3 Pokemon Games That Failed to Receive the Love They Warranted
In the wake of a vision of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, it's beyond doubt that the creature-catching series stands as one of the most popular gaming titles around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The ongoing frenzy around trading card values guarantees near-daily Pokemon headlines. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Even, unofficial Pokémon games go viral every year.
Yet despite that ubiquity and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These are titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were buried by the excitement of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games stuck on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also 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 just one more recommendation for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Nevertheless, these might be these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to rearranging your glasses and typing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for those possessing refined tastes, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the combat element of the series, and far too few of them highlight the everyday aspects that would come with living with a companion. Admittedly, there are minor mechanics like these in recent entries—you can pet, and feed your monsters in bases. However, I'm longing for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Wii is not that game. 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 release noted Ranch was a poor if not outright hideous game. I'm not here to dispute these notions, 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 is set on a ranch where your Mii avatars—get 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 battle. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a beautiful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a tiny companion. However, because 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. One might cry 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is just as much a puzzle game as it is a life simulation.
Ranch was released well before Stardew Valley kicked off the enduring trend of cozy games. It was before the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of viewing games you aren't playing. Many never realized that Ranch's concept to observe your critters as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so remarkable, a live stream focused on running the game 24/7. The individual who operates the channel maintains that, after nearly two decades of playing the game, he still has not seen all that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Lost
Did you know that Pokemon once had an licensed board game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to adapt the tabletop experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's earliest ventures into the world of freemium 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 lengthy grind for new pieces.
All of these poor design choices masked a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical game with Duel today. "I can’t express how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, approachability, design, and features in general," another commenter wrote. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's initial launch was plagued with connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory monetization model, gave people few incentives to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unusual board structure made for a great tactical experience for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting 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 uncommon case of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a premise so absurd, it was verging on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth with a team of ineffective 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 tasked with breeding the best possible version of the notorious fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can jump the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, requires the player to pause 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.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's merciless 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 mainline games would do, like offering a diverse range of the same species of monster. It's understood it's not feasible 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 especially sophisticated or deep game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Witty events with outrageous outcomes that forever alter how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will likely be in the conversation when 2026 GOTY season rolls around.
With numerous core games and derivative titles, chances are that I didn't mention that particular Pokémon game you absolutely adore but argue that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
