GENRE
	Card Battle
	DEVELOPER
	Now Production
	PUBLISHER
	Activision
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	No
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard scoring criteria.

The Bakugan product line is obviously trying to follow in the steps of Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh by creating a mammoth multimedia empire that generates revenue through television, toys, cards, and video games. While the merits of the former three can be debated elsewhere, the digital pillar of this up and coming franchise is surprisingly strong on Wii.

However, before Pikachu and company start looking over their shoulders, one thing needs to be said: the premise is a mish-mash of bygone children’s anime and is most likely not going to do much to attract a post-pubescent audience. Here’s a quick run-down: monsters, or Bakugan, from another dimension have appeared on Earth, where they transform into balls and allow themselves to be thrown onto card-covered grids by overly energetic kids, all in the name of a needlessly dramatic game with far-reaching consequences. Some gamers might laugh at this, but they aren’t the intended audience. Battle Brawlers is a kids' game through and through.

The real meat of the game is found in the story mode, which presents an original plot concerning a player-created character as the protagonist and the cast of show in supporting roles. The hero is new to the game of Bakugan when he meets up with the show's cast, who show him the ropes before he has a chance encounter with a mysterious, powerful, and frighteningly aggressive new monster called Leonidas, who wants nothing more than to beat up fellow monsters. While the story won’t win any Pulitzer prizes, it is presented rather well with lots of energetic voice acting and decent cinemas, so fans of the show will probably be pleased. Much like the voice acting, the graphics do an admirable job of capturing the style of the anime; the environments are rather bland, but the character and monster models are rendered with great detail in the same cell-shaded style that has made many recent anime based games a pleasure to view.

Outside of the story, most of the game will be divided between battling and preparing for more battling. Preparation largely consists of visiting the store to pick up new cards and Bakugan or power up already owned Bakugan. With that out of the way, gamers can move onto battling in the park for practice and extra points to spend in the shop, or they can swing on by the stadium to make their way through the newest tournament and progress the story.

As for the battles, they can initially seem a little complicated, but the flow of the game comes pretty quickly. Players and the opposition start by selecting Gate Cards to place on the field; they serve as the target for where to throw the Bakugan balls and also grant stat bonuses to the Bakugan standing on them. In a nice touch, throwing the Bakugan is actually done by making a throwing motion with the Wii Remote, though most of the finer maneuvers are handled after the throw with buttons. The ultimate goal of each match is to capture three Gate Cards, either by getting two friendly Bakugan onto one card or battling an enemy Bakugan stationed on the same card. Generally, the former can only be done if an opponent misses a throw, so battling is the most common means for achieving victory.

Once two Bakugan actually face off, the experience is actually quite mediocre and not nearly as dynamic as one might hope. Fights begin with the bonuses from the gate card that is being fought on; some cards will give particular elements and Bakugan huge bonuses, so there is definitely an incentive to strategically selecting which cards and monsters to play. After that, players will get the chance to play modifier cards to further power up their Bakugan’s G-Power, the number that ultimately decides the victor. Finally, before each monster launches its attack, the gamer is treated to a one of several minigames that will further add to their Bakugan’s G-Power and has no actual context within the game itself. Some minigames are purely annoying and unnecessary, such as the one that has you violently shaking your Wii Remote, while some are kind of enjoyable, like the simple rhythm game that is made more challenging by having nothing to do with the music being played, and others that are legitimately fun, like the minigame that has the player shooting symbols that match their Bakugan’s element with the Wii Remote’s IR pointer. The better the player performs during these minigames, the more G-Power their Bakugan receives.

But here’s the problem: for most fights, the AI can’t even come close to matching the player’s performance during the minigames, so strategy often plays second fiddle to how quickly the player can shake their controller. Furthermore, each Bakugan’s animations are very limited so it doesn’t take too long for the solid graphics to be overwhelmed by sheer redundancy. Finally, while tag team fights and four contender free-for-alls are included for good measure, the basic gameplay and strategies remain constant regardless of the set-up.

Bakugan Battle Brawlers has one more strike going against it: no online play. Four players can battle locally, but this style of game just screams for online play so gamers can show off their custom-built players and decks.

However, even with its many apparent faults, one can’t help but respect the sheer energy of Bakugan’s presentation and remember that younger crowds are much more likely to be satisfied by the solid gameplay, regardless of how redundant it actually is. Bakugan Battle Brawlers is ultimately a silly game based on a silly premise, but the end product's decent enough to satisfy plenty of kids who think the show and cards are the greatest thing since the last monster-collecting/card-battling anime fad.

7.0/10