Pokémon fighting game Pokken Tournament coming to Wii U in spring 2016

BOSTON — The Pokémon Company announced that Pokken Tournament, the Bandai Namco-developed fighting game spinoff, would be coming to the Wii U in Spring 2016. Initially released in Japan as an arcade game last month, Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara confirmed it would be coming to the Nintendo console next year.

As should be apparent from the name, Pokken Tournament takes its mechanical inspirations from Tekken series, but as Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada and Masaaki Hoshino explained, the game is designed with both new players and Pokemon fans in mind, which was immediately clear as the trailer closed by showing off Lucha Pikachu performing a massive body slam.

I’m playing the arcade version today, so I’ll have impressions soon.