3 Pokémon Titles That Were Denied the Adoration They Earned
Following a vision of global harmony courtesy of Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting franchise stands as one of the most ubiquitous gaming titles around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The ongoing excitement around card prices ensures almost daily Pokemon news stories. It would be hard-pressed to find a pocket monster game that failed to move at least a couple million copies. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.
However despite that pervasiveness and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These represent titles that didn't get their fair shake, or were buried under the excitement 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 flourished if they ever got follow-ups or contemporary re-releases. Considering these factors, this list will not be yet another reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and writing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with discerning palates, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Cozy Forerunner
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the combat aspect of the series, and far too few of them focus on the everyday realities that would come with owning a companion. Admittedly, modern titles include small features like these in recent entries—players may play with your monsters in bases. But I am longing for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Wii isn't it. The downloadable-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokemon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from various titles. Reviews from its release noted Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to argue against these notions, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the nearest 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—get this—just relax with your pals. The activities with Pokémon were basic, and a lot of the draw was watching what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a beautiful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting 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 complete potential. I'd say 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the upcoming Switch exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life sim.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was before the proliferation of passive games, and the Let's Play popularization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never realized that Ranch's concept to observe your creatures as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a lack of substance. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream dedicated to running the game 24/7. The individual who operates the channel states that, after nearly two decades of playing the game, he even now has not encountered all that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: nobody knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Gone
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an licensed board game with action figures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the physical experience in a more approachable format. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's earliest forays into the world of freemium phone games. Duel had the trappings of a gacha title where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive to do so, given the slow progression for new pieces.
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 loved and miss this game," a 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 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 together."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was marred by connectivity problems. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory monetization model, gave people few incentives to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unique board structure made for a great strategic challenge for the few folks who played Duel, but that playing field is also a daunting eyesore.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd Experiment
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some enjoyment? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance 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 venture forth with a full belt of useless monsters who simply cannot 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 ultimate version of the infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'karp raised to enter competitions to see who can jump the highest. I'm not a fan is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, requires the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that Select Button appreciated and got the fan culture around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to improve as it was to get eaten 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 type 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 we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a particularly sophisticated or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Witty events with unpredictable results that forever alter how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when Game of the Year season arrives.
With dozens of mainline entries and spin-offs, chances are that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you totally love but argue that not nearly enough people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
