Unfortunately for fans, Pokémon Stars seems more like a rumor than a legitimate game.
The official Pokémon YouTube channel held a surprise Pokémon Direct on June 6, discussing a Nintendo Switch port for Pokkén Tournament named Pokkén Tournament DX, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon remakes Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon and Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver becoming available for the Virtual Console.
The new updates coming to Pokkén Tournament DX include new Pokémon, three versus three team battles, ranked matches, friendly matches, and group matches (where you can battle against several of your friends in a private match). The five new Pokémon available for Pokkén Tournament DX include Darkrai, Scizor, Empoleon, Croagunk, and Decidueye, who is from the most recent Pokémon series Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.
The game will be available September 22 of this year, and will be a playable demo at Nintendo’s Treehouse Live event at E3 2017. Also, an invitational for Pokkén Tournament will be held at E3 on June 14 and will be live streamed, so that players around the world can get a glimpse at this new title.
“We are really giving it (Pokkén Tournament) the ‘deluxe’ treatment,” said Tsunekazu Ishihara, the president of The Pokémon Company.
On the other hand, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon will offer another story different to the original games, and will display Pokémon not shown in Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon. Also, it seems that there will be “ultra” versions of the games main legendary Pokémon, Solgaleo and Lunala. It will be available for the Nintendo 3DS on November 17 of this year.
“New features will allow you to enjoy your adventure even more, making this (Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon) truly an ‘ultra’ title,” said Junichi Masuda a video game designer, director, composer, producer and programmer who has found success in leading the Pokémon franchise.
The final games discussed in the Pokémon Direct were Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver receiving a Virtual Console Nintendo 3DS release. They will also be available on September 22 of this year.
The Virtual Console is a special Nintendo store that offers retro Nintendo titles only previously offered on older consoles. The Virtual Console Games store can be found here, on the official Nintendo website.
“With these Virtual Console releases, we have recaptured all the fun of those original Gameboy Color games,” said Masuda.
The games will be compatible with Pokémon Bank, a service which allows players to store and transfer their Pokémon using the internet. This means that players can transfer whatever Pokémon they have caught in the Virtual Console version of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver and transfer them to the Pokémon Bank and use them in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.
“We hope you look forward to reliving the excitement all over again,” said Masuda.
Many players were expecting this Pokémon Direct to announce Pokémon Stars, a rumored Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon Nintendo Switch port. Though, the Pokémon Direct said that Pokkén Tournament DX will be the first Pokémon game available on the Nintendo Switch, so players shouldn’t be completely discouraged yet.
The Pokémon Direct doesn’t seem to be getting a ton of positivity, receiving over 5,000 dislikes in comparison to 23,000 likes on the official Nintendo YouTube channel. Many fans referred to the Pokémon Direct as a “waste of time” and “disappointing,” so hopefully The Pokémon Company and Game Freak will be able to step up to the plate the next Pokémon Direct.
Official trailers for Pokkén Tournament, Pokémon Ultra Sun/Pokémon Ultra Moon and the Virtual Console version of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver are available for viewing on the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.
