How Splatoon 3: Return of the Mammalians Enhances One of the Series' Best Modes
Many Switch owners are still hard at work in Splatoon 3, grinding their rank for Anarchy Battles, Salmon Run, and Tableturf. Splatoon has some of Nintendo's most consistent post-launch support thanks to events like the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet-themed Splatfest, but it also has a multimedia presence through hologram concerts like a recent Nintendo Live showing for Deep Cut. One part of that live event brought in the Squid Sisters to perform «Calamari Inkantation 3MIX» from Return of the Mammalians, offering a clear reminder of the story mode's impact on Salmon Run.
With Splatoon presenting fans a fairly cut-and-dry competitive multiplayer shooter that puts more of an emphasis on covering the ground with ink, Splatoon 2 expanded the series' scope to include co-op activities. Salmon Run was intended to showcase the Switch's portability and local play potential, according to producer Hisashi Nogami, and it certainly succeeded at that. However, Splatoon 3's story introduced new context behind the mode's in-universe conception that makes it an unexpected wellspring of lore. Spoilers for Splatoon 3 ahead.
Splatoon 3 Not Letting Players Keep Splatfest Shirts as Souvenirs is Disappointing
Salmon Run's premise is simple: Teams of four players work together to defeat waves of enemies called Salmonid as a number of «Boss Salmonid» varieties appear and drop Golden Eggs when defeated. One could compare it to Splatoon's take on the zombie hordes in Left 4 Dead, with Boss Salmonid acting akin to Special Infected that cause havoc using facsimiles of tools available to players; Steelheads throw bombs, Flyfish fire Tenta Missiles, Big Shots create shock waves, and so on.
Players have to survive three waves and collect enough Golden Eggs to
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