Play Pokemon Ranger (firex) (eu) Online

Pokemon Ranger released for the Nintendo DS in 2006, developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. It was part of that early wave of DS games that really tried to use the touch screen for something other than menus. Instead of the usual journey to become a Pokemon League Champion, this game puts you in the boots of a Pokemon Ranger, a kind of peacekeeper in the Fiore region.

You control your Ranger from a top-down perspective, exploring areas screen by screen. Your main job is to befriend wild Pokemon by capturing them with your Capture Styler, which means using the stylus to draw loops around them on the touch screen. The Pokemon break free if you lift the stylus or they attack your line, so you have to be quick and careful. You don't keep the Pokemon; you borrow their powers to clear obstacles, like using a Pikachu to break a rock or a Machop to move a boulder, which opens up new paths. The pacing is steady, but the capture sequences can get surprisingly tense, especially against stronger Pokemon that fill the screen with attacks. It feels like a puzzle and an action game mixed together, a very different kind of connection with Pokemon compared to the main series.