3 Pokemon Games That Were Denied the Adoration They Warranted
In the wake of a taste of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, there's no question that the monster collecting series stands as one of the most popular video games in existence. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Mickey Mouse, perhaps even more. The ongoing pandemonium surrounding trading card values ensures near-daily Pokémon news stories. You'd be difficult to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a couple million units. Even, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
However despite that ubiquity and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that remain underappreciated. These represent games that didn't get their proper due, or were buried under the hype of the mainline series. These are Pokémon games stuck on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto different formats. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that might have flourished if they had received follow-ups or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering yet another reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're digging deep.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before 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 Precursor
Too many Pokémon games emphasize the combat aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the ordinary realities that would come with living with a pet. Sure, modern titles include minor mechanics like these in recent entries—players may play with your monsters in camps. But I am dying 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 downloadable-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokemon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from various titles. Reviews from its release said Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. I'm not here to dispute these claims, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've come to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
True to its title, the game takes place on a ranch where your Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the appeal was watching what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of living your life with a tiny companion. However, because The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its complete potential. I'd say 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzle game as it is a life simulation.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley kicked off the enduring trend of comfort gaming. It was prior to the rise of idle games, and the video playthrough normalization of viewing games you aren't playing. Many 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 meticulous design was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream focused on running the game continuously. The individual who runs the channel states that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he still has not seen everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Lost
Did you know that Pokémon once had an official tabletop game with action figures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize the tabletop experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of free-to-play mobile gaming. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha game where players could pay to win—and there was incentive to do so, given the lengthy grind for new figures.
These poor design choices masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an excellent strategy game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express 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 better than TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, approachability, game design, and features in general," another commenter wrote. "I am convinced if it came out now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with server issues. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy business model, gave people little reason to return. If, by some miracle, 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 handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting eyesore.
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 uncommon case 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 simply cannot do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with breeding 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 contests to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, forces the player to wait 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.
This was most apparent than in Jump's merciless random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to improve as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the mainline games would do, like offering a diverse range of the same species of monster. It's understood it's not practical for any Pokémon game to have 30 different variations for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a particularly sophisticated or profound game, but the kernels of genius were there. Witty events with outrageous outcomes 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 Game of the Year season arrives.
Given dozens of core games and spin-offs, chances are that I omitted that particular Pokémon game you totally love but argue that too few people played. I know that some people look back on games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
