Beyblade Burst

Beyblade Burst is one of many games based on the popular anime and toy series. Thanks to my son, I have played many of the games and the one we are looking at today is actually a solid representation of the toys and the show. It is the kind of game that makes a very strong first impression, but I do have to warn you that while this game serves as a good way of getting into the series, only diehard fans will probably be the ones who stick with it all the way until the end.

A New Beyblade Kid In Town

The story being told here in Beyblade Burst is not going to blow you away and it is about as predictable as they come. However, I do feel that it captures the spirit of the TV show fairly well and my son who was 9 at the time this came out was really into it. Basically, we are the new guy in town and we want to make friends and find new parts for our Beyblades and of course, enter some competitions along the way. While it is not super exciting, I do think it makes the player feel like they are in this world.

Perhaps A Little Too Faithful

In case you do not know what Beyblade is let me tell you. It is basically a fancy version of spinning tops. Beyblade masters use these in a battle arena where they zip them in and then they battle it out. Each Beyblade has its own stats and abilities and ultimately you want to defeat your opponent before they defeat you. I do feel that Beyblade Burst does a solid job of teaching the player how to play, without making experienced Beyblade fans feel like they are being treated like a noob.

The Gimmicks Make The Game

Beyblade Burst is on the Nintendo 3DS and it actually makes good use of the Nintendo 3DS’s features. You have to physically aim your console when you are getting ready to fire your Beyblade. It may not sound like much, but at first, this is awesome stuff and the way you have to actually “rip” them to make them zoom forward is awesome. The problem is outside of walking around town and doing that kind of stuff, the actual battles have you doing the same thing over and over again. Most of the "skill” comes from knowing when the right time to use your spirit power is.

Kind Of Like The Show

As I said, my son is a big Beyblade fan and he actually played Beyblade Burst all the way through. He said it was like the show in how it looked, but from what I saw while it did have the same characters as the show and the same kind of anime style, it was a bit washed out. I think the game could have done with some actual cut scenes too instead of the visual novel way of moving the story along. I will say that the game has a kickass soundtrack and the voice acting sounded pretty faithful to the show.

Pros:

• I liked using the gyroscope features of the 3DS in the game
• The soundtrack is pretty badass
• It does a good job of making you feel like a character in the show
• I like the way the battles are very similar to playing with the toys

Cons:

• While it does look like the show, the whole game has a kind of washed out look
• The game is not bad, but it is very, very repetitive