With the recent Pokemon-centric Nintendo Direct, now seems like a better time than ever to remind people that Game Freak is a video game developer. They aren't soul-bound to Pokemon and they had a long-established career before the monster-collecting franchise took off. That said, most of their previous games are niche titles that sold decently but not near as much as that fat yellow mouse. People love their older works, well, mostly.
But, they also understand why the company has such tunnel-vision when it comes to Pokemon, it's a money machine! Still, we want to pay respects to the older games they've made that will likely never get sequels and keep our minds off all this Poke-drama, at least for a bit.
10 Little Town Hero (2019)
Little Town Hero is the most recent game to come out of Game Freak's doors in quite some time. The title was originally just "Town" during its reveal in September of 2019, but since then has developed quite a bit. In it, players don't just take control of a single character, they represent an entire town of people at the edge of the world, fighting for survival.
The soundtrack is very well known thanks to primarily being created by Undertale developer, Toby Fox, and the artstyle exudes charm. But, every review has the same complaint, and it's the way the combat was implemented. Despite its flaws, we still think it's worth taking a look.
9 Drill Dozer (2005)
Remember how we said Game Freak had some niche titles? This is one of them. People will swear by Drill Dozer, and we totally get it. The game follows a band of misfits primarily lead by a girl named Jill in her Drill-based Mech Suit. The game is a sort of platformer/puzzle game where players try and get through the levels digging as efficiently as possible. Honestly, it's a ton of fun.
The game released on Gameboy Advance way back in 2005 and sadly hasn't made it to the Switch yet. The most recent port was for the Wii U Virtual Console, so here's hoping Nintendo realizes how fun a sequel would be, especially with their HD Rumble.
8 Tembo The Badass Elephant (2015)
In a rare occurrence, Tembo The Badass Elephant is actually a game the came about during a collaboration between Game Freak and Sega. The title was released in July of 2015 on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. That's right, a Game Freak game purposefully not on Nintendo's console. Tembo is obviously inspired by Rambo and other 1980's action movies, but its gameplay is reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog, which makes sense.
The game isn't anything insanely good, but it did receive favorable reviews across the board after release. Of course, sharing similarities with Sonic, TtBAE is a platformer where Tembo fights his way through Shell City obtaining upgrades and abilities along the way. It faded a bit quickly from the public eye, but Tembo is definitely an elephant worth hanging out with.
7 Giga Wrecker (2017)
We didn't talk about it earlier, but there's an initiative running through Game Freak at the moment called the "Gear Project" that encourages developers to pitch original new IP's during the slow periods of the year. It's how we got Little Town Hero, and it's also how we got Giga Wrecker. This game is just so beautiful, we really love the art style! It just feels so Vanillaware, you know?
The writing is also charming, combining the dark yet cheeky comedy with every anime trope you're used to. The gameplay is where the game falls a bit short, but it's not anywhere near "bad". Quite frankly, Giga Wrecker is a treat that Game Freak fans can play either on Switch or on PC, which doesn't happen often enough, so check it out!
6 Harmoknight (2012)
Oh look, another Gear Project baby, Harmoknight. And this one fits into a genre that we're so glad still exists, rhythm games! Harmoknight is a rhythm/platformer where levels automatically scroll and players must mash inputs to the beat in order to survive. They'll control Tempo, the main character, along with a host of his friends who all have different abilities.
Honestly, while Giga Wrecker was beautiful for its complex art style, Harmoknight is charming for its simplicity. The characters are memorable and adorable which makes the addicting gameplay even better. Unfortunately, since it was released in 2013, the title is only currently available on the 3DS, but it's only $15, so we absolutely recommend it.
5 Pocket Card Jockey (2016)
Pocket Card Jockey is probably half as complicated as any of these games and only required likely a third of the development time. It's a 3DS title released in 2016 which tells us all we need to know. It's a smartphone game ported to 3DS since it's mobile version was exclusive to Japan back in 2013. In it, players race their horse on the top screen while playing a Solitaire-like game on the bottom.
The better they do in faux-Solitare, the more Unity points they get, and the better their horse does. And...that's about it. It doesn't get much more complicated than that. Pocket Card Jockey is unapologetically simple, and that's totally fine.
4 Pulseman (2007)
Pulseman is the last in our line of 2000s-era games. It was released in 2007/2009 on the Wii Virtual Console and had been available in Japan since 1994. Sometimes it just takes a while for us Americans to get those niche games.
It's hard to find footage of the game, but it looks like another action-platformer standard to that time period. The vibes we get right away is that Pulseman plays like Sonic with the more complex mechanics of latter Mega Man games. Frankly, the artstyle is adorable, and the fact that Pulseman has to build momentum each time he runs is a really neat gimmick. And, it reviewed well! 8/10's pretty much all the way across.
3 Mario & Wario (1993)
And that about does it for Game Freak's "modern" games. Now we're going way back to the Super Famicom days of 1993. Back then, Game Freak made a title called Mario & Wario that never made it to America. Though if it had, you can bet it would've been known as one of the worst Mario titles. Why? Because in terms of gameplay it's just Lemmings.
Not sure how many people will get that reference anymore, but think Kirby: Canvas Curse. We, as the player, are guiding the characters to the goal. So, you play as Wanda, a fairy, as she guides Mario and crew to the goal-line of each stage to stop Wario.
2 Game Boy Camera (1998)
Many people forget that the Game Boy Camera was actually a cartridge as well, with mini-games on it. The whole thing was developed by both Game Freak and Nintendo, and we spent a good amount of time with it back in our childhood.
That's right we had a Game Boy Printer, a Game Boy Camera, Even A Game Boy attachable magnifying glass. Real cool right? Anyway, the Game Boy Camera functioned as a camera, but also had mini-games like Ball, DJ, Space Fever II, and one called "Run! Run! Run!". Each game usually allowed players to integrate their photo's in some way and it was an incredibly neat gimmick, especially back in 1998.
1 Yoshi's First Game (1991)
And finally, we've arrived on Yoshi's debut game...titled Yoshi. Yeah, that's right, this NES and Game Boy game is the first title where the bowling ball nose dinosaur showed his adorable mug. And, it's a Tetris clone. Luckily, this dinosaur would go on to be the main in much better games. Anyway, in it, players play as Mario or Luigi as they line up colored blocks and try to match them.
Oddly enough, Drill Dozer is stuck on dated consoles, but this game released alongside Nintendo's online service back in 2018. Good to know where Nintendo's priorities lie. Obviously, there's not much to this game, but it's neat to find out where our Dinosaur friend got his start.