Pokken Tournament is an upcoming fighting game being developed by Bandai Namco, the same company behind the Soul Calibur and Tekken series. In the upcoming title, players can fight as some of the most popular Pokemon characterss. Nintendo is hoping that the spin-off Pokemon fighter will catch on as it will be a part of this year’s EVO competitive fighting game event. If you are planning to play Pokken Tournament competitively, we suggest picking up an Ethernet LAN Adapter to get the best multiplayer experience.
Pokken Tournament Multiplayer Modes
Along with a single player mode (which you can fight against a computer-controlled opponent in three difficulty settings), Pokken Tournament comes with several multiplayer modes.
One of which is local battle. Unlike most fighting games, the action in a one versus one fight won’t be display on a single screen. Instead, both players get to play the game from their own perspectives as the camera is centered on the back side of the Pokemon instead of a side view.
As a result, the first player will have to use the Wii U Gamepad to view the fight from his or her perspective. The second player will get to see his or her perspective via the television screen and will have to play by either using a Wii U Pro Controller, Classic Controller Pro or the Hori Limited Edition Pokken Tournament Pro Pad. While the game normally runs at 60 frames per second, local battles are limited to 30.
Fortunately, there is a way to play locally at 60 frames per second thanks to the inclusion of LAN play. By connecting two Wii U consoles together with a LAN cable, you will be able to play the game on different television sets. In this setting, both players will be able to use any of the compatible controllers (the aforementioned Wii U Gamepad Pro in addition to the Wii U Pro Controller, Classic Controller Pro and the Hori Pro Pad Limited Edition Pokken Tournament).
Of course, the game will also feature online battles. In this mode, players will be able to compete in friendly or rank matches. In friendly matches, you can fight against others, included those with registered friend codes on your account as well as players who have the same VS code as you, in non-competitive matches. For rank, you can earn rank points based on your the results of your matches with competing challengers. In online battles, the game will run at 60 frames per second.
As you can see above, LAN and online play are the best options in terms of multiplayer for Pokken Tournament. In order to play LAN games, you will need to connect the Wii U via a wired Ethernet cable. Not to mention that using a wired connection is better than a wireless one when it comes to playing online, especially in a fighting game.
Recommended Wii U Ethernet LAN Adapters
Unfortunately, the Wii U does not come equipped with an Ethernet port as it only supports Wi-Fi out of the box. So you will need to buy one separately. The good news is that there are relative cheap and quality adapters available. You can find our list of recommended Wii U compatible Ethernet LAN adapters below:
- HDE Ethernet LAN Adapter
- Plugable USB 2.0 to 10/100 Fast Ethernet LAN Wired Network Adapter
- UtechSmart USB 2.0 to 10/100 Fast Ethernet LAN Wired Network Adapter
Pokken Tournament will be released exclusively for the Wii U home console on the 18th of March in the North American region. If you are planning to play multiplayer, via LAN and/or online, make sure you check out the above mentioned compatible Wii U Ethernet LAN Adapters if you haven’t done so already.