2019 is shaping up to be a bumper year for Pokémon, with Detective Pikachu getting a warm reception, Pokémon Sword and Shield set to be the big game of the holiday season and Pokémon GO continuing to rake in huge money. Apparently, conscious that mobile gamers are hungry for all things Pokémon, The Pokémon Company announced earlier today that Pokémon Rumble Rush will be hitting smartphones very soon.
The “free-to-start” (bit ominous that) game is a fighting title in which you attempt to knock the stuffing out of various other Pokémon with your own. It’ll be just the latest in a long line of Rumble Rush games, with the original Pokémon Rumble being a downloadable Nintendo Wii title, two 3DS sequels (Super Pokémon Rumble, Pokémon Rumble World) and a Wii U version (Pokémon Rumble U). They were all fairly warmly received, too, with special note being taken of everyone’s favorite creatures being redesigned in a new ‘chibi’ style, which makes them even cuter than they already are.
While this might seem like an unexpected announcement, those with good memories will recall that this mobile title was announced way back in 2017. At the time, it was known as Pokéland, but since its reveal we hadn’t heard anything about it until today’s resurrection. While there’s no concrete release date for iOS or Android, the game’s already out in Australia, so if you simply change your phone’s region settings you can download it right away.
This soft launch is likely a last-minute affair to iron out any bugs (bug-type Pokémon excepted, of course), so expect it to get a full release sometime over the next few weeks. I doubt it’ll unseat the mighty Pokémon GO, but it at least looks like an interesting diversion that might while away a boring lunch break or two.
