Pokken Tournament

Super Smash Bros. used to have zero competition as the king of fighting games on Nintendo. Pokken is a good contender, even though we would have liked to see more pokémons represented.

It might not have the depth to match Street Fighter or Tekken, but there is still plenty here for both casual and hardcore fans of the genre to enjoy.

From the expertly crafted combat mechanics to the wildly different contenders to the stages and customization options to unlock, Pokkén Tournament proves itself to be another excellent addition to the Nintendo Wii U’s library for fighting game fans, Pokémon fans, and everyone in between.

The very first fighting game with Pokémon, made by Bandai Namco and The Pokémon Company, is finally available on Wii U. After being a hit in Japanese arcades, it's going to raise on the rest of the world.

Pokkén Tournament has attempted to break into the fighting game genre with a bang, and it has done just that. It brings freshness and new life to a notoriously stale genre that's difficult to develop, whilst stripping out the unnecessarily complex controls that have plagued many games before it.

Frequently magnificent to look at, delicately designed, and rewarding for players across all skill levels, it’s the Pokemon fighting game deserving of a 20-year wait.

I find it amazing that everything turned out so right on the first try; true, there are a few issues, but that doesn’t change the fact that Pokkén Tournament is pretty much the Pokémon that we always wanted.

A vibrant invitation to a new kind of fighter. [Issue #21 – May/June 2016, p.70]

Pokken Tournament is an impressive game that carefully treads the line between a deep, complex game for fighting aficionados and an accessible, approachable one for the more casual audience.

I certainly had my doubts about Pokkén when I booted it up for the first time, but it’s safe to say that it’s thoroughly won me over. The vibrant visuals with some spectacular animations, along with a combat system that’s deceptively deep but simple to grasp makes Pokkén easy to recommend to anyone, whether they be a fan of Pokemon or not.

For trainers wanting a true one-on-one real time Pokemon experience, Pokken Tournament delivers rather well. There are a few things here and there that could use some improvement, most notably some online features and how ranking up works with the Ferrum League, but overall a rather enjoyable game for Pokemon and fighting game fans alike.

Pokkén Tournament is a very solid Pokémon spin-off.

Pokkén Tournament is a competent spin-off, mixing the charm of the Pokémon series with the immediacy of a good beat'em up. An unusual combination, we have to admit, but a pretty convincing one.

Pokken Tournament has fine-tuned multiplayer and a memorable cast of characters. Unfortunately, the balance is lacking, and there could be more fighters present (remember, in other games there are literally hundreds of different Pokemons) [Issue#208, p.66]

The experience that this game provides has been long overdue, and I praise it for doing such a terrific job.

Pokémon never looked better. Pokkén Tournament does have really cool graphics for a Wii U title and an amazing soundtrack. It may not offer enough content for all the Pokémon Trainers out there, but at least it brings enough fan service to entertain fighting game enthusiasts. Having said that, Pokkén Tournament falls short in its quest to become a competitive fighting franchise due to the lack of balance between characters.

Overall, Pokkén Tournament delivers on its biggest promise: being the first real fighting game for Pokémon fans. I only wish they’d included more characters.

Pokkén Tournament ran the risk of seeming like a bog standard fighter with Pokémon skins, but Bandai Namco and The Pokémon Company have served up a unique Pokémon setup that delivers a fun, flexible, and easy-to-learn experience for fighting fans.

Pokkén Tournament is a really good and entertaining fighting game. With solid and dynamic game mechanics, gorgeous and detailed graphics and a varied roster of pokémon fighters, this title is one that players from the genre will enjoy and fans from the series will love. Yeah, it has it flaws but as a whole, this is a game that should be tried at least one.

Pokkén Tournament is a victory and hopefully the beginning of a new series within the franchise.

In general Pokken Tournament is not super brilliant or innovative, but it does put everything we have learned about Pokemon over these past twenty years in a very solid fighting game.

Pokken Tournament is a splendid fighter, the best such game so far this year (sorry, Street Fighter V ... for now). And it’s really not that much of a surprise — Nintendo has more of a fighting game touch than many realize, something it reminded us with Super Smash Bros. two years ago...And it’s always had a magical touch with the Pokemon franchise.

Pokkén Tournament is a fresh new fighting game with our favorite pocket monsters. The game is light on content, but the game makes up for it with tight gameplay and great visuals during battles. Like any great fighting game: easy to learn, hard to master.

