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My 9-year-old told me he already wants to buy it. But he’s still playing Splatoon 2, happily ranking up, while I play bits of Splatoon 3 right next to him. One of Nintendo’s biggest in-house Switch games of the holidays this year is a sequel that isn’t necessarily something you need to buy. It feels like a new season of a beloved sport, as opposed to a whole new sport.
Too soon, I almost wondered? No way: Splatoon 2 came out five years ago, which kind of shocked me. But in Nintendo years, Splatoon 3 feels early. Mario Kart 8 has lived in repeating iterations since it emerged on the Wii U eight years ago (and still sells for $45), although new tracks have kept it alive. Splatoon 2 could easily have taken that path instead, launching new DLC modes that could have let it live on for years more. But, Splatoon 3 is here, regardless. (It goes on sale this Friday, Sept. 9.)
What I’m saying is that Splatoon 2 is still a really great game, and playing Splatoon 3 doesn’t really feel all that tremendously different. Multiplayer battles have largely the same mechanics, with a few new moves, new weapons and new stages. Turf War, the classic battle where your percentage of the paint-splattered stage determines the win, is still wonderful, and still similar. Anarchy Battles (which I didn’t get to try yet prerelease; my online connection acted up) have four different modes to lend more esports flavor to the competition. Salmon Run, a co-op survival game against waves of enemies, is now an always-available mode instead of the sometimes-around oddity it was on Splatoon 2.
There’s also a tiny and fun collectible card game in Splatoon 3 that I’m weirdly into, called Tableturf Battle.
