IGN:
I can't deny it: when I Splatoon was unveiled at E3 last year, I found it hard to match the enthusiasm shown by much of Nintendo's faithful. Without getting my hands on it, the concept sounded novel...perhaps a little too novel. But now that I've played it, and seen how immediately fun, and deceptively smart Platoon is, I can understand why people were so excited, and why there was a 2+ hour wait time to play it on the show floor.
Nintendo has recently restored Wii U Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon online after five months of being offline.
Game Rant Writes "Mar10 Day is a fun yearly celebration of the Super Mario series, and Splatoon may warrant a fan-designated day of celebration in its own right."
How, exactly, did Splatoon reach heights rivalled only by Pokémon in Japan? New IPs from the House of Mario appear as often as shiny Pocket Monsters, yet typically move comparatively mediocre numbers or fall into relative obscurity behind the premium marques of Mario, Animal Crossing, Zelda, and Pokémon. Take Pikmin and ARMS, for example, which we adore but struggle to compete with the tentpole franchises when it comes to sales numbers or mainstream mindshare.
So, again, how has Splatoon risen to become one of Nintendo's most important series in Japan?