Bandai Namco and The Pokemon Company have just launched the arcade version of Pokkén Tournament and confirmed that Blaziken will be joining the showdown soon.
Pokkén Tournament went live on Thursday in arcades in Japan, but the Pokemon fighting game will slowly deliver more fighters as it rolls out to more regions and more platforms.
Blaziken, a fire type that first appeared in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, will be the first post-launch character to be added to the game.
So far, the playable cast of characters includes Charizard, Gardevoir, Gengar, Lucario, Machamp, Suicune, Weavile and Pikachu. The list of backup characters, summoned via the "L" button, include Emolga, Lapras, Snivy, Frogadier, Eevee and Fennekin.
Pokkén Tournament's game modes include tutorial, single player and online versus. In its multiplayer mode, gamers can battle other players in Japan via the arcade machines' Internet connection.
In the future, on an unspecified date, Pokkén Tournament will be available on one or more Nintendo consoles. The Wii U is a solid bet to receive the game, as Nintendo doesn't even plan to discuss its next console for 2016, but hey, maybe Pokkén Tournamet will be a solid launch title for the Nintendo NX.
Right now, The Pokemon Company and Bandai Namco are busy pushing Pokkén Tournament as its own experience, working to break the understandable perception that the game is a Tekken game with fighters cosplaying as Pokemon characters.
Pokkén Tournament producer Katsuhiro Harada, who served as producer for the Tekken series, stressed the unique elements of the game's identity during an interview.
"It's a solid versus game, but at its core, it's an action game for Pokémon fans," said Harada (via Kotaku). "The tech to make the game and the know how behind the massive amount of animations comes from our experience working on the games we've made before, but with the gameplay, we've set our sights on Pokémon fans."
Harada said Pokkén Tournament's development focused on meeting the needs of Pokemon fans first, rather than seeking to please fighting fans.
As far as gameplay, "we've set our sights on Pokémon fans," said Harada.
Watch Blaziken show off his moves in the video below:
