spend for advantage—and there was motivation to do so, given the slow progression for new figures.
These poor design choices masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," one YouTube comment states, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Honestly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, approachability, design, and features in general," a user wrote. "I truly believe if it came out now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Regrettably, Duel's initial launch was plagued with server issues. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory monetization 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 unique game board made for a fantastic tactical experience for the few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Gem
Man, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a premise so silly, it was verging on shitpost. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a team of ineffective monsters who simply cannot do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that laugh at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with breeding the ultimate version of the infamous fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter competitions to see who can flop the highest. I'm not a fan is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, forces the player to wait before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that Select Button loved and understood the fan culture around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the core series would do, like offering a diverse range of the same type 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 we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially complex or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with outrageous outcomes that permanently influence how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when Game of the Year season arrives.
With dozens of mainline entries and derivative titles, chances are that I omitted that particular Pokémon game you absolutely adore but argue that not nearly enough people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly despite argu
