Port Mackerel

"Callie: I wanna try racing one of those forklifts around! Marie: Callie, you can barely ride a bike."

Port Mackerel is a multiplayer stage in Splatoon and Splatoon 2. This stage was not available at the launch of Splatoon, but was released on June 2nd 2015 at. It made its first appearance in the stage rotation immediately after the update.

Layout
Port Mackerel is a shipping yard and, as such, there are numerous containers littering the field, making for several narrow paths in a grid shape. In the middle is another gridded area and on either side of it is an open area and inkable forklifts that ride back and forth across all three lanes. There also exist two upper paths from either spawn point that run around the perimeter of the map, ending in the middle area. It includes many corridors, such as ones around large, colored boxes and crates.

Notable Locations

 * Open Battlefields – This is where most of the combat takes place. Both open battlefields are separated from each other by set of cargo containers. These battlefields, while being very open for vision, can be difficult to maneuver around for some players, as the narrow paths and stacks of crates don't allow for much vision of the area. It is possible, in Turf Wars and Tower Control, to climb on top of the covered storage crates by either using the fork lifts, or by climbing on the tower. These can serve as useful vantage points, as they are on higher ground, and since they are covered in ink-resistant tarp, there is no enemy Ink to get stuck in. The walls of the crates are also ink-able, giving players a place to recharge ink or hide, without having to give up their vantage point.


 * Side Passages – There are four Side Passages in this stage, two on the player's side, and two on the enemy side. They are all accessed on the left or right sides of the map and lead to small openings on the side of the Open Battlefields, which cannot be climbed up due to small ledges.The Side Passages are often forgotten parts of the map, particularly because they're mostly out of the action and they're only accessible from the area near the spawn points.

Splat Zones
In Splat Zones there are two zones located on one side of the two open areas of the map. The only known change from the Turf War iteration is the fact that the forklifts that move back and forth between the shipping containers are absent.

Tower Control
The tower starts in the center of the map and moves along the rail, passing through the Open Battlefields and weaving in between boxes, until it reaches the top of the box directly in front of the opponent's spawn.

Two inkable boxes have been added to the right side of the Open Battlefields, allowing players to access the Side Passages from this area.

Rainmaker
The Rainmaker is located at the middle of the map. The Rainmaker must be taken to a pillar located on top of the cargo container in front of the rival Spawn Point. A couple platforms are supplied to make reaching higher ground easier, the pillar can only be access by either climbing the newly placed board on the backside of the container or jumping from the high ground.

Tips

 * Due to the numerous narrow alleys, Rollers, Chargers, Seekers, and Killer Wails excel at this Stage.
 * Low spread Shooters, such as the Splash-o-matic and the Dual Squelcher, are also decent options in the narrow passageways.
 * While there is not much in the way of accessible high ground, the forklifts in Turf War can be a good option, and getting on shipping containers is also possible with a correctly-timed jump or two.
 * Even though their tops cannot be inked, you can still ink the walls of a nearby container to recharge your ink and hide in it.
 * The large area around the Spawn Points should not be left un-Inked; it is a decent amount of Turf that may be missed by overzealous players.
 * Due to the narrow lanes and obstructed views, it is easy to bypass enemies completely without either player knowing. Use to keep tabs on where enemy Ink is being spread, and make use of Echolocators and Point Sensors to get a better idea of where enemies are.
 * In Splat Zones, it is always a good idea to check on the zone closest to one's own Spawn Point regularly. If an enemy sneaks past and gains control of it, it will be all the more difficult to get it back.
 * The elevated side passages branching off from the at the Spawn Point are great for Chargers and any weapon that can place Squid Beakons, as the high ground is much safer.
 * Another good tactic for Chargers is to stand at one end of a corridor and snipe enemies, as they are difficult to maneuver in.

Trivia

 * The map's name is a reference to the real-life mackerel.
 * Port Mackerel was the first DLC map to be released.

Splatoon 2
In Splatoon 2, Port Mackerel returns with Sponge Blocks added to the front 2 lanes on each side of the map. The map layout also seems to be redone, with less linear choke holds and lanes that lead into the center. It appears that the vehicles present in the first game are returning, however.