🔗 Share this article Three Pokemon Games That Were Denied the Love They Warranted Following a glimpse of global harmony courtesy of Pokémon Go, it's undeniable that the monster collecting series stands as one of the most popular video games around. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, if not more so. The persistent excitement around card prices guarantees almost daily Pokemon news stories. It would be hard-pressed to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million units. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games go viral annually. Yet despite that ubiquity and popularity, some Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These are titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were buried by the hype of the mainline series. These are Pokémon games released on ill-fated consoles or online offerings, or were pioneering attempts onto different formats. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that probably would have flourished if they ever got sequels or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering just one more reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface. Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed? Pokemon Ranch: The Cozy Precursor Too many 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 companion. Admittedly, 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 Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii isn't it. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its release said Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. It's not my goal to dispute these notions, 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 farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your pals. The activities with Pokémon were basic, and a significant part of the appeal was watching what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into cockfighting. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a beautiful franchise built on the daily joys 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 not get a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its fullest potential. One might cry 'save 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 kicked off the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was prior to the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play popularization of watching games you aren't playing. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to watch your creatures as much as you interact with them didn't mask a lack of substance. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream focused on running the game 24/7. The streamer who runs the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of experiencing the game, he still has not encountered everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008. Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Gone Did you know that Pokemon once had an licensed tabletop game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the tabletop experience in a more accessible form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first ventures into the world of free-to-play mobile gaming. Duel had the hallmarks 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 questionable mechanics masked a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel anymore. "Words cannot describe how much I loved and miss this game," a YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, game design, and features in general," another commenter wrote. "I am convinced if it came out now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket combined." Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy business model, gave people few incentives to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain 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 playing field is also a daunting visual mess. Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Gem Select Button/Magikarp Jump Wow, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some enjoyment? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a premise so absurd, it was verging on internet meme. 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 charged with breeding the best possible version of the notorious fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can jump the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, forces the player to pause before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that the developers loved and understood the community love 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 snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the great writing, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things I wish the core series would do, like offering a wide variety of the same type of monster. I know it's not practical for any Pokémon game to have dozens of variations 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 seeds of brilliance were there. Witty events with outrageous outcomes that permanently influence how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when 2026 GOTY season arrives. Given numerous mainline entries and spin-offs, it's probable that I omitted that particular Pokémon game you absolutely adore but contend that too few people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball with affection notwithstanding argu