Comparing all three Splatoon games against each other – series comparison

For the most part, the Splatoon series is iterative – each new game that releases is intended to replace the previous one. Even though Splatoon 3 is currently the most recent entry in the series, there are still reasons – albeit small ones – to go back to the original title on Wii U plus Splatoon 2 on Nintendo Switch, which still has semi-active servers in Turf War and the like. Most of these reasons boil down to the unique story modes available in both games, which have unique levels and lore that Splatoon 3’s story mode doesn’t. Also, even though Splatoon 3 is essentially meant to replace both Splatoon and Splatoon 2, there are still reasons to love these two games above all else. Today, we’re going through all three Splatoon games and the unique features they have over the others and asking you: what’s your favorite of the three?

Splatoon

In terms of new features and modes, the original Splatoon introduced the most of any of the three games – which makes sense, given that it’s the first game in the franchise. For game modes, Splatoon on Wii U included Turf War, Rainmaker, Splat Zones, and Tower Control, with the former being more of a casual mode whereas the latter three are ranked modes. It’s missing Clam Blitz (which some might consider a good thing), Salmon Run, and Tricolor Turf War, however, so there’s relatively less on offer here.

There are still reasons to like the original Splatoon over its successors, though. Other than pure nostalgia, one reason to like Splatoon is its stages. Several of them haven’t returned to any future games. Urchin Underpass, one of the franchise’s most iconic locations, was only playable in this game and then in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as a battle course. You also had stages like Saltspray Rig, Port Mackerel, Blackbelly Skatepark, and Kelp Dome – none of which appear in Splatoon 3. If you want to hear about all the stages that didn’t make it to Splatoon 3, we wrote a big list of them a while back.

If you played any manner of competitive Splatoon in the original game, you might remember that some of its exclusive stages – specifically Saltspray Rig, since it isn’t fully symmetrical – were not balanced. But that’s another reason to like Splatoon. As the first game in the series, many aspects of it weren’t as balanced and refined as they became in future entries. This goes from weapons to stages to specials to everything in between – in a sense, the original Splatoon is more chaotic than Splatoon 3, which is supposed to be about chaos. You could unleash an Inkstrike anywhere on the stage with the Wii U GamePad, or become completely invincible with the Kraken special. Everything felt pretty powerful, which led to a different game feel in general. So even though the original Splatoon is light on features, there’s still a lot to love about it.

Splatoon 2

Splatoon 2 was the first game in the series on Nintendo Switch, and it brought with it a huge number of new features. Clam Blitz is the headlining new ranked mode, and although it’s a bit difficult to play with random teammates, there’s real potential for coordination if you team up with players over voice chat. Salmon Run is the other new big mode, and it’s a cooperative effort where you work together to defeat Salmonids in waves. This addition alone changed the game; instead of being forced to play Turf War or ranked modes, you could take a break and earn exclusive rewards in Salmon Run instead. The only caveat was that Salmon Run was only available during certain times; it would often take breaks for a few hours where it was completely unavailable. And it always felt like you wanted to play Salmon Run the most when there wasn’t an active rotation.

Though Splatoon 2 had an arguably milquetoast main campaign (final boss aside), it brought an excellent DLC campaign in the form of Octo Expansion. Even after the release of Splatoon 3, Octo Expansion is still considered the series’ peak in terms of single-player gameplay and story content. Splatoon 2 also has its own selection of stages that didn’t return to Splatoon 3, plus many unique weapon kits with sub and special combinations we haven’t seen again (for better or worse). There are tons of reasons to love Splatoon 2, and we expect that at least a few of you will still consider this your favorite game in the series.

Splatoon 3

This is the first Splatoon game that released on a console where another Splatoon title was already available. That put a lot of expectations on Splatoon 3 to differentiate itself from the previous one, and in many ways, it succeeded. Though it didn’t add any new ranked modes, it did refine what was already there. Inklings and Octolings can now perform Squid Rolls and Squid Surges, which increases the movement options available to you and makes gameplay feel more fluid in many cases. You’ve also got the additions of Badges, Tricolor Turf War in Splatfests, limited-time Challenges, Tableturf Battle, and an upgraded Salmon Run with new rewards and King Salmonids. That’s not even mentioning the story mode, which may not quite reach Octo Expansion’s level, but comes incredibly close with an excellent final boss sequence to boot. The DLC campaign, Side Order, is sometimes considered a tad disappointing by fans, but it’s a new Splatoon take on the roguelite genre with a new gameplay loop that the series hasn’t seen before.

Perhaps most significant, however, is how much respect Splatoon 3 pays to the series in general. There’s no better showcase for this than the Grand Festival itself, an event held earlier this year. It included a huge overworld venue with tons to explore and discover, plus unique soundtrack and its own special Grand Splatlands Bowl stage for Tricolor Turf War. With DLC installed, you can also choose any of the three hub worlds from the Splatoon series to use as your own overworld. We do expect that most fans probably prefer Splatoon 3 as their favorite game in the series, which is completely understandable – tons of quality-of-life additions plus a lot of mode variety and you’ve got a game that’s truly special.

So it all comes down to this: what’s your favorite game in the Splatoon series? Is it Splatoon 3, or do you prefer one of the first two games in the series? Feel free to let us know in the comments down below.

As one of Nintendo’s most successful franchises, we expect that we won’t have to wait too long to see the series appear on Nintendo Switch 2. In the meantime, you can read up on Splatoon 3 and its DLC over at the official website. And remember, if you have an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, you can play Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion at no additional cost. It still holds up well today.