Bakugan is a super-popular toy line that combines a monster battling trading card game with the classic game of…marbles? Yup. Each card is magnetic, and when you roll the marbles on them, they open up into little monsters to trigger attacks. Now, the newest Bakugan game lets fans do what they’ve always dreamed of: have full control over the monsters themselves in battle!

Bakugan Battle Brawlers: Defenders of the Core is for all the major current game consoles, but the PSP version is reviewed here. In the game, you create a kid character to play as (Sorry, girls, it’s just a boy again. When will the makers of these games learn that there are many girls who like Bakugan, too?). Anyway, in the game you’ll interact with other characters from the cartoon show. The evil Spectra and his Vexos armada are threatening to take over the Earth and only you can rescue all the captured Bakugan monsters and use their help to save the world!

When playing as the kid character, you’ll have to sneak past Vexos guards and traps in 3-D areas. Explore the environment and find hidden items without getting caught! When it’s time to battle an opponent, you’ll roll out your Bakugan marbles, who then transform into giant, hulking, fighting monsters. Battles are fought in 3-D in real time. Directly control your monsters as you dash, tackle, and fire projectiles at your opponents. When you’ve landed enough attacks, you’ll be able to use equipped Ability cards for even more powers and skills. In some missions you’ll have to defeat other monsters, destroy stationary objects, or defend certain structures.

As you play, you’ll unlock more Bakugan and Ability cards to use in battle. If you have a nearby friend with a PSP and a copy of the game, you can battle each other in multiplayer modes, too. The only main problem is that the fighting controls are a little slow and clunky, and only die-hard Bakugan fans will really get into this game.

Kid Factor:

Bakugan Battle Brawlers: Defenders of the Core is rated E-10 for Everyone 10 and up with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence. Even though you trade blows and projectile attacks with other monsters, it’s no more violent than the cartoon show it’s based on. Reading skill is helpful, but most of the game has spoken voice. Younger gamers might find the challenge level a bit too steep in the one-on-one battles later in the game, though.

Tags: Game Reviews