Three Pokémon Titles That Failed to Receive the Appreciation They Deserved

In the wake of a taste of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, there's no question that the creature-catching series stands as one of the most ubiquitous video games in existence. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, if not more so. The continued excitement around trading card values guarantees almost daily Pokemon news stories. It would be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a couple million units. Even, unofficial Pokémon games achieve popularity every year.

Yet despite that pervasiveness and fame, there are still Pokémon games that are totally overlooked. These are titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were overshadowed under the hype of the mainline series. These are Pokémon games released on ill-fated consoles or online offerings, or were early forays onto different formats. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that probably would have flourished if they had received follow-ups or contemporary re-releases. Considering these factors, we won't be offering just one more recommendation for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.

Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and typing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?

Pokemon Ranch: The Relaxed Forerunner

An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the combat aspect of the series, and far too few of them highlight the everyday aspects that would come with owning a pet. Admittedly, modern titles include minor mechanics like these in modern games—players may play with your monsters in camps. But I am longing 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 most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokemon Home; that is, as a storage system to hold monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its launch said Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. I'm not here to dispute these claims, but it compels 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 farm where your Mii avatars—get this—just relax with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were basic, and a lot of the appeal 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 collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its complete potential. One might cry 'help 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 sim.

Ranch was released well before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was before the proliferation of idle games, and the video playthrough normalization of viewing games you aren't playing. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to watch your critters as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a lack of substance. In truth, Ranch's meticulous design was so extraordinary, a Twitch stream dedicated to broadcasting the game continuously. The individual who operates the channel states that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he even now has not seen everything that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.

Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Lost

Did you know that Pokémon once had an official tabletop game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize the physical experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's earliest ventures into the world of free-to-play mobile gaming. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha title where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive to do so, given the slow progression for new figures.

These questionable mechanics obfuscated a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an excellent tactical game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Honestly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, design, and features in general," a user declared. "I am convinced if it came out now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket combined."

Regrettably, Duel's initial launch was marred by server issues. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy monetization model, gave people little reason to come back. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a great strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating visual mess.

Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Experiment

Man, 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 premise so silly, it was bordering on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a team of useless monsters who simply cannot do anything, I'm shocked we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.

Within Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with breeding the best possible version of the infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'karp 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 improve their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that Select Button loved and understood the fan culture around Magikarp.

This was most apparent than in Jump's merciless random events, where your Magikarp was as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the mainline games would do, like offering a wide variety of the same species of monster. It's understood it's not practical 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 especially sophisticated or deep game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Witty events with unpredictable results that forever alter how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will likely be in the conversation when 2026 GOTY season rolls around.

With dozens of core games and spin-offs, it's probable that I omitted that one Pokémon game you totally love but argue that not nearly enough people played. It's acknowledged that some people look back on games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball with affection despite argu