Welcome to a new feature where I take a look at fighting games. Nintendo isn’t really known for fighting games, with Super Smash Bros, being an exception. Oh sure, they have made titles like Joy Mech Fight, but that never left Japan, Urban Champion, which wasn’t well received and punch out, which is more of a rhythm game. It wasn’t until recently that they got serious about the genre with games like Arms ( which I’ve already talked about) and I want to talk about an underrated fighting game..
A Pokémon fighting game was something fans wanted for years and Pokken Tournament, a Pokémon fighting game from Bandai Namco seemed like a dream come true for many. Bandai Namco applied what they know best from other fighting games and created something special. Despite the name evoking Tekken, Pokken is a bit of different beast and feels like two different types of fighting games meshed together. The Field Phase plays more akin to a Naruto or the older Dragon Ball Z fighting games for instance. and may take a little while to get used to if you are unfamiliar with it, which is why you should make full use of the great tutorial. The second part of fights. Duel Phase. does play more like Tekken and thus feels a lot more natural to players more used to traditional fighting games. You will need to learn how to switch between the phases and when to do so, in order to master the game, and that can throw some people off as it is a major part of the gameplay.
The single player mode consists of the Ferrum League which serves as the story mode, as well as single fights. These are a great way to learn about how to play the game for when you go online, and to be honest, playing some single matches against a CPU is a great way to just have fun. Pokken Tournament DX has a great 3 vs 3 mode similar to the King of Fighters series, and excellent online modes, and this is where it shined. Pokken Tournament felt different, different for both Nintendo and Bandai Namco. It was a new experience but just didn’t catch on it seems. Despite selling well, the scene seems to have dropped off significantly and that is a shame.
I would love to see Nintendo and Bandai Namco give this game another try with a new entry. Take what worked with the first game and keep that and jettison anything that held it down. Pokken Tournament DX did a lot to fix problems from the initial outing on Wii U, but it was still just an enhanced version of that game. If perhaps it was refocused to make the fights more straightforward, that would help. Allow players to just enjoy a good fighting game using Pokemon and not rely on gimmicks or phase shifts. A Pokemon fighting game doesn’t need much and has a lot of potential. Maybe even getting Arc System Works involved would be an idea, as they could create a truly amazing 2D Pokemon fighting game that can give the fans what they want similar to Dragon Ball FighterZ. Regardless of what happens, Pokken Tournament, especially Pokken Tournament DX is something special and should be appreciated. I hope Nintendo and Bandai Namco realize what they have here.