Super Mario Party

The infamous ruiner of friendships debuts for the Nintendo Switch. Super Mario Party takes the more traditional approach to the series’ formula, introducing new mini-games, some with motion controls, and a new mode called Partner Party where teams of two can work together. There’s even a mode called Toad’s Rec Room where multiple Switches can be combined for gameplay across multiple screens. Super Mario Party captures the amazing feeling of losing to never-ending nonsense, which may or may not be your definition of a good time.

Owlboy

D-Pad Studio’s Owlboy first released in 2016 following years and years of development. Its charming art-style and believable characterization meshed well with the quasi-Metroidvania platforming it had to offer. Playing as Otis and flying through the skies to battle pirates and learn the truth about the world may not have been revolutionary but it’s utterly amazing adventure all the same.

It seems like every single first party game on the Nintendo Switch has greatly benefitted from the general upsurge in customer spending among owners of that platform. Another game to do so is Pokken Tournament DX, which has sold 1.13 million units in North America and Europe, and 250,000 units in Japan- bringing the total sales of the game to 1.3 million, and exceeding the lifetime sales of the Wii U version of the game in their entirety.

Pokken was another one of the Wii U games that was ported to the Switch. The Switch game came with additional modes and characters, as well as post launch support in the form of DLC, and of course, support for the Switch’s spontaneous multiplayer capabilities. It is no wonder it is a game that has managed to do well, in spite of being a relatively niche 3D fighter- well, all that, plus it’s, you know, Pokemon.

Pokken Tournament DX is available now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

The second wave of DLC for Nintendo and The Pokemon Company’s Pokken Tournament DX, the excellent 3D fighter starring Pokemon duking it out, made by the creators of Tekken, will star Blastoise. Blastoise, of course, is the beloved final evolution of water starter Kanto, and Charizard’s counterpart. While Charizard had been in Pokken to begin with, Blastoise fans had been left out in the cold. That injustice has been addressed with this new DLC.

You can check out a brand new trailer showcasing Blastoise, and how he will fight, for yourself below. The DLC will also add Mew and Celebi (of all Pokemon) to act as Assist Pokemon in battle- so, I mean, there’s that.

Pokken Tournament originally launched in arcades, before getting a Wii U release. It subsequently also got a release on the Switch last year, complete with new content and characters (as well as the new DLC, now).

Perennially underrated Pokken Tournament DX, the Switch port of the Wii U 3D fighter based on the Pokemon series, is apparently doing well enough on the Switch that Bandai Namco and The Pokemon Company are going to keep supporting it with new content.

This morning in the Nintendo Direct Mini, it was announced that the game will be getting some brand new fighters and support Pokemon as DLC. The new Pokemon being added include Blastoise and Aegislash, with fan favorite Mimikyu being one of the many who will be aded as support Pokemon.

Aegislash will be playable in the first DLC pack that comes by the end of this moth, while Blastoise is coming on March 23. You’ll have to buy the DLC packs, and you can’t get them separately- they will set you back by $15 put together- which is a bit pricey, but I suppose there is a fair bit of content here. Pokken Tournament DX is out now exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo of America has shared a list of the most played Nintendo Switch games in 2017 in North America, and it seems like, as everyone may have expected, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild tops the chart on this front.

Zelda aside, this is a marvelously diverse chart, with a healthy representation of first party games, third party games, and indie games, and it seems to indicate that the Switch audience is a vibrant, engaged one, and all publishers can find success here. Of interesting note here is the performance of Stardew Valley and Skyrim, two third party games that have done very well on the platform (as has Minecraft), the shockingly high ranking of NBA, and the relatively lower ranking of FIFA (indicating Switch owners want ports on par with the competition on their platform), and Rocket League managing to edge its way on to the chart in spite of launching in the middle of December.

You can check out the full list for yourself below- I wonder what the final list for 2018 will look like.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2. Super Mario Odyssey
3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
4. Splatoon 2
5. Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition
6. Stardew Valley
7. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
8. ARMS
9. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
10. The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+
11. NBA 2K18
12. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for Nintendo Switch
13. Fire Emblem Warriors
14. Lego City Undercover
15. Sonic Mania
16. Pokkén Tournament DX
17. 1-2-Switch
18. FIFA 18
19. Disgaea 5 Complete
20. Rocket League

Pokken Tournament DX has become the latest game on the Nintendo Switch to get support for video recording, thanks to its new update, which just enabled that feature. This makes the game the latest to join an ever growing list of Switch games to support the functionality, including Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, Splatoon 2, and 1-2-Switch.

Video recording is not the only thing the new update adds, either- you can now also play Team Battles online (this feature was previously restricted only to local multiplayer), and group matches have also been added. A new training feature has also been added- you can record movements in training, and then play as another Pokemon against your own recorded movements. That’s actually fantastic functionality.

Pokken Tournament originally launched on the Wii U early last year; it launched, with additional content, on the Nintendo Switch in September this year.

The newest Media Create numbers for video game hardware and software sales in Japan are now out, and the Nintendo Switch has once again topped the charts on the hardware front, selling 43,400 units last week. The PS4 holds its healthy second place position, with almost 24,000 units sold, while the 3DS brings up the top three, with a little over 19,000 units sold.

Over on the software front, Pokken Tournament DX topped the charts with 53,000 units sold- much like in the UK, it ended up severely outperforming Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite, which debuted at a dismal eighth place, with less than 10,000 units sold last week. This, amusingly enough, makes Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite the second Capcom fighter that has been unexpectedly trounced by Pokken this generation (last year, Street Fighter 5 was similarly outsold by the Wii U version of Pokken).

