Pokemon Pokken Tournament Not Tekken

Despite the fact that many gamers saw it coming, the reveal of Pokemon-focused fighting game was a welcome one to fans that have been waiting quite some time for traditional beat 'em up iteration of the series. Even though the new title, officially branded Pokken Tournament, has only been confirmed for release in Japanese arcades next year, gamers are still understandably excited by the possibility of the game arriving on Wii U at some point down the line.

The Pokemon Company has already announced that Bandai Namco is developing the project, with the likes of Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada and Soul Calibur producer Masaki Hoshino both firmly behind the helm. The talent of both veteran developers is enough to instil confidence amongst fans in the forthcoming software, but many have been wondering if the final product will more or less equate to Tekken with Pokemon characters.

According to recent tweets from Harada, however, this won't at all be the case.

Instead of slapping Pocket Monster skins on Tekken characters and calling it a day, the mechanics of Pokken Tournament will be altered in order to accommodate a wide range of different monsters. This will be done by eliminating the standard high/mid/low blocking system – allowing for a wide range of popular creatures to get in on the action regardless of size.

"As we're making a Pokemon fighting action battle game, I've already touched on this while on the livestream, but in this game there will not be a high/mid/low guard system mechanic. Instead, we're planning to include a new type of [mechanic]..."

"Technologically-speaking, we shouldn't face any problems in implementing whatever Pokemon we want. In terms of the system mechanics, we'll be looking at what fans would want, so please rest assured."

Pokemon Pokken Fighters Lucario

Eliminating the need to block at the three aforementioned areas makes it easier for the developers to add any Pokemon they desire, but it also makes the core combat mechanics easier to pickup for casual fight fans. This will come as good news to those who feared that only humanoid Fighting-types would be occupying the roster and means that smaller combatants like Pikachu could conceivably stand toe-to-toe with giants like Onyx.

It'll be interesting to see which characters make the roster in Pokken Tournament, and just how many of the over 700 mascots will be represented. That said, gamers shouldn't expect any Tekken mainstays to make a cameo though, as Harada has already stated that those fighters "will not be making an appearance."

The new Pokemon fighting title will likely make its way to Wii U in the future, so stay tuned to Game Rant for more updates on Pokken Tournament.

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Pokken Tournament is set to arrive in Japanese arcades in 2015.

Follow Riley on Twitter @TheRileyLittle for more news on Pokemon, as well as everything else in gaming.

Source: Katsuhiro Harada – Twitter, Event Hubs (via Polygon)