
The great big battle beasts of Bakugan, alongside their pint-sized schoolkid handlers, have been doing the rounds on TV and in various video/card games since 2007's Bakugan: Battle Brawlers series. This latest outing sees developer Wayforward attempt to shoehorn this universe into a Pokémon: Let's Go-style monster collectathon aimed squarely at small kids but, even for youngsters, this is a surprisingly simplistic affair comprising a dull story, mind-numbing battle action, offensively basic side-missions and a truly barebones online offering slapped on for bad measure.
To be fair to Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia, things do get off to a reasonably decent start with players jumping into a character creation suite to magic themselves up a brawling hero before being introduced to a world that, initially, looks and sounds like its got some potential. This is a bright and colourful game with a crisp, clean art-style and some impressively big beasts to get collecting. However, things begin to fall apart quickly with a lacklustre opening cinematic failing to explain how or why schoolchildren are running around having enormous scraps with gigantic alien monsters and a setting that soon reveals itself to be completely devoid of life or fun side activities to bolster the game's core Bakugan-battling action.

And what about that battling? Well, for a game that's gonna live or die on the collectability of its roster of creatures and how fun they are to get into scraps with, Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia doesn't half shoot itself in the foot at almost every opportunity. Battles here see you work with a team of three Bakugan that you'll have collected mainly via side-missions and going up against an AI team, duking it out by activating one of your four chosen Bakugan abilities at a time to batter your opponent into submission. Abilities must be charged up before they can be used, and in order to do this you'll need to sprint around arenas picking up neon charges from the floor which are then automatically absorbed by your currently activated creature.
It's an odd setup that sees you with little else to actually do during combat other than run around in constant circles in a race to pick up charges before your opponent while your Bakugan stands around in the background, awkwardly waiting for you to activate one of its powers, sometimes having a half-hearted swipe at its foe in a failed attempt to look interested, or just simply staring into the distance awaiting the sweet release of death. The whole thing feels disjointed and awkward and soon becomes tedious to the point of actual irritation.

Taken on its own, the idea of having this little minigame mechanic of running around trying to grab charges is a fair one, however, it dies a death here because the moves you're trying to activate are dull, the tactics non-existent and the animations so repetitive that we actually backed out to the menu on several occasions desperately searching for a way to skip them. The fights here, even for the young audience they're aimed at, are nothing short of turgid once the novelty of the first hour or so wears off. They're also unbelievably long. A Bakugan brawl routinely runs for around ten or so minutes, an excruciating amount of time when all you're doing is running around in circles, activating the same handful of powers and sitting through the same animations ad-nauseum.
There's a real laziness to those animations too and once you've watched them a few times you'll begin to see it. Our Sairus Bakugan, for example, has a Bakubite move that plays out in exactly the same way as its Shatterfist attack, striking out — for a bite — by swiping its claw, meaning it either has a mouth and teeth hidden somewhere on its hands or Wayforward wasn't that bothered with creating unique animations for each ability. The abilities you're working with are also pretty lacklustre overall and you'll find little reason to switch them up as the tediously slow campaign progresses. You have a few different attacks per beast, health restorations and debuffs to apply to your foes but it's all pitifully simplistic stuff and can be ignored in favour of simply smashing your most powerful move repeatedly or charging all of your Bakugans to the max in order to unleash a team attack that doesn't even have its own bespoke animation.

Further to this, once you've levelled a Bakugan up to a certain point, you can hit a button in order to evolve them, something which should be exciting and perhaps lead to your chosen creature transforming into a super sexy version of itself. Except here that doesn't happen. Your Bakugan looks exactly the same after evolving, gaining some health and strength, yeah, but not changing in the slightest cosmetically. It reeks of corner-cutting, and it continues to rear its head in the quality and quantity of the Bakugan on offer here.
Split evenly between five elements — Darkus, Haos, Ventus, Aquos and Pyrus — it initially seems that there are around about eighty unique beasts to get a handle on, with sixteen monsters per each of these elemental groups. However, once you start unlocking the things you'll quickly realise that they are in fact all repeated within each group, giving you an actual total of just sixteen beasts. This rather large problem is then exacerbated by the fact that each creature within an elemental type can use each and every one of that elemental group's unlockable abilities — there's no unique negatives or positives fixed to a particular Bakugan within a group and therefore no reason to choose one over the other, further negating any point behind bothering to collect them all or to switch them around within your team.

It's initially quite difficult to comprehend why a game so entirely based on collecting monsters in order to fight with them would make such little effort to provide either engaging combat or a reasonably large or diverse roster of collectible creatures for players to get to grips with. But then you start to take into account the dire quality of the dialogue, the ludicrously basic side-missions, the empty, sterile world map composed of tiny repetitive areas which are absolutely devoid of life or atmosphere and you begin to realise that Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia is perhaps as cynical a tie-in as it's possible to put together.
The game's multiplayer component too, is one of the most slapdash, rushed and basic offerings we've come across in ages. Jumping into this side of things you're presented with the option of either fighting a quick battle against a stranger or facing off against a friend. There are no options to tweak, no mode variations, no choices whatsoever and, once a match starts, you'll find there isn't even basic balancing in operation. You'll take on complete beginners with Bakugan who have health bars four or five times smaller than yours in battles that have absolutely nothing in the way of tactics about them. Simply run around, collect charges and smash whatever ability you like until it's done. The strongest team on paper will always win.

On a more positive note, in terms of performance, this is a decent looking game with crisp and colourful visuals that translate well to the Switch's handheld screen. We did notice some minor framerate drops during attacks in docked mode but, overall, the one area in which Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia can hold its head high is in how smoothly it plays in both docked and portable modes here. Besides this, however — unless you're a massive Bakugan fan or simply want a game you can play while fast asleep — this is one Pokémon rip-off that should be avoided; a lazy and repetitive game that quite quickly reveals itself to be devoid of any longevity, tactics or charm.
Conclusion
Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia attempts to shoehorn the long-running franchise into a Pokémon Let's Go-style affair aimed at younger players but does so with absolutely zero care or charm. This is a lazy, repetitive, basic game that slowly erodes your patience and goodwill with sloppy mechanics, a tiny roster of samey monsters and a world that reveals itself to be entirely devoid of character or life. Avoid.
Comments 74
LMAO, I knew it would be a crappy game, and you guys said this game may be amazing or something. xD
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/09/feature_dont_underestimate_bakugan_champions_of_vestroia_-_its_shaping_up_to_be_a_cool_switch_exclusive
So basically it's an inferior version of the Bakugan game on PS3.
Good to know. Shame too since Bakugan was a big part of my childhood. Even more so than Pokemon
Also this aged terribly
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/09/feature_dont_underestimate_bakugan_champions_of_vestroia_-_its_shaping_up_to_be_a_cool_switch_exclusive
I must say I'm surprised at the score. I at least expected it to turn out better than a 3/10.
For one, Nintendo teased and then revealed it in a special Tree House but then Nintendolife ran a feature saying
"Don't Underestimate Bakugan: Champions Of Vestroia - It's Shaping Up To Be A Cool Switch Exclusive" where Zion spoke rather highly of it.
Oof. My hype for this game is Bakugone.
They make good games when working on their own, but WayForward is a shovelware company first and foremost.
Anybody else mention the article where they said we shouldn't underestimate this game.
Lol was this the one Nintendo hyped the reveal for?
Lmaooo, isn’t this the game we totally shouldn’t sleep on? The affiliate link at the bottom makes it for me, here the game’s s**te but you can buy it on Amazon 😂😂
Wow, a game worse than Pokemon let's go pikachu? Is that even legal?
Also not a surprise at all, it's amazing how you guys tried to hype us up for this game.
Came here for the comments calling back to the article that praised this game. Was not disappointed. Unlike the fans anticipating this travesty.
