By Rob Dolen
staff writer
“Pokken Tournament” is the true Pokemon fighting game that fans of the series have been dreaming of and waiting for years to play.
After a marriage of The Pokemon Company and Bandai Namco, the developers of the Tekken fighting game series, the two have created a surprisingly complex fighting game applicable to both veterans of fighting games and newcomers as well.
“Pokken Tournament” follows the tradition of the Pokemon series by putting the player in the shoes of a budding new trainer who wishes to become the master Pokemon trainer of the Ferrum League.
In the beginning, the player chooses their Pokemon between the 14 fighters available. Each fighter fits into a certain archetype: standard, speed, power or technical fighters. The only difference is that “Pokken” doesn’t incorporate how certain elements can beat others, such as fire beats grass or lightning beats water.
Each fight is a one-on-one battle between two Pokemon in multiple lore-friendly environments based on the series. Graphically, the arenas are glossy and underdeveloped in order to devote the artistic focus on the Pokemon themselves. The Pokemon models look great and the move-sets look flashy and powerful. Despite some minor details, “Pokken Tournament” definitely pushes the boundaries of what the Wii U is graphically capable.
Battles in “Pokken Tournament” are grounded by the Attack Triangle concept: Normal attacks beat grabs, grabs beat counterattacks, counterattacks beat normal attacks and vice versa.
All battles begin in the wide-open Field Phase, where each opponent attempts to approach one another and break their initial defense. Once an opponent has broken through Field Phase, the two fighters enter Duel Phase, where close quarters combat deals the most damage.
Though a little complicated at first, “Pokken” has a basic tutorial as well as advanced tutorials that explain these concepts in an easily-understandable manner. The player can take advantage of a multitude of different combos, projectiles, mix-ups, grabs, attacks and special moves in order to defeat the enemy and win the fight.
The player also has support Pokemon that can be used to either attack the enemy Pokemon or buff the player’s Pokemon with stat enhancements. As the player’s Pokemon takes damage or racks up damage on the opponent, the Synergy gauge charges and at full charge unlocks the Synergy Burst. Synergy Burst is a super attack that can deal out a ton of damage on the opponent and can easily turn the tide of battle.
Pokemon level up as they fight league battles and with each level up, the player can allocate one skill point towards their stats: Attack points increase offensive strength, defense points decreases damage taken from hits and boosts block, Synergy points boost the Pokemon’s Synergy Burst and Strategy shortens the recovery time for support Pokemon.
Despite “Pokken Tournament” being extremely well-balanced, one criticism is that the fighter count is relatively small, considering the hundreds of Pokemon in the series universe. Disregarding the idea of DLC characters, “Pokken Tournament” has a slightly modest roster for such a wide-spanning universe full of variety.
Overall “Pokken Tournament” is a great fighting game both for fighting game aficionados and Pokemon-lovers alike.