Nintendo has been known for many things over the decades, but if there’s a single trait at the core of the company’s identity, it’s innovation. With each console, Nintendo continues to reimagine not only its own franchises, but entire genres, and nothing is more indicative of that practice than Splatoon.
While shooters have long had a place on Nintendo’s systems (just think of GoldenEye 007), we’d never seen a big, ambitious shooter from the company itself. But 10 years ago, Splatoon innovated in a genre that had become stale and repetitive. Splatoon has since become one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, and even inspired a handful of its own imitators, arguably making it one of the developer’s most important games.
The beauty of Splatoon lies in its simplicity. Yes, it’s a shooting game, but it’s a game where shooting other players isn’t the objective, which makes it family-friendly and easy for any player, of any age, to understand. Instead, Splatoon made painting the map with your team’s ink the goal of a match. That brilliant change in focus makes Splatoon shine where other shooters falter, and it’s effective for more than one reason.
Visually, the focus on spraying ink gives Splatoon a unique identity that loops back into the gameplay mechanics. Players don’t need to worry about headshots, points, or any other stats: you can simply look at the ground and see how your team’s faring. It’s a simple formula that’s easy to read and understand.
This also makes Splatoon far more approachable than something like Call of Duty or Battlefield. While skilled players can still excel, anyone can contribute to their team’s success. It’s perfectly valid to just shoot the floor while ignoring every other player, but those who crave a PvP experience can go toe-to-toe with the enemy team to keep them constantly respawning. There’s no wrong way to play Splatoon, which is an incredible feat for a shooter.
But what really made Splatoon soar to new heights is its focus on story and worldbuilding, something few other shooters have done effectively. It had enough substance to stand on its own as a competitive multiplayer game, but Nintendo doubled down on Splatoon’s world and vibe, laying cryptic hints about the game taking place in a post-apocalyptic, post-human world.
Splatoon also had a substantial single-player campaign that fused the shooting with Mario-esque platforming to create something distinct. This, in turn, fed into the game’s eclectic personality and tone. This is the only shooter where you can learn about the world’s bizarre history, blast friends away in a multiplayer match, then watch a pair of squid-like pop idols put on a catchy concert in a language you can’t understand.
Splatoon is the clearest example we’ve had in decades of Nintendo’s ingenuity, its tendency to not just complacently follow trends, but set them. Games like Ninjala and Foamstars have tried to capitalize on the formula, but nothing has come close. Splatoon felt like such a natural addition to Nintendo’s catalogue that it’s weird to think that it’s only 10 years old. It’s one of Nintendo’s most innovative and pivotal games, and while it suffered for being on the poorly selling Wii U, it established a new franchise and helped Nintendo forge ahead into both multiplayer and live-service games, something that will continue to be vital on the Switch 2.
