Monster Mash: Bakugan: Defenders of the Core Review

It’s been over a year since Bakugan first made its gaming debut with Bakugan: Battle Brawlers. Enthralled with the concept of Bakugan’s skill-meets-strategy gameplay, I tried it and enjoyed it, despite a few foundational flaws. I had been looking forward to an inevitable sequel to iron out the creases, but when I booted up Bakugan: Defenders of the Core, I was surprised to find my Bakugan had been fraternizing with Metal Gear and Dragonball Z to create something…different.

The new game takes place in an alternate universe where the Vexos have successfully defeated the Bakugan Brawlers, by taking away their ability to control Bakugan.  Since your unnamed avatar is from our reality, allowing him to be immune to the Vexos crystals used to sap Brawlers of their fighting spirit, it is up to you to collect all of the Bakugan and use them to defeat the Vexos and return to your own world.  Basically, the story is a plot device that allows the player to interact with the main characters and control all of their iconic Bakugan from the TV show without breaking continuity.

Defenders of the Core sheds every element of its predecessor. The marble-slinging strategy battles have been replaced by third-person brawler stages, strung together by light stealth segments. The graphics engine seems to have been updated, slightly, as the arenas and fighters look a lot more colorful and detailed. The core concept of the game is to pit two giant Bakugan against one another while ignoring collateral damage to the neighboring community. Think King of the Monsters, only with more anime children. Battles will seem familiar to anyone who has played DragonBall Z: Boudakai – they are fast paced, fun, but also pretty mash-heavy. Combos are simply variations of hitting High and Low attack four times, and each button press feels more like a suggestion than a command. Most fights can be one simply by slamming the Square button over and over while occasionally hitting the block button to break a combo.  Occasionally, the player is tasked with defending a monument or destroying a building, but for the most part, you just focus on making your giant monster throw punches at the other giant monster until it falls down. The game is at its best when you are forced to deal with multiple targets at once, but unfortunately, these scenarios are so few and far between that the game never gives itself the opportunity to become challenging.

In between Bakugan fights, you’ll have to navigate corridors filled with guards and security cameras without being seen.  During these stages, you will collect Core Fragments, which can be used before battle to level up your Bakugan, and Ability Cards, which give you a chargeable special attack or can temporarily boost a Bakugan’s attributes.  Enemy line of sight is represented by cones-of-vision projected onto the floor.  As long as you avoid stepping on the red while you collect your Core Fragments, you’re fine.  Every now and again, you’ll need to throw your Bakugan to distract a guard, hit a switch or grab an out-of-reach item, but for all intents and purposes, you are basically playing a game of Stealth Pacman – and it’s very hard to lose.

Street Fighter meets Metal Gear, it is not, but given the TV show’s 8-13 year old audience, the over-simplified systems could be considered a bullet point.  Although I can’t say that I personally enjoyed Defenders of the Core, I will say that I could see myself dropping $40 to play it with my younger cousins.  The simple battle mechanics level the playing field enough that younger players should have an easy time navigating the story mode, and will feel proficient when playing against their friends.  Also, what 13-year-old doesn’t want to play as a giant dragon stomping over buildings in Tokyo?

Although I personally would have loved to see a more direct sequel to Battle Brawlers, I find myself asking the question “to kids watch Yu-Gi-Oh to see the cards or to watch a Blue-Eyes White Dragon beat up a giant rock dude?”  Knowing that the later is probably the case more often than not, it doesn’t really surprise me that Activision would make a fighting game based on a TV show about cards and marbles.  My personal recommendation still lies with the original Bakugan: Battle Brawlers, but little Bakufans might have more fun busting down buildings and punching Golems in the teeth.