Fans of Pokemon rejoice! The limited edition Wii U Controller for “Pokken Tournament” is scheduled for US release in March 2016.
A pre-order listing at Amazon confirms imminent US arrival of Wii U controller for “Pokken Tournament.” The “Pokken Tournament” Pro Pad Limited Edition Controller for Nintendo Wii U listing confirms March 18 as the US release date.
The Wii U Controller is designed by HORI, who also designed the official “Pokken Tournament” arcade cabinet controller. The controller is designed to mimic the official arcade cabinet.
The controller is designed exclusively for “Pokken Tournament” (it may not work well with other games). It hopes to minimize learning for players not used to arcade joysticks and other technicalities of games in action and fighting genre. The button layout is optimized, with front facing ZL and ZR buttons.
Wii U controller is priced at $24.99 on Amazon US and is available for pre-order. The price tag, however, does not include the Pokken Tournament Software.
However, “Pokken Tournament” does not mandate a dedicated controller to play the game. The Wii U version of “Pokken Tournament” will support the GamePad, Wii U Pro Controller and Wii Classic Controller Pro.
“Pokken Tournament” is an arcade fighting game based on the highly popular Japanese Pokemon franchise. The game is developed with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, Inc., the producers of the hugely popular “Tekken” series. It involves two players battling against each other with various Pokemon. It was released for Japanese arcades as early as June 2015. The world-wide release will be done through Nintendo’s Wii U Controller.
Similar to the controller, “Pokken Tournament” is also designed so players not used to arcade games do not have steep learning curve. “Pokken Tournament” also deviates from traditional “Tekken” style by focusing more on action rather than technical gameplay.
“Pokken Tournament” currently includes eleven characters – Lucario, Machamp, Suicune, Gardevoir, Pikachu, Gengar, Weavile, Charizard, Blaziken, Sceptile, and Pikachu Libre. The players can perform various techniques taken from the Pokémon series, such as special moves and Mega Evolutions (which can be built up from attacks using a Resonance Gauge). Characters in the game appear more life-like with high quality, smooth graphics.