They've made more bad games than good these days
@Crockin Yes.
@OorWullie Yeah, this is a shame, actually. Oh NL, you were a reliable source, but now...
OH wow its that one game no won cared about, really??? its bad I never new I thought it came be a good game I thought it could be great, But wait Didn't I know this game was going to be pure dog crap in the beginning HMMMMM.
I'm confused, why do people seem glad this game is bad? Why are people glad NL got it wrong before?
So much negativity these days.
@Heavyarms55 it all goes back to a showing that Wayforward did a few months ago (I believe it was after a Nintendo Direct, but I don’t remember). It was told that us (the fans) should not get our hopes up (which I didn’t, personally), but nobody-and I mean, nobody - was expecting it to be a Bakugan game. The comment section had a field day when that video came out. Add onto the fact that there was an article that was published on here about how we shouldn’t underestimate the game (even praising it), and ohhhh the irony in the score that was given here.
Oh WayForward... look at the mess you're in. Before, you were putting out hits like Pirate's Curse, Ducktales Remastered, and Contra 4... and now you've reduced to this.
I know a lot of people have defended this game by saying that "WayForward makes games like this to just to keep the lights on and provide funding for original games", but I'm not buying it. WayForward has proven that they can make fantastic licensed games, it's just that they need to put the effort and finesse in. Well, that and they need to stop putting all their money and work into pleasing daddy Apple and their game platform that hardly anyone uses...
Everything about this screams lame Pokemon ripoff.
Damn, only 3/10? I thought the game looked not the greatest, but I expected somewhere around a 5 or 6. Definitely will not be picking this up.
@Aronin I also can't help but feel that it was also fueled by the entitled Nintendo fanboys who though that Bakugan was going to be a new Contra, Metroid, or Wario game.
Oh no. Looks like I won't be going anywhere near this one. One to delete off the wishlist
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/55424/bakugan-champions-of-vestroia-switch-review
another kicking review
@BadlyDrawnDedede Dude if anything this is returning to WayForward's roots considering they started out making crappy licensed tie in games for popular IPs. They weren't really reduced to anything
@Heavyarms55 the impression I get personally is not that people are glad they got it wrong, more like that several people are gradually growing tired of NL's sloppiness, with them hyping this game up only to give it a 3.
I think those people are more sensing foul play, rather than being glad NL got their first impression wrong; but then again, maybe I see it this way cause I fall in this camp, too.
@clvr well the problem is caused by how many times over the years websites magazine hype something say its looking great then hammer it in a review.
I don't think that game is really bad despite i'm not a Bakugan fan.
I think it was a decent game with score at least 6 / 10.
@Anti-Matter
Some poor bugger on my Switch Friends List is playing this right now... I hope they’re getting some joy out of it.
@BadlyDrawnDedede That's true. They made some great games based on licenses. Aliens Infestation, The Mummy Demastered both come to mind.
Considering how shamelessly ye were promoting this game as "better than you think" (ie a very clear and thinly-veiled sponsored article), this falls in line with actual reviews. Shame ye sold your credibility initially, but looks like you finally saw what every reader could denounce from both the screenshots and the gameplay video: its a crap licensed game.
i mean honestly there is lots of sites you can go get your news from if its not up to your standards in here but that jumping for joy whenever something bad or they get it wrong that shizts wack.
Well, and here i was, not underestimating it.
This is why you don't write shill articles drumming up hype for a barrel of dead fish.
Was fully expecting this - the game looked bad from the start
"Joys: Looks good". Well, I strongly disagree, it looks like total garbage and just lazy apart from literally everything else being bad too.
Critics giving this a 6 or 7/10 are probably paid and if so should be ashamed of themselves.
Wayforward needs to step wayback for a spell or 2 and collect themselves from licence games.
Troll hunters and now this.
NintendoLife: "Bakugan ain't what you wanted, but it won't be THAT bad!"
The narrator: "They were right. It was even worse."
