Pokemon is a Wariolike

Recently, a whole subgenre of platformers has risen, led by the new release Pizza Tower. These games take after the Wario Land series in their designs.  Much like Wario Land, these "wariolikes" offer challenges that reward skill with the abilities of the character you're playing as.

Oftentimes, this means slightly more variable levels that can be tackled in many different ways.  Most of the time, a player character in a wariolike has a wide range of moves and skills at their disposal, which players slowly master throughout a playthrough.

In many ways, this design philosophy also is held by Pokemon. There's the obvious parallel between unique player characters in a wariolike and any given Pokemon being equally unique, of course. But further than that, much like a player might lean on certain moves in these platformers, the moves a Pokemon learns and can use can be adjusted to taste.

Not only that, but much like the series that spawned wariolikes, Pokemon has created its own subgenre of RPGs, including many indie and professional titles alike. In fact, I'd go so far as to say Pokemon is the Wario Land of RPG games.

This similarity in designs also gives both types of game things to learn from the other.  For Pokemon, the polishing of skill sets to perfection from early designs could easily be swiped from Wario. And on the other way around, developing a playstyle around certain aspects of your characters, like in Pokemon, could be used to further bolster wariolikes.

Pokemon is a wariolike. How much that means for either genre is unclear, but the similarities between the two are interesting to note.