Wii U’s popular Pokémon fighter, Pokkén Tournament, will find its way to Nintendo Switch. The news came earlier today via a Pokémon Direct live broadcast, where Nintendo also confirmed the existence of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon for Nintendo 3DS, revisits of last year’s titles featuring new stories.
The new edition of Pokkén is called Pokkén Tournament DX, and looks to included online ranked play as well as a three-on-three team battle mode. The Wii U’s entire fighter roster (16 Pokémon) will return, and five new characters will also appear. The list of newcomers includes Decidueye, Croagunk, Empoleon, Scizor, and Darkrai.
Like most Nintendo Switch games with substantial online components, Pokkén Tournament DX will require a paid subscription to Switch’s online service. Since the service isn’t launching until 2018, however, online play will be free until then. A playable demo for Pokkén Tournament DX is also planned, set to appear at E3 2017 alongside further details.
Pokkén Tournament DX already has a release date of September 22nd, and given The Pokémon Company’s lack of an E3 presence, it does make sense they’d spill at least some of the beans in advance. While many were hoping for a theoretical Pokémon Stars, fans clamoring for such may have to wait a little bit longer. As we saw when Pokémon X and Y didn’t arrive until 3DS had been on the market for some time, the wait is often worth it.
