As they say in the business, Bakugan is ‘hot’ right now. More than 55 million Bakugan toys were sold in 2008, meaning that every four seconds; one Bakugan toy is bought in the US. Just like any other popular playthings, Bakugan has its own cartoon show as well, and it’s the top game for boys ages 6 to 12. So what IS Bakugan, anyway? Well, it’s like a cross between a collectible trading card game such as Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon, mixed with the classic playground game of…marbles?!? Yup, marbles! Marbles that turn into…monsters! No wonder why it’s so popular with the kids. And now young fans can enjoy their Bakugan in a whole new way with Battle Trainer on the DS.

Bakugan: Battle Trainer isn’t like playing the actual toy game on your DS. It has some elements from the battles, but also takes aspects from virtual pet simulators and arcade style mini-games.

The game features characters from the cartoon show, and the story in Battle Trainer goes that aliens have kidnapped the kids’ Bakugan, so it’s up to the main hero character to teleport to their mothership and rescue all the Bakugan monsters.

Before teleporting to the mothership for a battle, you first must train your Bakugan back at home base. But before you can train, you have to make your Bakugan happy. You do this by blowing into the microphone to roll them around, tapping them with the stylus to bounce them, or rubbing them on the touch screen to ‘pet’ them.

Once your Bakugan is fully happy, they’re ready to be trained! To do this, you’ll play a mini-game. These games include tapping targets on the touch screen, rolling your Bakugan marble through a maze, or avoiding obstacles in a high speed race. Successfully completing these mini-games will increase your Bakugan’s G-Power, as well as let you choose a new item to use in battle. Once your Bakugan team is fully trained and rearing to go, it’s time to teleport to the alien mothership for a Bakugan battle!

Battle Trainer fights don’t use trading cards or marble rolling like the actual toys do, but the RPG elements are in place. You fight in teams of three, and you and your opponent select one each for a one-on-one battle. Use the items you earned from training to increase your G-Power, but you can only use two items per turn. Also, every Bakugan is associated with an element like fire or water, and some Bakugan are weak against other elements, so you must use a bit of strategy when pitting two in battle. Whichever Bakugan has the highest G-Power number will win the fight. Defeat all three of your opponent’s Bakugan to win. Your Bakugan will level up and you’ll win a new Bakugan monster (30 in all). Then it’s back to home base for more training for the next battle!

While Bakugan: Battle Trainer is easy to understand, play control when rolling your marble around with the stylus isn’t as responsive as what it could have been. It also would’ve been nice to be able to link up with another DS for two player battles or mini-game competitions. Someone who doesn’t know much about Bakugan probably wouldn’t like this game as much, but fans of the toys would really get into this.

Kid Factor:

Bakugan: Battle Trainer is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence. Monsters make attacking motions and winces on the top screen, but that’s it. Reading skill is a must with all the text. Once nice thing about Bakugan is it’s a bit easier to understand than something like Yu-Gi-Oh, so younger gamers should enjoy it more.

Tags: Game Reviews