Arcade machine

The arcade machine in Splatoon.

The arcade machine is a video game cabinet. It offers retro-style minigames in Splatoon and Splatoon 2, and appears in Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass, although inactive. In Splatoon, all minigames are played on the Wii U GamePad; they can be played in the lobby while waiting for a battle to start as well as accessed on their own via the physical arcade machine in Inkopolis Plaza. In Splatoon 2, only the physical cabinet in Inkopolis Square is accessible.

Splatoon

Judd's Advice

Meow! (While waiting for players to join, you can play minigames on . It can make a nice change from all that intense battling!)

The physical arcade machine is found on the left of Inkopolis Plaza, in front of a closed store next to Shrimp Kicks. It is a mainly black upright cabinet, with a splash of pink ink, a drawing of a large blue squid and a black shell on each side. The part around the screen and the control panel is purple, with white strikes surrounding the screen. Below the control panel is a splash of yellow ink and a dark text, and above the screen is a logo of three orange square letters. The arcade machine features a red stick and tree buttons blue, pink and yellow respectively. A power cable can be seen on the right of the machine, sticking into a white wall socket.

Four minigames in total are available through the arcade machine: Squid Jump, Squid Racer, Squidball, and Squid Beatz. Only Squid Jump is unlocked by default; the other three are given as rewards for defeating The Ravenous Octomaw! in amiibo challenges. There is no reward for completing any of the minigames. Once the player has passed all of the stages in one of them, a sign saying "Congratulations!" will pop up and the game will reset to the first level.

When a minigame is interrupted by a battle, with the exception of Squid Beatz, it is paused and can be unpaused the next time it is playable. However, progress is not saved when Splatoon itself is closed; the game will start from the first level the next time it is played. The highest score obtained in each of those three minigames will however be saved.

Squid Jump

Squid Jump

Squid Jump is the first of these games, and was the only minigame playable in the Splatoon Global Testfire.

The objective is to make a squid jump from platform to platform by holding down the button to jump and using the or the to move, to reach a Zapfish placed above the highest platform. The longer is pressed before a jump, the higher it will be. Purple ink will continuously rise for a certain amount of time, effectively requiring the player to reach the goal within a certain amount of time. As the stages progress, different types of platforms are added: ice (which are slippery), clouds (which move back and forth), and conveyor belts (which run at multiple speeds and move a squid resting on one). This minigame also has no borders, meaning that moving to the right of the screen will make the squid appear on the left, and the other way around. The game has 25 stages ; a checkpoint exists after every five stages, and the background changes after every ten.

Once a stage has been completed, the player is awarded a stage bonus and a time bonus: the first one, with a fixed value, is worth 300 points up to level 10, 600 points up to level 20, and then 1000 points up to level 25; the second bonus depends on the time taken to complete the level, and drops continuously to zero, at which time the purple ink will have completely rose to the top of the stage. The player has three lives, and gets an extra life for every 10,000 points. Once all lives have been lost, they can choose to either reset the game or go back to the last checkpoint.

Some power-ups also appear throughout the stages, which are:

• A red fish, which makes the player high jump immediately upon contact.
• A Jellyfish, which lets them jump once in the middle of the air for about 10 seconds; they cannot jump in the air again until they either land on a platform or pick up another Jellyfish.
• A starfish, which increases the player's acceleration for about 10 seconds; this means that the squid will make faster jumps, but will also fall faster. If the squid is jumping upward while the star's effect wears off, an extremely high jump can be made.

Squid Racer

Squid Racer

The second game is Squid Racer, which is unlocked by the Inkling Boy amiibo.

This minigame is a race between the player, a white squid, and several blue jellyfish on stages of different shapes seen from above. The aim is to reach the end of the map before time runs out, avoiding touching the jellyfish and the sides of the stage, which slow the player down. Every track has a time limit; once time runs out, the player will lose a life.The or the is used to steer, for accelerating and for drifting. The player cannot change direction while they drift, but can instead rotate the squid with the steering controls; releasing the button shoots the player's squid in the direction it faces. Holding the button during the second half of when the number 2 appears during the countdown triggers a starting boost very similar to the rocket start in the Mario Kart series. The game has 30 stages, and a checkpoint exists after every five stages.

Once a stage has been completed, the player is awarded three bonuses: the first two, stage and time bonus, are identical to the bonuses of the first minigame; the third, a rank bonus, rewards the player according to their position at the finish line (500 in first place, 300 in second, 200 in third, and 0 for subsequent places). The player gets three lives, with additional lives being earned every 10,000 points. Once they have lost all their lives, they can continue from the last checkpoint reached, or restart from the beginning. It is not necessary to finish at a particular rank to continue playing.

Power-ups also appear throughout the stages, visible on the minimap on the bottom right:

• A red fish, which gives the player a speed boost.
• A Zapfish, which lets the player swallow jellyfish by touching them, making the squid larger and faster.
• A green sunfish, which dramatically increases the player's turning speed while drifting.

The player can benefit from only one power-up at a time, so it can sometimes be advantageous to avoid picking one up so as not to replace a more useful one.

Squidball

Squidball

The third game is Squidball, which is unlocked by the Inkling Girl amiibo.

In this game, the player (a white squid) has to hit a certain number of Jellyfish on the other side of a net with a ball (shaped like a Zapfish) to score points and pass on to the next stage. The mechanics are similar to volleyball, with a bump, set, and spike. First, the squid is stuck to the ground and can move using the stick or the . The ball is then automatically sent on the player side, which has to bounce it upward by letting the ball bounce off the squid (at an angle based on where on the squid the ball struck). The player must then press once to jump and again while touching the ball to hit it, or continue to hold the button from jumping to hit the ball when in contact. The angle of the ball changes with the direction held when launching it, which can be either neutral, back or forward. The player must spike the ball for it to count; a ball immediately bounced over the net will pass through the jellyfish harmlessly. The ball will also be lost if it touches the ground on the player side. There are 30 stages, with a checkpoint after every five stages.

The player gets three balls per stage: one small, one medium, and one large. If the specified number of targets is not reached with all three balls, the game ends and the player can restart from either the beginning or the last checkpoint. Each stage awards the player with three bonuses: a stage bonus, identical to the first two games, a point bonus corresponding to 100 points per additional target hit, and a ball bonus worth 200 points per ball remaining after the goal has been reached.

In addition to jellyfish, other creatures can appear on the far side of the net:

• Starfishes, worth three jellyfish.
• Green sunfishes, which burst into fragments that can hit other creatures when hit.
• Sea urchins, acting as obstacles: a small ball will be stopped completely, a medium ball will destroy the urchin but will bounce back, and a large ball will destroy the urchin and keep going, but with greatly diminished momentum. This is useful if the ball has overshot.

Squid Beatz

Squid Beatz

The last minigame is Squid Beatz, which is unlocked by the Inkling Squid amiibo.

This game is a music player featuring all 31 tracks from Splatoon coupled with a standard rhythm game. switches between no game, normal mode, and hard mode, and pauses the music. The player has to press the control pad and buttons represented on the line at the bottom at the correct time to keep in rhythm with the music, and turn the Jellyfish into yellow rabbits. The player can press any direction on the (or ) when a control pad icon shows up, or , , , or when a corresponding icon shows up to play the song correctly in tune. There is no penalty if the player misses an input, and the music will keep on going no matter what.

This minigame does not feature a numbered scoring system - instead, it uses yellow rabbit-type creatures to track the score. It is also the only game not to save progress between matches.

Each of the buttons has two different sounds depending on whether the normal or hard mode is selected.

	Left on		Down on		Up on		Right on
Normal	a Japanese-sounding drum	a Japanese-sounding drum	a female Inkling voice clip	a male Inkling voice clip	a cymbal	a light cymbal, or bell	a clap	a clap	a diminuendo Inkling chant	a crescendo Inkling chant
Hard	a lower sounding drum	a higher sounding drum	an electronic sounding drum beat	an electronic sounding drum beat	similar to a hi-hat cymbal	similar to a crash cymbal	a drum beat	a drum beat	similar to a high sounding crash cymbal	similar to a low sounding crash cymbal

By accessing this game from the lobby while waiting for a match, Bob Dub's Dubble Bath will play by default. By pressing and at the same time, any selected song can be played as if one was using the arcade machine.

Squid Beatz was updated in version 2.0.0 to include the four new tracks added and their information.

List of tracks

Track number	Track	Artist	Unlock condition
1	Splattack!	Squid Squad
2	Ink or Sink
3	Seaskape
4	Kraken Up
5	Metalopod
6	Now or Never!
7	Battle Victory
8	Battle Defeat
9	Cap'n Cuttlefish's Theme
10	Octo Valley
11	Eight-Legged Advance	Turquoise October
12	Tentacular Circus
13	Cephaloparade
14	Inkstrike Shuffle
15	Octoling Rendezvous
16	Octoweaponry
17	I Am Octavio	DJ Octavio	Complete Enter the Octobot King!
18	Calamari Inkantation	Squid Sisters
19	Sunken Scroll
20	City of Color	Squid Sisters	Has to be heard in a Splatfest
21	Ink Me Up
22	Now or Never!
23	Maritime Memory		Complete Enter the Octobot King!
24	Inkopolis News
25	Lookin' Fresh	DJ Lee Fish
26	Lobby
27	Dubble Bath	Bob Dub
28	Shellfie	Chirpy Chips	Added in version 2.0.0
29	Split & Splat
30	Hooked	Hightide Era
31	Sucker Punch

All text is stylized in capitals in Squid Beatz.

Splatoon 2

The arcade machine in Splatoon 2.

The arcade machine in Splatoon 2 is only accessible from the physical arcade cabinet in Inkopolis Square, located in front of The Shoal between a dancing arcade game used by a NPC and a claw machine that seems to be out of order.

The arcade machine itself has a much more futuristic style than the one in Splatoon: it is much larger and wider, mainly dark grey and white, and features large speakers above the screen. Unlike the arcade machine in the first game, this one appears to be a paid cabinet with a coin slot in the center below the control panel. The panel itself is very wide, looking as if it could be used by two players; it features two round buttons green and pink on each side, with two smaller arrow-shaped ones in the center. Just below the screen are what appear to be small speakers, and a game sticker in the center. Two metal bars surround the screen, extending from the panel to below the large speakers on top. Another set of metal bars are in front of these, supporting a sign displaying the video game title. A white sticker with text in Inkling script can also be found below the control panel on the right.

Squid Beatz 2

The only arcade game available on this arcade machine is Squid Beatz 2. As the sequel to Squid Beatz, it is also a rhythm game in which the player presses buttons to the beat of songs from Splatoon 2.

Tracks 1 through 8, 20 through 30, 43 through 49, and 51 through 54 are available from the start; 35 through 42 and 55 through 57 are unlocked by amiibo; the rest are unlocked after they have been heard in-game for the first time. Prior to version 5.2.0, tracks 20 through 26 had to be heard in-game in a Splatfest in order to be unlocked.

Registering the Pearl or Marina amiibo as friends and fulfilling certain requirements allows the player to unlock two new themes for Squid Beatz 2, which are based on the corresponding character.

List of tracks

Track no.	Track	Band	Unlock condition	Max score (normal)	Max score (hard)
1	Inkoming!	Wet Floor		155	325
2	Rip Entry			136	277
3	Undertow			124	291
4	Don't Slip			121	271
5	Endolphin Surge			202	426
6	Now or Never!			122	219
7	Turf Master			45	82
8	Ink Another Day			27
9	Low Tide		Has to be heard in-game first	55	93
10	Octo Canyon	Turquoise October		49	92
11	Octo Eight-Step			112	225
12	The Girl from Inkopolis			89	234
13	Buoyant Boogie			93	156
14	Shooting Starfish			127	313
15	Octarmaments			145	371
16	Bomb Rush Blush	DJ Octavio feat. Callie		230	402
17	Tidal Rush	DJ Octavio feat. Callie vs. Marie		235	402
18	Spicy Calamari Inkantation	Squid Sisters		293	544
19	Fresh Start			238	394
20	Color Pulse	Off the Hook	Has to be heard in-game first (prior to version 5.2.0)	158	256
21	Ebb & Flow			141	219
22	Acid Hues			149	331
23	Muck Warfare			169	333
24	Now or Never!			132	203
25	Fest Zest			46	64
26	Party's Over			22	30
27	Inkopolis News			28	50
28	New You	DJ Real Sole		143	326
29	Without a Dop Doubt			60	119
30	Dubble Bath (DIY Remix)	Bob Dub		47	96
31	Happy Little Workers	Grizzco Industries	Has to be heard in-game first	91	166
32	Deluge Dirge	ω-3		117	339
33	Fishing Frenzy			140	333
34	Ever Further	Grizzco Industries		45	108
35	Splattack!	Squid Squad	Final reward from Inkling Boy amiibo	280	528
36	Seaskape		Final reward from Inkling Boy 2 amiibo	140	278
37	Shellfie	Chirpy Chips	Final reward from Inkling Girl amiibo	147	226
38	Split & Splat		Final reward from Inkling Girl 2 amiibo	146	321
39	Hooked	Hightide Era	Final reward from Inkling Squid amiibo	223	285
40	Sucker Punch		Final reward from Inkling Squid 2 amiibo	206	338
41	Bomb Rush Blush	Callie	Final reward from Callie amiibo	96	178
42	Tide Goes Out	Marie	Final reward from Marie amiibo	85	175
43	Shipwreckin'	Bottom Feeders	Added in version 2.0.0	167	358
44	Fins & Fiddles			132	253
45	Seafoam Shanty			332	529
46	Broken Coral	Ink Theory		150	201
47	Riptide Rupture			266	299
48	Blitz It!	Chirpy Chips	Added in version 3.0.0	141	299
49	Wave Prism			199	318
50	Frantic Aspic	ω-3	Added in version 4.0.0, has to be heard in-game first	150	323
51	Seasick	Diss-Pair	Added in version 4.1.0	168	450
52	Kinetosis			186	304
53	Chopscrewey	SashiMori		150	326
54	Entropical			194	311
55	#5 thirsty	Dedf1sh	Added in version 4.1.0, final reward from Octoling Girl amiibo	116	234
56	#9 party		Added in version 4.1.0, final reward from Octoling Boy amiibo	89	157
57	#14 crush		Added in version 4.1.0, final reward from Octoling Octopus amiibo	128	161
80	Nasty Majesty	Off the Hook	Requires the Octo Expansion, has to be heard in-game first	179	316
81	Shark Bytes			197	339
82	Splattack! (Octo)	Dedf1sh		297	666
83	Fly Octo Fly ~ Ebb & Flow (Octo)	Off the Hook		318	550
84	Into the Light			285	499

Splatoon 3

The arcade machine in Inkopolis Plaza reappears in the Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass, but it no longer functions as an arcade machine, instead being covered by a sheet held with ropes, with a monitor placed on it and a board on top. It functions as a terminal for remote access to Hotlantis in Splatsville. This terminal also appears in Inkopolis Square next to the Galleria, with the original Inkopolis Square arcade machine being removed entirely and replaced with the claw machine which was to the right of it, now functional and used by a NPC.

Although the games are not featured in Splatoon 3, several locker decorations reference them:

• The front cover of the Squidgital Game Guide is one of the frames from the jumping animation in Squid Jump, and the game's layout is referenced on the back cover of the Nostalgia Power Magazine.
• Squidball's layout is referenced on the front cover of the Nostalgia Power Magazine. The Commander Cephaloid game box features Squidball's icon, though it uses a monochrome yellow palette.
• A vertical version of Squid Racer's icon is featured on the front cover of the sports comic.
• A slightly altered Squid Beatz icon is used on the Volley Volley Panic game box, and the Squidgital Gameguide references the game's layout on its back cover.
  • Notably, the name of the Volley Volley Panic game box appears to reference Squidball instead of Squid Beatz, even though the latter's artwork is used in its box art. The Japanese name of the item, リズムDEイッカー ("Rhythm in the Air"), appears to reference the rhythm game nature of Squid Beatz instead.

Gallery

Splatoon

• 

  The Squid Jump icon.

• 

  The Squid Racer icon.

• 

  The Squidball icon.

• 

  The Squid Beatz icon.

• 

  Icon on .

• 

  Arcade machine selection after unlocking all four games.

• 

  The selection menu on for Squid Beatz.

• 

  Clear view of the arcade machine in Inkopolis Plaza.

• 

  The pixelated squid, seen when starting up the arcade machine.

• 

  An Inkling looks at two arcade machines at Ancho-V Games, one identical to the one in Inkopolis plaza.

• 

  Two jellyfish in a small room next to another arcade machine.

• 

  Magazines at Ancho-V Games, with the squid and a scene from Squid Jump as well as a scene from Squid Beatz.

• 

  Another set with Squid Jump (center).

Splatoon 2

• 

  The title screen for Squid Beatz 2.

• 

  Icon on the map.

• 

  Screenshot of the gameplay of Squid Beatz 2.

• 

  The unlock screen for new styles.

• 

  Pearl's Squid Beatz 2 style.

• 

  Marina's Squid Beatz 2 style.

Splatoon 3

• 

  The Inkopolis Plaza arcade machine, converted into a terminal for Hotlantis.

• 

  The Squidgital Game Guide.

• 

  The Nostalgia Power Magazine.

• 

  The Commander Cephaloid game box.

• 

  The sports comic.

• 

  The Volley Volley Panic game box.

Trivia

• The gameplay of Squid Beatz and its sequel, Squid Beatz 2, are based on the Bandai Namco rhythm game series Taiko no Tatsujin.
  • Squid Beatz 2, in particular, takes its aesthetic cues from the Konami rhythm game series Beatmania, particularly the dancing Inkling and jellyfish silhouettes.
• Jellyfish are featured in some way in each of Splatoon's arcade games.
• Squid Racer's name may be a reference to the Japanese manga series Speed Racer.
• The rabbits in Squid Beatz are likely a reference to an early stage of Splatoon's development wherein the protagonists were to be humanoid rabbits.
• The art for each of the four games parodies that of NES games from popular studios. Squid Racer's artwork is based on Irem's titles, Squid Beatz' is based on Namco's, and Squid Ball's is based on those of Nintendo.
  • The art for Squid Jump resembles the Famicom box art for Super Mario Bros.
• The arcade machine is also featured in Ancho-V Games, with four individual machines throughout the stage. Unlike the one in Inkopolis Plaza, they cannot be interacted with.
• Ancho-V Games is said to have developed Squid Beatz.
  • Several official sources also cite them as the developers of Squid Beatz 2.
  • According to an Inkopolis News quote from the Squid Sisters, they also created Squid Jump.
• The red fish from the minigames are similar to Cheep Cheeps found in Mario games.
• In Splatoon 2, arcade machines featuring the artwork from Squid Jump, Squid Ball, and Squid Racer can be seen inside the Shoal when looking in from outside the entrance.
• In Squid Beatz 2, songs from the Octo Expansion go out of order and start at 80, following the prominent theme of the number 8 in the Octo Expansion. However, the Dedf1sh songs unlocked through the Octoling amiibo do not follow this pattern.
• In Splatoon 2, when standing near Murch in Inkopolis Square, the sound effects of Squid Jump can be heard from his phone. However, the screen of his phone is blank.
• In Squid Beatz 2, in the arcade machine, and on the title screen, the title "Ika Radio 2" can be seen. 'Ika' in Japanese means squid.
  • This is also referenced in the Japanese name for Squid Beatz 2.
• Some of the walls of Ancho-V Games can be seen to have the arcade games silhouette.
• In the Octo Canyon level The Octogalaxy, Marie references Squid Jump while talking to herself, saying that she misses it.

Names in other languages

Squid Jump

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	イカジャンプ Ika janpu	Squid Jump
French	Saute-qui-peut	Jump for your life
German	Squid Jump	Squid jump
Italian	Saltaseppia	Jumping Cuttlefish
Spanish	Brincalamar	Jumpsquid

Squidball

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	イカボール Ika bōru	Squid Ball
French	Smash-qui-peut	Smash for your life
Italian	Seppiavolo	Cuttlefishball
Spanish (NOA)	Sepiabol	Cuttlefishball
Spanish (NOE)	Chipivóley	Cuttle-volley

Squid Racer

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	イカレース Ika rēsu	Squid Race
French	Sprint-qui-peut	Sprint for your life
Italian	Turboseppia	Turbo Cuttlefish
Spanish	A toda tinta	Full Ink

Squid Beatz

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	イカラジオ Ika rajio	Squid Radio
French	Swing-qui-peut	Swing for your life
Italian	Radio Seppia	Cuttlefish Radio
Spanish	Jibia FM	Cuttlefish FM

Squid Beatz 2

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	イカラジオ２ Ika rajio 2	Squid Radio 2
Dutch	Ika Radio	Similar to Japanese
French	Calam FM	Squid FM