In recent times Nintendo has had major events take place every year at the weekend before their Direct presentation only days later, you could even argue that this stream which usually comprises of three seperate events is the official start of E3 and 2019 is no different.

This year we had the Super Mario Maker 2 Invitational which pitted four prominent personalities from the gaming scene both alongside and against each other while showcasing plenty of interesting courses which really showed off what we'll be able to do with the software once it comes out at the end of this month.

Then following right behind the Splatoon 2 World Championship 2019 took place showing some really talented players from across the world, working together as a well oiled (or inked?) machine, showing off some skills, exploits and genuinely amazing gameplay which was fascinating to watch, especially from the perspective of the casual observer. (such as myself)

Finally, the stream was rounded off in style with the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Championship 2019 which was a 3 v 3 tournament which pitted Europe against USA against Japan where everyone fought with fantastic skills (for the most part) and put on an amazing spectacle of alternating stages, smashes plus the seldom seen Squad Strike mode which was easily the highlight for most of us here at N-E.

While we don't wish to go over everything because we don't want to spoil the entire stream in case anyone hasn't seen it yet, here are a few quotes from our staff and forum members plus some general commentary on each of the events with an embedded video at the bottom of this article if you wanted to check out either the entire stream or parts for it yourself.

"Mario Maker 2 Invitational is amazing so far. The levels are so fun and creative. The co-op challenge was fantastic. Final, 1 v 1 coming up next..." - Ronnie

"Yeah really looked great. Co-op looks like so much fun, and that Bowser battle was cool" - Sméagol

The first course of the first round was a nice way to start things off, with the Super Mario 3D World theme, the stage had a great deal of verticality to it, with plenty of blocks to hit, a car section with platforms to bounce off, then a cat climb to the top of a tower, down a warp pipe, across some conveyor belts with some on/off blocks before a sprint to the finish.

Fast-forward to the final which was Super Mario Bros. 3 themed and had a tonne of highlights, things started out simple enough featuring a Desert themed stage which had switches galore, twister enemies a P Block and more.

On the second course of a New Super Mario Bros. theme, things were tense as it was a race to reach the goal after grabbing one hundred coins while contending with a lot of verticality which involved using cranes, vines and even a propellor suit to make it to the end.

How about the third course which had a Super Mario World theme to it which could mean only one thing, yep... riding Yoshi through a maze filled with circular saws, plumes of fire, falling icicles and a fienish see-saw section right at the last part.

For the final course Nintendo took it back to the original Super Mario Bros. theme which is always a crowd-pleaser, especially when it's a Bowser's Castle stage filled with rising lava, falling icicles, pirahna plants, parachuting enemies and a showdown with Bowser that has to be seen to be believed.

"I didn't have a clue what the hell was going on during that last Splatoon match." - Hero-of-Time

"Nor here... something about clams? I feel so out of touch when it comes to Splatoon." - S.C.G

"Haha. Yeah and then they magically turn into an American football. Very weird." - Hero-of-Time

"Ah, Clam Blitz. Teams attempt to collect 10 clams to make a giant clam, which they then try to throw into the opposing team's basket." - Glen-i

"That last Splatzone game was a hell of match!" - Hero-of-Time

Look, I'm not the biggest fan of Splatoon 2, I have enjoyed the first game on the Wii U which I played for a few sessions online and attempted to play some of the single player, when it came to the second game I played a few games online due to the novelty of owning the game on the Switch, didn't play it for a while, thought about picking up the Octo expansion as it looks excellent; so my time with the series is limited at best.

I took away the following from watching the championships...

• That long-range weapon, the Stingray? Impressive
• I now have a better understanding of how Clam Blitz works
  
• The amount of talanted Splatoon 2 players is astounding
• Nintendo clearly know their demographic when it comes to Splatoon
• Competitive matches can have a complete turnaround in a matter of seconds

It was a good tournamanet and it really opened my eyes to the possibilities of the series for the future but I'm still resigned to the fact that I'll never play it as much as other esablished Nintendo multiplayer staples, even though I respect the love that players have for the games and I would consider watching more Splatoon matches in the future.

"This Pokémon Trainer player knows that Ivysaur is the correct choice." - Glen-i

"Respect for showing off Squad Strike. Squad Strike is an underrated mode." - Glen-i

"Hell of a comeback by the EU player!" - Hero-of-Time

"Took the words right out of my mouth. And that's why items are awesome!" - Glen-i

"Another amazing comeback. Japan really should have won that after the start they had." - Hero-of-Time

"That Pit dominance against Peach was amazing!" - Glen-i

"Mii Swordfighter is a character I didn't expect to show up. Nice to see them be used in tournaments." - Glen-i

"Bowser chose the correct shirt." - Sméagol

As you can see, we're keen Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players and observers here at N-Europe so there was plenty of hype to go around during this years championship. I think it's to the games credit thanks to the overwhelming wealth of characters from not only the Nintendo universe but from all across a wide section of videogames which makes it so popular and hugely accessible being that you have more options available than traditonal fighting games.

So when you get a load of teams of seasoned professional players from around the world and pit them against each other in a 3 v 3 match then you know you're in for an entertaining show, even if you're just watching to see some of your favourite characters smash other players off the stage. And then there's the wealth of items which means that almost anything can happen when you through these variables into the mix, plus there's the stage morphing where the battleground changes at certain points... the players did really well to adapt in an everchanging virtual environment, especially in that kind of arena with the crowds watching you as well.

Ultimately the entire event was a treat to watch and I applaud Nintendo for keeping these events going as they really help to start off E3 in a meaningful way and they mean a lot to the players involved and Nintendo fans around the world.

If you've never seen any of these events before then I would definitely recommend checking out at least some of the stream in the video below, also if you like surprises then stay tuned at the end of each event as there may well have been a few special guest appearances during the events, but you'll have to watch for yourself or search for it if you want to see who was there, because as stated before, the intention of this article wasn't to detail and spoil everything but more to highlight the events as a whole and the positive effect they have on the Nintendo community.

Surely that has to be more interesting than a copy and pasted press release?

Here's a link to the six hour stream containing all the events...

What did you think of any of the above events? Did you have any favourite moments? Or are you just waiting for the Nintendo Direct due to air on Tuesday?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or join in with the discussion on our forum.