Grab your Pokéballs -- the upcoming Pokémon fighting game Pokkén Tournament has been confirmed for a worldwide release. The one-on-one brawler will be getting a home release on Wii U, with a simultaneous global launch in Spring 2016.
The reveal was made at the Pokémon World Championships in Boston. The game's producers, Tekken's Katsuhiro Harada and SoulCalibur's Masaaki Hoshino, were on hand to make the announcement, which was met with rapturous applause.
The game, developed by Bandai Namco, was originally announced in 2013, but only for the Japanese market, where it launched this past July. The home release will also include some additions over the arcade version, including a playable Pikachu Libre -- the familiar electric mouse mascot -- as a Mexican wrestler, seemingly with a unique moveset to his unmasked equivalent.
He's not fibbing either -- WIRED has played the game, with arcade cabinets for Pokkén Tournament unveiled at the World Championships. Players select one of ten playable Pokémon (expect more in the home version), including Blaziken, Gengar, and Charizard, and then one of three pairs of support Pokémon. As you battle with your main character, a metre fills, allowing you to summon one of the pair in the middle of a match.
The battles themselves start out simple -- weak and strong basic attacks, a jump, and a "Pokémon WAZA" attack. This can be combo'ed with directional moves to unleash elemental attacks. More depth reveals itself when you start to factor in shield breaking mega attacks, and ways to parry and deflect your opponent's moves. The overall pace of each round feels good too -- a little slower than Tekken can be, but with a good ebb and flow. No Pokémon we tested -- Lucario, Pikachu, Suicune -- felt over- or underpowered.
There's a great balance between the active and the support Pokémon, too. The main playable ones are those that lend themselves well to active battles. The support represent smaller or unevolved Pokémon, such as Eevee, but can still be incredibly useful in tipping the tide of battle. One thing we couldn't confirm before we finished playing -- retiring undefeated after three consecutive matches -- was how elemental differences may affect fights, if at all.
The arcade version also allows players to level up and store their progress on NFC cards. While there's no confirmation of the cabinets hitting the UK, the same function could hypothetically lend itself well to Nintendo's amiibo cards.
With the Wii U's fighting game contingent being represented almost entirely by Super Smash Bros, Pokkén Tournament promises both a great alternative and a strong title in its own right.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
