Skip to main content

Pokemon fighting game Pokken Tournament launches in March

Pokemon fighting game Pokken Tournament launches in March

Share this story

Pokken Tournament is almost here. Nintendo announced today that the fighting game, which pits characters from the Pokemon franchise against one another, will be available on the Wii U on March 18th.

Pokken Tournament was originally only available in Japanese arcades, but Nintendo announced plans to bring it to its home console last August. Those who are able to snag a copy of the game from its initial print run will also get an NFC-enabled Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card, which lets you unlock the character by scanning the card. Though published by Nintendo, Pokken Tournament is being developed by Bandai Namco, the company behind popular fighting game series like Tekken and Soulcalibur.

The game is one of several new releases from the franchise coming in 2016. Next month will see the digital re-release of the original Game Boy Pokemon games on the Nintendo 3DS, and later this year the series will make its debut on mobile with the augmented reality game Pokemon Go. 2016 marks the 20th anniversary for the franchise, and The Pokemon Company is celebrating with more than just games: there will also be a Pokemon commercial airing during the Super Bowl this year, and a Pokemon Red and Blue-themed New Nintendo 3DS bundle launching in February.