It's no surprise that Pokkén Tournament is good, but it is surprising that it feels so unique. It's a refreshing face in the fighting genre, and offers up a ton of fun.

Quotation forthcoming.

Pokkén Tournament is a really entertaining fighting game for both casual and pro players. Nintendo and Bandai Namco have done a great job creating a new and interesting mash-up between 3D brawlers and classic 2d fighting games.

Pokkén Tournament will please Pokéfans around the world, but it's also a very good fighting game, with a deep and accessible gameplay, and a lot of content.

It could certainly use some improvement regarding its single player appeal, as it becomes repetitive too quickly and its difficulty level does not quite stand the test. All that aside, Pokkén Tournament is worthy of praise and a good example on how to bring one series to a different genre.

Any player at any skill level can sit down with Pokkén Tournament for a period of time and have just as much of a chance to win as a long-time fighting genre disciple.

A Pokémon fighting game may not seem like the most obvious spin-off idea, but the end result is a surprisingly fun and inventive multiplayer game.

Pokkén Tournament doesn’t quite know where to hang its hat – accessible fighter for kids, or serious online brawler – but somehow it manages to pull both off. Spectacular combat, beloved characters, and fun gameplay make for a fighter that anyone can enjoy, but as with all of the best genre entries, and indeed the Pokémon series as a whole, it truly comes into its own against a real-life opponent.

It’s not likely to be anyone’s replacement for Street Fighter or Super Smash Bros., but it’s well worth sinking hours into, alone or with friends.

While it is a little rough around the edges, it’s an interesting fighter and a welcomed addition to Nintendo’s collection of one first-party fighting games.

Pokkén Tournament retains the spirit and charm of Pokémon, while still a fun fighter that excellently caters to all skill levels.

Pokkén Tournament takes pieces from many fighting favorites and successfully blends them.

Pokken Tournament is a truly original fighter that deserves more attention that it will probably get on the Wii U. Unfortunately it’s a bit too thin in terms of quality and quantity to belong among the best in the genre.

Pokémon Tekken combines both original games into a great fighting game. Only the single player mode lacks diversity.

Pokkén Tournament is more than a mere fighting game with Pokémon: it has fine mechanics and it's very funny. Unfortunately, it's not perfectly balanced in every aspect and its graphics could be improved. Other flaws can be found in its AI and in the boring story mode.

Pokkén Tournament isn’t quite as successful as some of the other Pokémon releases and other genre experiments (Pokémon Conquest comes to mind), but it offers high-energy battles and a unique framework for fights, even if it could use some tweaking.

Pokken Tournament may have the image of a kid-friendly fighting game, but it’s absolutely dead serious in its approach to offering something new to fighting game fanatics.

Overall, Pokken Tournament is an exciting and fast-paced fighting game that successfully blends the gameplay basics of Tekken with the Pokemon characters to create a completely unique formula. With intricate yet accessible mechanics, it’ll please both veterans and newcomers to the fighting game genre.

Pokkén Tournament brings something new to the fighting genre and does it well. It manages to offer a huge amount fighting a more experienced player and has the potential to be a very exciting e-sports game.

With combat as quick as Pikachu with a dozen redbulls, we only wish Pokkén Tournament had more fighters, more environments and more ambition.

Pokkén Tournament is an original fighting game with simple but effective and deep combat system. Has some iconic characters, but the roster could be better in variety and choices. Solid netcode and full of unlockables.

Pokken Tournament is not very effective. [Apr 2016]

Pokken Tournament is a well crafted, yet simplistic fighting game. It won’t compete against the Tekkens or Street Fighters of the fighting world, but it does enough to cater to the Pokémon crowd. If there was a bit more balance and a lot more characters, then this game would have been phenomenal. As it stands, it’s still a good fighting game with lots of potential for growth.

The combat system is indeed deep, but the characters are quite scarce. Fortunately, there's plenty of customization to back that up. Also, game modes aren't that varied, and that could spoil the fun for some players.

Pokken Tournament is a worthy addition to Nintendo’s accessible fighters catalogue, alongside Super mash Bros. Even the more inexperienced players will have an easy time learning the controls. On the same time it provides enough depth for those of you who want to take a step further and master its nuances.

