Pokken Tournament Will Have All The Multiplayer You Want

Pokken Tournament release date news just got even better–the multiplayer options sound GREAT.

So, Pokken Tournament releases worldwide on March 18, 2016 for the Wii U. Given that the game started as an arcade machine title, you’d expect there to be some decent multiplayer options here, right? Good news. Nintendo seems to have learned from their mistakes with Mario Tennis (no online play with friends) and Splatoon (no local multiplayer beyond a dull minigame), and given Pokken Tournament all the multiplayer capabilities you could ever want.

The game modes for Pokken Tournament, as reported by Serebii, start with a Single Battle mode with three different levels of difficulty if you’re playing solo. The second is the local battle, which we knew about. One player uses the Gamepad, viewing the game from the built-in screen, and the other player uses a controller and the TV screen. The game runs at 30 fps instead of 60 fps in this mode, due to the need for each player to have his or her own perspective and one of those perspectives being downgraded into the Gamepad.

Next, there is Online Mode. Online Mode is a multiplayer battle that can be used to play against friends or total strangers. There are Friendly Matches, and Ranked for those who would like to compete. Finally, two local Wii Us can be used in multiplayer to play against one another using a LAN adapter and an ethernet cable, a setup that will surely be ideal for tournaments in the future.

All this, and don’t forget the fancy arcade controller promised for release along with the game itself. Pokken Tournament is certainly on its way with all the bells and whistles–hope it lives up to the hype!