Nearly 20 years on, this underrated Pokémon game deserves a revival
On this day 19 years ago, the first Pokémon Ranger game launched in Japan for the Nintendo DS. The title launched a three-game spin-off series that gave us the chance to experience life in the Pokémon universe as someone other than a battle-hungry trainer, and I think it should make a return for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Game Freak originally introduced the Ranger trainer class in the gen 3 Pokémon games as battlers concerned with protecting wild Pokémon and making sure travelers don’t get lost in the wilderness. The Pokémon Ranger series expanded their role in the Pokémon world significantly, opening up a whole new way to play. Instead of catching creatures in Pokéballs, Rangers use the Capture Styler to calm and befriend wild Pokémon, working alongside them to help citizens, solve environmental issues, and even catch members of evil teams like the Go-Rock Squad.
In the past, Pokémon has suffered unfounded backlash from animal rights groups for its capturing and battling mechanics, with PETA accusing the series of promoting “thinly veiled animal abuse” and launching a parody browser game in 2012. The Pokémon Ranger games are the perfect counter to this argument, as they’re all about working alongside the native Pokémon of the area, rather than catching them and fighting them for sport. After the success of games like Undertale, which actively promotes and rewards more mindful and non-violent solutions to problems, the spin-off series has a chance to thrive again.
A huge part of Pokémon Ranger’s gimmick was the use of the Nintendo DS’s touch screen to control the Capture Styler – a device that’s like a fusion of a Beyblade and a lasso. All three games in the series launched on the DS and only made it onto the Wii U via the virtual console. However, there’s no reason that Pokémon Ranger can’t return in this modern age of Nintendo consoles. People (including me) often forget that the Nintendo Switch – and presumably the Nintendo Switch 2 – has a touchscreen. We could easily recreate the Capture Styler in handheld mode and implement some form of motion control for docked play, similar to Pokémon Let’s Go’s Pokéball throw.
Pokémon Ranger turns 20 next year, just a month after the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise as a whole. If you combine this with the imminent arrival of the Switch 2, it seems like 2026 might be the year that Pokémon Ranger makes its triumphant return, whether that’s with a new entry or an HD remake.
In my opinion, Pokémon Ranger is one of the best Pokémon games and one of the best DS games ever made, simply thanks to its novelty. The Pokémon world is so expansive and is filled with hundreds of fascinating professions. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a Pokémon Professor spin-off game in the future?