A great synergistic effort for combining two worlds: Pokémon and the spirit of Bandai Namco battle games. The result is a remarkable and innovative title, but short in terms of content.

Despite its shortcomings, Pokkén Tournament is a delightfully entertaining experience that will blossom with populated online servers and a dedicated fanbase.

Bandai Namco has crafted a deep brawler that deserves to be up there with a lot of the competition, but some logistical issues specific to the Wii U hold the game back a bit more than I'd like.

The performance was good – testing at multiple times, and against players on multiple continents, only one match ended up in a slideshow and that was before launch. Following launch, the netcode was stable and didn't drop, even if the game was being controlled by a Twitch chatroom.

Much like the recently released Street Fighter V, Pokkén Tournament is a fighting game that only really comes into its own if you plan on playing it in local or online multiplayer. Solo gameplay is fun in short bursts, but to get the most out of this one you’re going to need a partner to duke it out with.

Despite appearances, this at first accessible brawler quickly winds up too unforgiving for its own good. [Apr 2016, p.64]

Simple story, low difficulty level in campaign and lack of variety among fighters can be a little disappointing. Pokken Tournament seems to be a base for future, more robust installments.

A surprisingly accomplished fighting game whose roster is varied enough to warrant the lack of unlockables. The overall experience is hampered by a generic presentation and too few game modes.

Pokken Tournament is a solid game for Poké-fanatics and a decent enough game for casual fighting game fans. I’d recommend it if you need a Poké-fix before Pokémon Sun and Moon come out, but if you are looking for a new fighting game, stick to Street Fighter V.

From this perspective, the Pokémon isn’t a creature of its own agency, but a mere extension of its trainer’s body and mind; a tool in a rat race, forever wrestling in the futile pursuit of human ambition. And when you look at it that way, all the thematic waffling starts to make a whole lot of sense.

Let's be clear: Pokkén Tournament is not a compelling VS fighting game. There's too few characters, not enough content and the campaign mode is far too boring. But, it can be seen as a good surprise as it offers solid bases of fighting game, likely to attract veterans and newcomers.

The foundations for Pokkén Tournament are solid, but there are some issues (such as the amount of content or the lack of depth of its combat system after many battles) that should be addressed. Still, a fighting game with Pokémon is attractive enough to forget about some of those weaknesses.

Aside from a few issues with the core gameplay, Pokkén Tournament is an enjoyable yet charming fighting game for fans and enthusiasts alike. Limited by a somewhat uninspired roster and very blurry visuals, it's a solid base to evolve from.

Pokken Tournament is a fun mash up of traditional fighting games and Pokemon. The game actually takes a lot of risks, but some of them don't pay off. A larger roster of Pokemon to choose from would help as well.

Pokkén Tournament was a brave experiment, and it succeeds in many areas. However, it fails in some others—whether from lack of depth or outright poor design—that keeps it from reaching that upper-tier of the fighting game genre’s elite entries.

For Pokémon fans, it’s a hard recommendation for its self-imposed separation from the grand Pokémon universe. For the person in the middle of the Pokémon and fighting game Venn diagram, however, enough depth exists to encourage heated, practiced competition to earn it a spot next to Super Smash Bros. on the shelf.

Pokken Tournament is not a bad fighting game, but it is lacking innovations that other games in the genre do have. The modes are just an excuse to endlessly fight the same opponents.

The visuals deliver but the fighting mechanics leave a lot to be desired, while the content side of the fighting pocket monsters falls flat.

A bold, thoughtful experiment in accessibility, the fighting game's biggest, most enduring problem. [May 2016, p.120]

It's not as technical as Street Fighter, not as chaotic as Smash Bros and not as fluid as Tekken, but if it just offered a bit more of a challenge and some more depth, it would be right up there with the best of them.

Although it’s beautiful and intuitive to play, Pokken Tournament's story mode, where the beef of your gameplay will take place, becomes tiresome and drags down what could have been a one-of-a-kind experience on the Wii U.

Getting to punch, kick and burn things as a Pokemon is a delight, but it doesn’t feel fair when playing with others.

Pokken Tournament is the first Pokemon-focused fighting game ever released, but the final product feels more like a barebones offering rather than a fleshed out product.

Pokken Tournament tries its best to cater to a more casual fighting crowd, but in its efforts to do so rapidly becomes mundane after repeated playthroughs.