3 Pokemon Titles That Failed to Receive the Love They Earned
In the wake of a taste of global harmony courtesy of Pokémon Go, there's no question that the monster collecting franchise is about as popular video games in existence. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The persistent pandemonium around card prices guarantees almost 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 achieve popularity every year.
Yet in spite of that pervasiveness and popularity, some Pokémon games that are totally overlooked. These represent titles that failed to receive their proper due, or were buried under the hype of the core series. They're Pokémon games released on doomed consoles or online offerings, or were early forays onto new mediums. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have flourished if they had received follow-ups or contemporary re-releases. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering yet another recommendation for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Nevertheless, 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, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Cozy Precursor
Too many 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 pet. Sure, modern titles include small features like these in recent entries—players may play with your monsters in camps. However, I'm longing for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokemon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its launch said Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. I'm not here to argue against these claims, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the closest we've ever gotten to a everyday life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game takes place on a ranch where your Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were basic, 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 beginning of a wonderful franchise built on the simple pleasures of living your life with a small creature. But since The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its fullest potential. One might cry '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 was released long 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 actively controlling. Most people never understood that Ranch's concept to watch your critters as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a lack of substance. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so remarkable, a Twitch stream dedicated to running the game continuously. The streamer who operates the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of experiencing the game, he still has not encountered all that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: no one knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Lost
Did you know that Pokemon once had an official board game with action figures? 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 forays into the world of free-to-play phone games. 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 poor design choices obfuscated a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an excellent tactical game with Duel today. "Words cannot describe how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment states, years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, approachability, game design, and features in general," another commenter declared. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Regrettably, Duel's initial launch was plagued with connectivity problems. Bugs, 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 strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating eyesore.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Gem
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax 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 bordering on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt 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 raising the best possible version of the notorious fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, requires the player to wait before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that Select Button loved and understood the community love 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 experimented with other things one might wish the core series would do, like offering a wide variety of the same species of monster. I know it's not feasible for any Pokémon game to have 30 different colorings and patterns for a roster of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a particularly sophisticated or deep game, but the kernels of genius were there. Witty events with unpredictable results that permanently influence how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will likely be in the conversation when Game of the Year season arrives.
Given numerous mainline entries and derivative titles, it's probable that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you absolutely adore but contend that too few people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball fondly despite argu
