Following a glimpse of world peace thanks to Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting franchise stands as one of the most ubiquitous video games around. The iconic Pikachu is just as famous as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The ongoing pandemonium surrounding card prices guarantees near-daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a few million units. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games go viral every year.
Yet in spite of that pervasiveness and fame, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These are games that didn't get their fair shake, or were buried by the hype of the core series. These are Pokémon games released on doomed consoles or services, or were pioneering attempts onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have blossomed if they ever got follow-ups or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering yet another recommendation for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokémon Ranch: The Chill Forerunner
Too many Pokémon games focus on the battling aspect of the series, and far too few of them highlight the ordinary aspects that would come with living with a pet. Admittedly, there are small features like these in modern games—players may play with your monsters in bases. However, I'm longing for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from various titles. Reviews from its launch noted Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal 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.
As the name suggests, the game takes place on a ranch where your Mii avatars—get this—simply hang out with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the draw was watching what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into battle. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a beautiful franchise built on the simple pleasures of coexisting with a small creature. However, because The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its fullest potential. One might cry 'save 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 sim.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley kicked off the enduring trend of comfort gaming. It was prior to the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of viewing games you aren't actively controlling. Many never understood that Ranch's proposal to watch your critters as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so remarkable, there's a live stream focused on running the game 24/7. The streamer who runs the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he even now has not encountered everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokémon once had an official board game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize the physical experience in a more approachable format. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of free-to-play phone games. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha title where players could spend for advantage—and there was motivation to do so, given the lengthy grind for new figures.
These poor design choices obfuscated a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an excellent strategy game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," a YouTube comment reads, years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of depth, approachability, game design, and content in general," another commenter wrote. "I am convinced if it launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people little reason to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would end better. The unique game board made for a great tactical experience for the few folks who played Duel, but that playing field is also a intimidating visual mess.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Gem
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some enjoyment? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a concept so silly, it was bordering 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 laugh at themselves.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the ultimate version of the infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'karp raised to enter contests to see who can jump 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 loved and understood the fan culture around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was as likely to improve as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the great writing, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things one might wish the core series would do, like offering a wide variety of the same type 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 especially sophisticated or deep game, but the kernels of genius were there. Witty events with unpredictable results 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 conversation when 2026 GOTY season arrives.
Given numerous core games 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 look back on games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball with affection despite argu
