It’s easy to forget that Splatoon isn’t Nintendo’s new kid on the block any more.
The series started as a bold swing on Wii U in 2015 – a brand new IP in a genre that Nintendo historically hadn’t touched, released solely on its worst-selling console since the Virtual Boy. On paper, the Splatlands were destined to be nothing more than a fever dream, but here we are, over a decade later, looking at one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises.
Across three mainline entries, beefy DLC expansions, and a Switch 2 spinoff, Splatoon has cemented itself as a key player in the House of Mario — an Inkling even stands alongside Link, Olimar, Isabelle, and the prized plumber on the Nintendo Store windows. The series isn’t going anywhere, so it’s high time we started ranking ’em.
Below, you’ll find every Splatoon entry (including those aforementioned beefy DLCs) as ranked by our lovely Nintendo Life readers. So, strap on your ink tanks, and let’s swim into battle.
Coming nearly five years after Splatoon 2’s fantastic Octo Expansion DLC, Splatoon 3’s single-player Side Order is an excellent addition to the base game and helps to give it a stronger identity over its predecessors.
Whilst we’d like to have seen more variety in the stages and objectives, the overwhelming number of options on your weaponry and how you upgrade them makes sure that things don’t get too repetitive. We found ourselves repeatedly coming back to try just one more run, which turned into five, so that should speak for itself.
Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion is a masterclass in how to do DLC right. A challenging single-player add-on, it fits in perfectly with the base game, provides a heap of tailor-made content, and furthers the story of the Inklings’ and Octolings’ world effortlessly and beautifully.
As a single-player experience, it outmatches the standard Octo Canyon mode significantly, and even though it does allow you to acquire exclusive items, it manages to avoid affecting any of the mechanics of online play, so non-purchasers will never be at a disadvantage.
If you’re a fan of Splatoon in any capacity and you want more to sink your beak into, Octo Expansion is an unwavering must-have – and free to anyone rocking a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription.
Splatoon 3 is more of the same, but refined to borderline mechanical perfection.
It’s the most fun we’ve had with an online shooter in years, and for series veterans it makes Splatoon 2 feel entirely redundant for all but its unique single-player content. The developers solved every problem the Splatoon community was bleating on about, and then fixed some more that we didn’t even realise were problems.
There’s nothing revolutionary about it compared to its predecessors, and it’s perhaps missing a Big New Idea™ that you might have expected, but Splatoon 3 is arguably the pinnacle of the series – and the pinnacle of team shooters on Switch.
Picking up the baton just a couple of years after the series’ debut, Splatoon 2 is just about everything you could ask for from a sequel.
Transferring the Turf Wars to Switch gave the Inklings a popularity boost they never could have achieved on the previous console, building on everything the original online shooter set up (and then some) with stellar art and audio to match the frantic team-based shooting.
Maintaining the freshness you’d expect and throwing in countless big and small changes and additions — every one of them for the better — Splatoon 2 is simply… wait for it… ink-redible.
In a sea of rock-solid single-player Nintendo experiences, Splatoon stood out as being an utterly sublime multiplayer endeavour. Everything is knitted beautifully and seamlessly together to create what is quite simply some of the most fun you can have online, with style up the wazoo.
The single-player elements and the local multiplayer also presented a way to enjoy the game when you’re not geared up for the chaos that comes from fighting others online, and provided a useful reprieve if your internet cut out.
Indeed, the formula was potent enough for Nintendo to repeat it more or less verbatim in its Switch sequel, but Splatoon got away with it by being easily the freshest shooter we’d played in years. First impressions count for a lot, and the impact of that initial toe-dip into the Inkling world makes this the most impressive entry for many, even as sequels have refined the recipe.
The most recent entry and a single-player-focused, looter-shooting spin-off from the numbered entries, Splatoon Raiders may be missing the series’ iconic Turf War, but what we have here is possibly the most variable and exciting game the series has ever offered.
Regardless of your skill level or personal play styles, the game caters to practically any taste, and all whilst delivering one of the most enjoyable gameplay loops on Switch 2.
It looks good, runs fantastically, and you can play practically the whole thing with friends if you wish. Not only that, but Nintendo’s flogging it for a bargain price. It may not push any boundaries within the genre per se, but it’s difficult to find anything negative to say about it; it really is a must-play for almost anyone.
It’s still a fledgling franchise in the grand scheme of things, but it’s off to an incredible start — there’s really no such thing as a “bad Splatoon game” so far!
Best Splatoon Games FAQ
When did the first Splatoon game come out?
The first Splatoon launched in May 2015 on the Wii U, kicking off a series which has quickly grown to become one of Nintendo’s most popular.
Here are the US release dates for all the Splatoon games so far:
- Splatoon (Wii U) – 29th May 2015
- Splatoon 2 (Switch) – 21st July 2017
- Splatoon 3 (Switch) – 9th September 2022
- Splatoon Raiders (Switch 2) – 23rd July 2026
When are we getting Splatoon 4?
Nintendo hasn’t announced when ‘Splatoon 4’ is releasing at the time of writing, but it has heavily implied that it’s coming.
When asked about why the team chose to develop Splatoon Raiders as a spin-off rather than another mainline entry, producer Seita Inoue stated that the team wanted to make a less competitive experience that could serve as an ‘entry point’ to the series. However, he clarified that this doesn’t signal the end of the series’ classic gameplay:
One of our motivations for developing this game was our desire to create a new entry point into the series by releasing these non-competitive elements not just as a secondary feature, but as a standalone spin-off.
That said, we will continue to develop competitive gameplay going forward. That’s why we developed this game as a spin-off and not as ‘Splatoon 4′.
So, when’s ‘Splatoon 4’ coming? We don’t know. But it sounds like it definitely is happening at some point.
What about other shooters on Switch?
While this list has been limited to Splatoon games only, there are many, many more shooters on Switch if you like the genre a little less inky.
You’ll find our list of the best first-person shooters on Switch below:
