Even in a franchise that has tried a lot of different genres and game concepts,Pokemon Rangermanaged to stand out. Its combination of wildlife protection and a wildly different mechanic for capturing Pokemon madePokemon Rangerquite a unique spinoff and a strong part of the Nintendo DS library. Nevertheless,Pokemonfans haven’t seen hide nor hair ofPokemon Rangersince 2010, whenPokemon Ranger: Guardian Signsbecame the third and seemingly final installation in the franchise. Instead, various developers have moved on to exploring all kinds of other angles on thePokemonfranchise, like the recent MOBAPokemon Unite.
Pokemon Rangermay have been missing for the last decade or so, but it could still stage a comeback on the Nintendo Switch. The Switch happens to be an ideal platform for a creative new installation in thePokemon Rangerfranchise, and hype forPokemonspinoffs has never been higher thanks tothe overwhelming success ofPokemon Legends: Arceus.There are a few significant reasons why Nintendo and the Pokemon Company may have decided to letPokemon Rangerrest, but nevertheless, the franchise seems worth reviving on the Switch. It could find a wonderful new life on Nintendo’s current platform.
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Pokemon Ranger Could Succeed on Switch
Pokemon Rangerwasexclusive to the Nintendo DSin its time, and for good reason. Its central mechanic involved using the DS stylus to trace circles around a Pokemon during encounters. Completing enough circles would allow a Ranger to tame and capture that Pokemon for a while, therefore allowing them to call on that Pokemon for help in various ways. The PokeBall-free concept madePokemon Rangera surprising but compelling take on the monster-collecting concept, but its reliance on the Nintendo DS touch screen meant that it wasn’t immediately ready to make the jump to consoles. The Nintendo Switch, however, could change that.
Unlike other consoles, the Switch is modular and has a handheld mode which includes a touchscreen. The Switch may not come with a stylus, but handheld users could still use their fingers to draw circles and capture Pokemon in a newPokemon Rangergame. What’s more, adaptingPokemonRangerto docked play wouldn’t be all that hard. A developer could experiment with Joy-Con motion controls, or more simply, it could let players hold down a button and steer their Ranger’s capture styler with a joystick.The Switch’s variety of control scheme optionsmean it has the power to breathe life intoPokemon Rangeragain.
Beyond the Switch’s technical abilities, the current context ofPokemonon the Switch opens the door for aPokemon Rangerreboot.Pokemon Legends: Arceusdiffers from the corePokemongames in a lot of ways, but its innovations have been praised highly, and the game’s creativity has reignitedinterest inPokemonside gamesthat find clever ways to define themselves.Pokemon Ranger’s capture styler and different style of protagonist make it a highly uniquePokemonspinoff that’s worth celebrating in the current season ofPokemonfervor.
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Why Pokemon Ranger May Lie Dormant
AlthoughPokemon Rangerhas potential, there are a few possibilities as to why Nintendo and The Pokemon Company haven’t brought it back. One simply may be that the franchise struggled to get strong reviews from critics. Although thePokemon Rangergames have historically sold well, they’ve generally received middling reviews from critics, who oftenfelt negatively aboutPokemon Ranger’s simplicityand the lack of innovation between games. Reviews tended towards the positive side, butPokemon Rangernever earned any spectacular reviews.Pokemon’s keepers may simply have decided to search for greener pastures, rather than trying to reinventPokemon Ranger.
The high amount of ongoingPokemonside games and spinoffs may also have something to do withPokemon Ranger’s absence. In the last several years, Game Freak and otherPokemondevelopers have released a ton of successful games that continue to eat up the attention of fans, ranging fromPokemon GOtoPokemon UnitetoPokemon Masters EX.In such a densePokemonspace, The Pokemon Company may have elected to sideline thePokemon RangerIP in favor of other experiments. There’s certainly sound logic behind avoiding an overpopulatedPokemonmarket, but it’s sad to think thatPokemon Rangermay have gotten the short end of the stick in that case.
The cause forPokemon Ranger’s disappearance is hard to nail down, especially since Nintendo devices still have touch screens andPokemon Rangerdeveloper Creatures is still highly active inPokemondevelopment. Whatever the cause was, though, it’s strange that a spinoff series that produced three games in four years disappeared so suddenly.Pokemon Rangerreally seemed like it had staying power, but instead, it hasceded to otherPokemongames. Twelve years later, though, the time may be right for aPokemon Rangercomeback on the Switch.
Hope for Pokemon Ranger
Since the Nintendo Switch still has some life left in it,Pokemon Rangerhas a chance to be reborn. Whether it works with Creatures again or gives another studio access to the IP, The Pokemon Company ought to givePokemon Rangeranother chance. The buffer of time betweenGuardian Signsand now means that there’s plenty of room forPokemon Rangerto reinvent itself, introducing more complicated Pokemon encounters and more serious wildlife-powered narratives befitting the important role that Rangers play in thePokemonworld. IfPokemon Legends: Arceuscanreturn to the Sinnoh regionin such an unexpected way, then aPokemon Rangerreboot can return to Fiore, Almia, or Oblivia in a similar way.
If some studio does secretly have aPokemon Rangerreboot in the works, it probably won’t show itself anytime soon.Pokemon ScarletandVioletare mere months away, and the release of this newPokemongeneration is bound to be Nintendo and The Pokemon Company’s top priority in the near future. Still, even asScarletandVioletdraw near, it wouldn’t be surprising if The Pokemon Company is secretly arranging plans for aPokemon Rangercomeback. All the surprising, excitingPokemonspinoffs in recent history have proven that the franchise is always ready to go in a new direction without warning. In the future,Pokemonmay use an old IP likePokemon Rangerto try something new.
