GoNintendo Review - Pokken Tournament

Sad day for gaming fans, with two important people passing away. Never fun news to report, but important to get out there. Let's remember them for all the fun they gave us and help spread the word on why we enjoyed their work so much. See you in a few, short hours.

Pokken Tournament sounds like the idea of a 10-year-old writing fan-fiction. I don't mean that as an insult. It's just an idea so insane that I would never have believed its validity had I not seen it with my own eyes. The idea of the Pokemon franchise getting mixed up with the world of Tekken is absolutely surreal. Sure, we may not see actual Tekken characters mixed in with the Pokemon world, but there's no denying that their attributes and influence is very noticeable. Swap out Pokemon for Tekken maintstays, and Pokken Tournament could act as a spin-off for the Tekken franchise.

When I first heard about the idea, I thought we'd get a very basic fighting game with a few Tekken hallmarks. Having spent time with the game itself, I can tell you that that's not the case. Nintendo and Pokemon Company want this title to be something that appears in fighting game tournaments for years to come. That means it needs a lot of depth and all sorts of nuance to sit alongside the usual suspects at the big-name tournaments. This is definitely a title that can be played and enjoyed by button-mashers, but there's a very deep and satisfying fighting experience for those that want to learn all the ins and outs of gameplay. Pokken Tournament is absolutely worthy of tournament play and should easily garner a lot of support from that scene.

First and foremost, having a fighting game on the Wii U feels wonderful. The Wii U isn't exactly brimming when it comes to fighting games. The genre is pretty much untouched, minus a very small handful of contenders that came out earlier in the system's life. While that's been a sad thing to see so far, it actually positions Pokken Tournament a bit better. Wii U now has another exclusive fighting game that is absolutely the real deal. It's a tried-and-true fighting experience that will provide unique content for fighting fans, as well as a truly engaging Pokemon experience for fans of that long-running franchise. Pokken Tournament is a welcome addition to the Wii U library, and better yet, it's one of those games that's really hard to put down.

I guess I should be honest about something. I am not a person that plays a lot of fighting games. My fighting game experience comes mostly from the early days of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. I still check out entries in those new franchises, but I don't pour time/effort into them like most of today's players do. I'm just in for some quick fun with friends. I'm not hopping online to hone my skills and learn all the meta-game aspects that are hiding within. My real fighting fun comes from the Smash Bros. series, and obviously Pokken Tournament is quite different from that. I may not be able to accurately detail Pokken Tournament on its deepest levels, but hopefully I can do the game justice.

Right out of the gate, you can tell that Pokken Tournament is a top-notch production. It has a fantastic presentation that makes it feel like a big, important experience. From the menus to the fights themselves, everything has a style that is really slick and impressive. Pre-fight segments are presented as if they're being streamed online or on TV for fans around the world to watch. You even get a bit of info on each arena that you're dropped into. Then it's on to a quick look at the entrants and their Pokemon trainers before the big fight begins. This kind of presentation really ups the atmosphere and helps to immerse you in the experience.

Fights themselves are really easy to get into as well. The gameplay, when you first start out and are fumbling your way through, are really quick and flashy. It's easy to get caught up in all the bells and whistles of what's going on. Everything is coming at you really quickly, including your personal assistant shouting out tidbits to you. She'll help you learn the ropes early on when it comes to special moves and support characters. Even while things are hectic, it's hard not to have fun right away. You just hop into a fight and start testing out what all the buttons do, learning some combos organically and watching the entire spectacle.

Like I said earlier, you can definitely jump into Pokken Tournament and play it as a button masher. That'll get you fairly far into the experience. Importantly, that kind of play isn't going to take you all the way through to the end. Whether you like it or not, you'll have to take some time and learn what's going on. The game lets you have your fun early on and just mash your way to victory, but deeper tiers mean you'll have to put in time and learn how to truly play. This should be a positive point for some gamers, as I'm sure a selection of those playing will want to just mash buttons with friends, but others will be testing the limits to see just how deep the experience goes.

If you take your time and check out the training mode, you'll start to get a real idea of just how much fighting content the game hides behind its friendly Pokemon exterior. Truth be told, I was blown away by how much there was to learn for each character. There are all sorts of combos to learn, both for on ground and in air. There are special moves tucked away as well, and then there's the whole support character ability. When you combine all this content together, the skillset required to master Pokken Tournament takes some very specific skills. Again, traditional fighting game fans should be able to find plenty to sink their teeth into here.

