Capcom), then the game's ties to Pokemon become a bit more tenuous.

If we look beyond the playable fighters (and the cast of supports you can call in a-la Marvel vs. Everything is nailed when it comes to representing the admittedly small cast of characters, and that attention to detail may be enough to win over some Pokemon fans in and of itself. Blaziken damages itself when missing a High Jump Kick. Sceptile can pepper opponents with Bullet Seeds. Gengar can sap an opponent's life with Dream Eater. Each Pokemon in the game moves and attacks as you'd expect them to, and most special moves are modeled after moves that veteran trainers will immediately recognize. I've always had a picture in my head of what the crude battle animations were portraying on my Game Boy, and Pokken realizes those childish thoughts into a fully HD reality. The first time you load into a battle in Pokken Tournament will be a memorable moment if you've played Pokemon since the beginning. This sets the stage for the real-time gameplay of Pokken Tournament, which is the true star of the show. Trainers are organized into four tiers, with tournaments taking place to determine who has the right to battle the leader of each league and get promoted higher up the chain. This small headset device allows trainers to give orders to their creatures faster. Here, instead of a Pokedex, trainers receive a Battle AR.

However, Pokken's Ferrum region hosts its battles a bit differently. Like most Pokemon stories, Pokken Tournament starts with you customizing your up and coming trainer in a brand new region. However, the game's lack of skill in expanding beyond its gameplay betrays Pokken's origins as an arcade original, and makes it feel like a Relicanth compared to its peers. Pokken Tournament is similar, but taking Tekken's action packed fighting system and adding Pocket Monsters is a much more interesting prospect than adapting a different flavor of RPG. The game shines based on that gameplay, and it's truly exciting to see a different side to Pokemon battles after twenty years. Most of them (like Pokemon Conquest and Mystery Dungeon) are existing gameplay systems with Pokemon's cast of monsters spliced in. Spin-offs of Nintendo's long running Pokemon franchise tend to be a bit safe.

All pokemon in pokken tournament