Nintendo held its very first Pokemon Direct briefing with news about the Switch console. And it’s not the news that people were waiting to hear. Instead of the rumoured Pokemon Stars, Switch owners will have to look forward to Pokken Tournament DX.
Pokken is a largely forgotten title that turns the Pokemon franchise into a fighting game. The name itself is a riff on the Tekken series, although the gameplay offers a much bigger arena and faster action. The bad news here is that this does not look like a new version of Pokken. In fact, it looks suspiciously like a port of the WiiU version of the game. Still, there will be an additional five Pokemon added to the starting lineup, which isn’t too bad for a port.
A huge portion of the announcement video ended up dedicated to Pokken, but there was still time to announce Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon for the 3DS. These titles indicate that the actual Pokemon games are still very much 3DS exclusive. Few other details were shared, aside from the fact that the new game is an alternate timeline for Pokemon Sun and Moon.
The last revelation is that Pokemon Gold and Silver will be appearing on the 3DS for the Nintendo virtual console. These are the original second generation games from 1999, and not the updated Heart Gold and Soul Silver versions. They are, however, compatible with the Pokemon Bank.
Pokken and Pokemon Gold/Silver will be appearing on 22 September, while Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will be released in November.