The real twists that pop up during fights come from both the support characters and the Synergy Gauge. Support characters are other Pokemon that you pick before a fight. They come in pairs and will provide you with unique attack opportunities. These Pokemon allow a one-off move that could turn the tide of battle if used at the right time. They also take different amounts of time after use to charge back up. If you're stuck in a battle where you're getting your ass handed to you, calling in a support Pokemon could really switch up the pace of battle. They may not do a lot of damage, but they can certainly break an opponent's streak and open things up for your own combo.

The Synergy Gauge is much more important to gameplay than the support characters. You fill up the Synergy Gauge by beating the crap out of your opponent. The more you beat them up, the quicker the gauge will fill. When you're filling it up, you'll gain access to the Synergy Burst. This pretty much amps up all aspects of your Pokemon for awhile. Your health, attack, defense all go up and let you really attack your opponent in big ways. This gauge also paves the way for a Burst Attack, which is a super powerful hit you can land that can be the real difference maker in a close fight. Powering up this Synergy Gauge in battle and using it strategically is absolutely an integral part of the experience.

The more fights you take on and win, the more you'll earn experience points. You use these experience points to level up attributes of your character. Again, this comes in the areas you pretty much would expect. You can end up gaining higher attack power, higher defense and other attributes you'll want to take on. It's all about leveling up your character for the type of player you are. If you want a well-rounded character, just keep all levels at an equal value. If you are a player that loves to go on the offense and are quick to avoid attacks, just go for all-out power. Finding the right type of play-style for yourself, the right character to pick from and the right combinations of leveling can really make you a formidable opponent.

My character of choice ended up being Pikachu Libre, which I pretty much expected right from the start. I'm a huge pro-wrestling fan, so how could I NOT go with Pikachu Libre? She ended up playing exactly as I wanted. She's a ridiculously quick character with all sorts of flashy and fancy moves. Her base moveset may not be terribly strong, but Pikachu Libre really excels at chaining together combos. She can fly all around his opponent with very quick speeds, which makes it hard to keep tabs on her. She also does have a few moves that are real powerhouses, but you'll have to get in close and look for the right opportunity to utilize them.

There's an excellent mix of Pokemon and support Pokemon to choose from, each with some unique play-styles. As you'd expect, if you know a thing or two about the Pokemon world, you should be able to surmise how some of these Pokemon will handle in-game. You'll see some signature moves in there, but there will also be attacks that you might not expect. There's also overall speed and maneuverability to work with, which you can only figure out by going hands-on with each Pokemon. Its like any fighting game out there, but your knowledge of Pokemon should be able to give you a leg up at the get-go.

I'm honestly surprised with how much I enjoy Pokken Tournament. Again, I am not a sophisticated fighting game player, but I can definitely see how this game facilitates that kind of play. That said, the game itself is so much fun that it makes me really want to dive deep and learn about how I could potentially take my skills into the tournament scene. I doubt that day will ever come where I could handle myself in a tournament, but I'd like to give it a go sometime! Until then, I'm having a hell of a time just beating up the computer or taking a friend out there for some one-vs-one local multiplayer. It's safe when I can play on the couch and take down other people that don't play fighting games often as well!

I'm quite eager to see how Pokken Tournament goes when its taken into the real-life tournament scene. I know the title will make for some really intense battles to watch. I just hope the players are ready to come to it. I know that Pokemon fans will be there no problem. I just hope to see Tekken fans and other fighting game fans open to checking this title out. It may be hard to get some of those 'core fighter' eyes on the game since it has Pokemon front-and-center, but I'm hoping the attention to detail and deep mechanics will win those people over. From what I can tell, there's certainly enough here to warrant that attention.

Pokken Tournament is a AAA experience through and through. It's not easy to mash up two franchises and have it work seamlessly, but Pokken Tournament certainly comes across that way. For how I play and what I enjoy, Pokken Tournament left me very impressed. Again, I feel that same aspect of appreciation will be there for the players that are hungry for a deeper fighting experience on Wii U. It's obvious to me that that a lot of time, care and effort went into crafting this experience. Where Smash Bros. has had an uphill battle for years to get to the level of tournament respect it has now, Pokken Tournament should be able to garner that much quicker. That said, don't think this game is only for the professionals. Pokken Tournament offers up fun for fighting game fans or Pokemon fans of any age. *online play was not tested for this review, but opinions will be added on that mode at a later date