I’ve already written about Pokken Tournament for Game Zone, so I’ll keep this brief. Pokken Tournament is what the fighting game genre and community has needed for over a decade: A great entry point.

Pokken Tournament is a simple game, with extremely low execution barriers for all the basic techniques and combos. It has a unique gimmick in the field/duel phase mechanic, but underneath it all it’s secretly a great fighting game. It’s just disguised as a dream game that brings “real” Pokemon battles to life. The kind of battles we wanted after seeing the anime, not the turn based battles the games use.

The simplicity of Pokken Tournament means players don’t have to spend time learning how to do moves, and instead go straight to learning how to use moves. This let’s them play “the real game” part of fighting games, player vs. player, with more success than a game like Street Fighter IV. Players can more easily learn about zoning, priorities, punishes, etc.

Bandai Namco has opened the genre to beginners with a game that has the greatest built in hook for new blood that the fighting genre has ever seen in Pokemon battles. Pokken Tournament comes in at #2, right behind Fire Emblem Fates. Needless to say, it earns my Seal of Awesome Approval.

Game Rankings 2016:

1. Fire Emblem Fates (link)
2. Pokken Tournament
3. Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam (link)
4. Gravity Rush HD (link)
5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (link)
6. Final Fantasy Explorers (link)

Games in Blue have received the Seal of Awesome Approval.

Games in Red have received the Seal of Dour Disapproval.