@Ziondood Get in here
Why did "Pokemon: Let's No" get me so hard? That's hilarious.
Called it the day this game was announced; not the least bit shocked either.
Wayforward deserves better projects than this sort of dreck.
Told you it’d flop.
Guess that’s what happens when you reboot the franchise and make changes.
Should of just remastered and ported the Wii game which is much better.
I will say, not for nothing, but it is curious how it does seem a lot of people treat this site, based upon their comments, as their only source as a review source when making their final decision.
Wow, wasn't expecting that. Or was i? 🤔
@graysoncharles Nonsense. The way I see it, NL gave it a chance but was honest when they got it wrong. And it's hardly limited to this topic, lately I have been really uncomfortable in the comments on here, people have become so much more negative everywhere I look on the main page. I can't even read Pokemon SWSH articles anymore. But it's spreading.
@Heavyarms55 and it is not only you observing this trend and quite frankly it is very corny i used to enjoy the comments here but now seems to be alots of smartazzes and just stright negative people in general.
Sorry moderator, but this is going to be a rant. If you want to delete this comment, go ahead.
Attacking the site, calling the credibility of all the members of NL because the article that ZION wrote, doesn't' match the opinion that the reviewer, O'Riley wrote!?
They're 2 different people with different opinions!
People gloating over a bad game that was "hyped" is weird.. This happens all the time, well on the other systems anyway. Bad or just mediocre games like Anthem, Avengers and Watch Dogs Legion(just to name a few) were hyped too.
Jeez, between this & Zoids I am super disappointed. I didn’t expect either game to be good but hoped at least they wouldn’t be terrible. When son was interested in both of these games but with these types of reviews its hard to think of wasting a single dollar on them.
WayForward are on a roll with the crappy licensed games lately. Hopefully they have enough money to pay the bills now and can get back to making some real games before they ruin their reputation.
Ok but seriously why the hell does the main charecter run like he's desperate to find a bathroom
@JRRR92 lol
For anyone curious, our original preview was hands-off, (which we stated in the preview) we only sat in on a live-streamed demo and a chat with the developers. At the time, I was optimistic, and the fact that I'm not a 7-12 year old kid meant I had to try to relax my expectations a bit.
So for the preview, I gave my honest thoughts, hopes, and explained the gameplay to the best of my ability. It's a real shame the game turned out as it did, but understand our preview was purely that, a preview.
Has anybody let a child play it and see what they thought?
Every single negative mentioned in the cons applies to Pokemon Sword and Shield.
I know Wayforward has a history of shovelware outside they're original ventures, but I think it's more like they got shafted on the IP of choice here.
Someone more into Bakugan let me know (hey, I remember it from my childhood too) but I don't think it's that relevant of an IP anymore. Let alone a popular kids IP. Kinda a shovelware property nowadays, if that makes sence?
@Joeynator3000 "hahaha, you thought it looked good, but my opinion was different, HAHAHAHA"
Right, and?
This franchise is so frustrating to me because the show is great, the toys are great, but no one behind the franchise has any understanding of videogames or card games.
You know Spinmaster haven't even made it possible for local game shops to sell Bakugan? Meaning that there's no actual community for it in the same way that the Pokemon TCG or Yu-Gi-Oh! have a community.
Bakugan deserves better honestly.
Wow look how blocky that white car is in the picture, it's like something a kid would draw.
I was actually looking forward to this as I enjoyed the Digimon games and wanted something similar to those and LBX: Little Battlers Experience on the 3DS (if only it got the sequels).
Oh well back to Pokémon Sword.
@Supadav03 Yeah I was looking into getting both but I might Zoids when it's really cheap (not sure about Bakugan though).
Oh well I'll stick to Pokémon, Digimon and Tokyo Mirrage Sessions.
A website called Tech gaming report completely plagiarized your review of this game, just so you know. And the game looks terrible, so I’m definitely gonna buy it.
