It seems the 6th of June 2017 is a pretty good day for Pokémon fans given that Pokken Tournament DX for the Switch has just been announced. Not only that but also announced in the same broadcast was Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon versions for the Nintendo 3DS as well as the re-release of classic Game Boy titles; Pokemon Gold & Silver versions. The broadcast took place this afternoon and was presented by Tsunekazu Ishihara from the Pokémon Company. Let's take a closer look at what they have in store for us.

Pokken Tournament DX
A version of Pokken Tournament for the Switch... but with a little more to it than that... 6 new playable Pokémon have been announced including Darkrai, Scizor, Empoleon, Croagunk and Decidueeye. Additionally all characters and support Pokémon will be available right from the start of the game. The new replays feature will enable you to a) watch the battles you lost and see what went wrong and b) upload your best battles for others to watch online. A variety of daily challenges (details tbc) have also been announced.

And it's really great to see a nice focus on multiplayer and competitive play amongst the new features including 3v3 Team battles, ranked online play, 2 player local play on split-screen and the ability to group with your friends for online matches. Pokken Tournament DX will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch with a global release date of September 22nd, 2017. However in the meantime those of us lucky enough to be going to this years E3 Expo on June 13th will get to try out a playable demo version. A day later on the 14th of June the world will see the very first Pokken Tournament DX matches broadcast via livestream direct from E3!



Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon versions
But that's not all we learned from today's Nintendo Direct, Junichi Masuda from Game Freak then dropped the bombshell of two new Pokémon titles for the Nintendo 3DS; Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon versions will be released worldwide for the Nintendo 3DS on November 17th, 2017 (hey did I mention that's pretty close to my birthday). The new titles will have new features which are yet to be announced, new Pokémon (more Alolan forms?) and will be set in the same world as Sun & Moon but with an alternative storyline.



Pokemon Gold & Silver versions coming to 3DS VC.
And they still weren't done... on the same day Pokkén Tournament lands we're also getting Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver released as virtual console titles (using the Game Boy Color graphic set) on the 3DS and they too will be available to purchase September 22nd, 2017 and will be fully compatible with the Pokemon Bank.



Summary
Whilst I like many others would've preferred the first Pokémon title on the Switch to be the online Pokémon open world MMO we've been dying for for years I am still pretty excited by the announcement of proper (with friends) online multiplayer features and ranked matches.

In regards to Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, I've only just finished squeezing everything I could find out of Pokémon Sun so I'd need a bit more than a different story in the same game to build excitement personally but time will tell and I'm sure there will be much more to these new titles than that.

As for Pokemon Silver & Gold with GBC graphics coming to 3DS VC, I'll race you to the front of the queue ;-D and before you go why not check out the trailer for Pokken Tournament DX if you haven't seen it already:-