With major games such as Super Mario Odyssey and Monster Hunter World due out in the coming months, the Japanese market will hopefully continue to exhibit this level of healthiness, especially now that we have three healthy platforms there.

[via NeoGAF]

Even if its dedicated fan base bemoans the lack of an end-game, Bungie’s Destiny 2 is still selling strong in the UK as per the latest Gfk Chart-Track data. The first person shooter is in first place for sales and has shown no intention of dropping out, even with high profile launches for the past weeks.

On such release is Slightly Mad Studios’ Project CARS 2 which debuts at second place. It’s followed by NBA 2K18, which is embroiled in controversies related to microtransactions, in third place. Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 finds itself in fourth place even as its more famous rival FIFA 18 releases on September 29th.

Pokken Tournament DX for the Nintendo Switch arrived strong at fifth place followed by Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Forza Horizon 3. LEGO Worlds, strangely enough, rounded off the top ten charts.

Sadly, Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite only managed to debut at 12th despite a fair amount of hype behind it. Then again, these charts only factor physical retail data and not digital sales.

This means that much of what the Wii U original (well, I say Wii U original, but before even hitting Nintendo’s previous troubled console, the game was out in arcades) did well, Pokken Tournament DX does well, too- the game still has great, thrilling Pokemon battles that are a feast for the eyes, and a joy to play due to some unusual and top notch fighting mechanics, it still boasts a surprisingly full featured suite of online functionality, and it manages to be deceptively deep, ensnaring new players with what seem to be easy pick up and play mechanics before revealing a world of depth underneath.

Along the way, a lot of the original game’s problems have been addressed by Pokken Tournament DX, too- local multiplayer, which was thoroughly compromised in the original game, has been addressed effectively with the new release (which makes sense, given that the Switch lends itself exceptionally well to inpromptu multiplayer sessions, after all), additional Pokemon have been added to the roster, and new battle types, including 3v3 battles, have been introduced to the game.

"It brings the same kinetic, frenetic real time Pokemon battling action that series fans around the world have doubtless wanted in a game since they first discovered the anime."

Consequently, Pokken Tournament DX plays out much like last year’s Wii U iteration- battles take place with a unique over-the-shoulder style camera angle, in something called the ‘Field Phase’, where you are free to move on the entire battlefield, and still free to land blows- in this phase, movement plays a bigger role, and it is easier for you to plan alternate attacks (or escape blows aimed at you by the opponent). Once you corner your quarry, the camera angle shifts to being side on, like a traditional fighting game. Movement range is now limited, but all attacks hit that much harder.

That apart, the attack triangle- counter attacks, grab attacks, and physical attacks- as well as mechanics such as Synergy (which is a gauge noting the bond between you and your Pokemon, and lets you unleash a devastating special) and Support (letting you call a partner Pokemon on the field as backup to bestow some advantage on you, and/or some disadvantage on the opposing Pokemon), are all in here, intact.

As a matter of fact, they can be a lot to keep track of- surprisingly, Pokken Tournament DX is a hugely complex game, and it doesn’t try to ease players into its mechanics, either. There’s a lot going on that can mystify even fighting game veterans if they are not familiar with Pokken. Happily, Pokken features a hell of a tutorial mode, that slowly and painstakingly walks players through the basics and intricacies of its mechanics, also having you practice everything that you learn, so that you are familiar with its depth. More traditional tutorials, including ones where you can have dummy opponents while you try combos and moves out, are also available. Pokken makes it very easy for players to come to grips with its eccentricities, that is for sure.

As previous mentioned, it also addresses the original game’s problems- the roster in the original game, while reasonably varied, was still limited to 16 Pokemon, including some unusual choices. The new game has 5 new Pokemon over the Wii U one – four from the arcade release, and one brand new (Decidueye, from last year’s Pokemon Sun/Moon). Local multiplayer was a tricky issue in the original, but it’s handled reasonably well in this year’s release, with split screen support, and even support for to players with individual Joycons. Online play seemed to hold up reasonably well, too, and that, along with the local multiplayer, should keep players returning to the game for a long time- especially with the addition of the 3v3 battles, which should mix things up even for fans of the Wii U game.

"Pokemon have never looked better, nor have they ever been rendered with this much detail. Throw in some spectacular looking attacks, as well as a general, if modest, graphical bump over the Wii U version, and you are left with a rather sharp looking game on your hands, indeed."

The one area where Pokken doesn’t represent an improvement on the Wii U original game is the single player content- it was a bit sparing in the original, and so it is here. While Pokken fares better in that regard than competing fighters like Tekken, Street Fighter, or even ARMS, next to single player content behemoths like Injustice 2 (which launched this year), or Nintendo’s own Smash Bros. series, it comes as a bit of a disappointment.

What isn’t a disappointment is how gorgeous the game looks. Pokemon have never looked better, nor have they ever been rendered with this much detail. Throw in some spectacular looking attacks, as well as a general, if modest, graphical bump over the Wii U version, and you are left with a rather sharp looking game on your hands, indeed.

The Nintendo Switch has already established itself as the console to go to for great multiplayer games- it’s only six months old, and you can already pick up ARMS, Splatoon 2, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on it. Pokken Tournament DX is another fine addition. While it is almost by necessity a bit more obtuse than the easygoing nature of the other three games, it’s not any less of a game for that, and should you get into it, will last you for a very long time to come, with some compelling, top tier gameplay.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.