Wayforward appear to be stretching themselves too thin. Back to back "meh" games between this and Troll Hunters. I hope they tighten things up for the RWBY game.
the top comment really spoke volume for what i was going to state here lmao, it's just top tier garbage, and sad that..the employees for nintendo had to state such lies, ugh..really i would've been honest :/ save people money, but then again..ugh.
So many nerds talking about an article where Zion spoke reasonably well of the game. But if you actually read more than the headline, it's just cautiously optimistic. It has a lot of the complaints here, but says the developers told them there would be more depth, plus Zion was hopeful that the developers at WayForward would be capable of making a funny, interesting story.
Being hopeful before playing the full game isn't the same as claiming it will be amazing.
@MidnightLaces How and where did any Nintendo employees speak "such lies"?
@clvr @graysoncharles @DarkTron @Einherjar @TheFrenchiestFry @Joeynator3000
I apologise in advance for tagging so many people in this reply, but I wanted to clear up some points you all seem to be confused about (I was also off the day this review went live, so I've only just seen these comments now).
As @Ziondood quite rightly states, his preview was based on a totally hands-off live stream session with the developers, not hours and hours of hands-on gameplay (that's a review, not a preview). PJ – who reviewed the game – has spent a far longer amount of time with it and therefore can be expected to give a full verdict on the quality of the game.
Would it have been fair for Zion to have attacked the game based on a preview where he had no hands-on time with it? Of course not. Previews are generally to give people a feel for upcoming titles that goes beyond simply watching a trailer and looking at some screenshots; Zion's feature did exactly that.
@Damo "Zion's feature did exactly that"
If you ask me, it frankly did not.
The headline alone, "Don't underestimate Bakugan" implies that the overall opinion of the material seen so far was unjustly lower than the title might deserve.
And as it turns out, it was not. What people saw was as unappealing at first glance as the final product turned out to be.
The headline alone implied that there should be more interest than there was. In my book, that's not a "giving a feel for upcoming titles" preview, it's an opinion piece.
And personally, i don't even mind it, as long as the author is aware that things like that might get the meme treatment if it backfires
At the end of the day, it's all in good faith.
And maybe even a learning experience about any kind of interest in licensed shovelware toy commercials ^^
@Einherjar The preview was based on Zion's impressions of the hands-off session he participated in. Given how low people's expectations were of the game when it was first announced, Zion's impression (which, again, I stress was formed without the chance to actually play the final game) was a cautiously positive one; Wayforward certainly have the talent to create a good game, so it's hardly a shock that Zion's opinion, when he came away from the session, was perhaps more positive than he expected it to be.
Attacking someone for being cautiously optimistic after a hands-off preview session seems spiteful, and goodness knows, we've had plenty of instances where a game has defied expectation in the opposite direction once the final code is in.
Zion's preview was never, ever intended to take the place of an actual review (none of our previews are), and the review is ultimately what tells you if a game is worth buying or not.
@Damo Honestly, my comment was more of a joke, since in that article I said "We'll remember this once the review is out.", lol
I just knew the game wouldn't be good just from the trailer. xD
Absolute savage.
@Heavyarms55 Apparently, we have a few cardinal sins here. Nintendo committed the first by daring to air a video of a new game from one of their development partners; even considering they said it was a new third party game and not a Nintendo property, it's some form of unforgivable sin that it wasn't, say, a new Zelda game.
Then, Nintendo Life committed the grave sin of claiming they gave WayForward the benefit of the doubt, a company with a solid track record for licensed games, solid Switch titles and snappy dialogue, HOPEFULLY could make a solid Bakugan title. And then when the game wasn't good, they admitted their disappointment that it didn't live up to their expectations.
What monsters they are, right? My god, just unforgivable. What will they do next? Tell us about the release date of a game, then later have to tell us it has changed when the developers decide to delay it? What devious fiends...!
@Deltath lol, sounds about right.
@Anti-Matter I haven't seen you in a while! Good to see you again, Anti-Matter!
Chill out maybe they will update it with better graphics
Or something
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