I haven’t played a Beyblade game in a very long time. I’ll admit that I’ve missed it as Beyblade is easily one of the greatest franchises that I have yet to really get into. Although, I suppose that playing the games and reading the manga should count as getting myself formally introduced to the franchise. It’s a lot of fun and I enjoyed the first game a lot so I was looking forward to this one. The gameplay is radically different from the Gamecube title and can’t quite match up, but it’s still fun and fairly original. The only game that I can think of, which is pretty similar to this one would be Monkey Ball and those games have less action.
The plot is a little all over the place because the game has to cover a whole bunch of episodes in a relatively short amount of time. Tyson and his friends are the world champions of Beyblade. They were on top of the world, but that’s when the new villains decide to strike. Tyson and his friends are actually defeated by these new players and must train hard in order to surpass them. The problem is that there are also two villain groups to watch out for. These guys try to steal the animal spirits that reside within the Beyblades and that makes each duel a matter of life and death. The Earth and maybe even the whole universe could be forfeit if we are not careful. Tyson’s going to have to step up his game if he wants to win.
The cutscenes don’t always mesh well with the gameplay. For example, a cutscene will end with Tyson about to fight someone and then the next level will be a standard “Reach the goal” stage. The boss fight will end up being in the next battle instead. The cutscenes also seem to come at random points and a lot of battles happen off screen. The actual plot is still fun though and Tyson learns that illegally modifying his Beyblade is not a good idea. He has to win like a main character and that’s what he ends up doing. It solidifies the fact that the Beyblade shows are definitely very good.
The soundtrack is very catchy as they seem to have thrown in one of the theme songs or at least a lyrical piece that fits well with the gameplay. It can be hard to hear what they are saying, but there are very few GBA games that have the budget needed to put in a full song so that’s neat. By the end of the game, you’ll have heard it many times and will be ready to recite the beat from memory. It gave the game a little extra boost of excitement.
As for the graphics, they certainly aren’t anything special, but they’re not bad either. They’re simple and to the point. The backgrounds are all fairly distinct and you can tell which Beyblade you are playing as at all times. The game does seem to have a bit of a low budget though as there aren’t many character models. It just reuses the same pictures constantly in the cutscenes and likewise with the gameplay. The game is still easy to look at so I’ll count it as a win in my book.
Now, let’s finally take a look at the gameplay. As I mentioned earlier, it’s very similar to Monkey Ball. The game is looked at from an overhead view and you have to roll the Beyblade to the end of the course. There are a lot of tight turns so you want to take your time, but you also need to go a little quickly towards the end if you want to beat the “par” time. It’s not necessary, but that’s how you unlock the bonus levels. There will occasionally be minions that you can fight by bumping them off the stage or until they top spinning or you can just skip them. I advise just avoiding the fights unless you need to bump into the other Beyblades to get through.
Boss fights are extremely easy to the point where I wonder if the developers thought about them. Maybe the gameplay just didn’t work very well in that area. The bosses are just other tops that are slightly bigger than yours and you smash them until they stop spinning. It’s extremely easy as bumping into them is all that you need to do to win. Typically, you can win these levels in around 20-30 seconds with ease. The final boss is very anticlimactic because he is no stronger than any of the other bosses. You can just apply the same strategy and still win on your very first try.
There’s not a whole lot of replay value to be found here. You can replay the levels again to try and reach the par time and unlock the bonus levels. Furthermore, you can go through all of the levels and gather the items. Beyond that, there’s not much else to do. The gameplay is a lot of fun so you can work on your hand eye coordination by playing the levels. It takes a lot of concentration not to fall while you are on the tougher levels. It’s one of the reasons why this style of game is so good because it does feel like you are actually improving as you play it.
I got the game for around a dollar at Gamestop and I can safely say that I am pleased with my purchase. It’s certainly not as good as the Gamecube title, but it was a fun ride and it lasted for most of a car trip. The game was probably around 60-90 minutes in length although it could take a little longer if you end up getting stuck on any of the levels. You will never be stuck for very long though as you are almost guaranteed to be able to find a way past the stage as you continue to give it a shot. The items and enemies don’t move around so repetition will help you find out what the best strategy is.
Overall, Beyblade VForce was a fun game. I almost forgot that I had it in the backlog for a while and it was merely by chance that I finally got to give it a whirl. I definitely won’t be forgetting this classic anytime soon. It was a good game and while it is very short, you can get it for a very good price so I’d recommend taking the plunge. I aim to buy the next game at some point in the future, but until then it’s back to Flip’s Twisted World! Perhaps the extra experience with precision has also helped to sharpen my mind to solve all of Flip’s mysteries. We shall see!
Overall 7/10
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Holy moly, I used to watch the original series when I was a kid. The memories, so good!
I’ve always wanted to watch the series, but I haven’t been able to get around to it yet. It’s on a list of franchises that I know that I will see someday, but am not sure when along with Bakugan, Ben 10, My Little Pony, Power Rangers, Duel Masters and Ultraman. Those franchises just look pretty neat, but they’re all fairly big so I need to bide my time. Until then, the games and comics have been a fun way to start to learn the story a little.
Ohh that’s definitely a list, ohh ben 10 is also really good, used to come on cartoon network when I was smaller.
I don’t know how I missed it back in the day! I watched Cartoon Network a lot for Pokemon and Justice League, but Ben 10 never ended up playing while I was on TV. Ah well, I was probably playing video games in the room at that point.
Omg justice league is awesome too, did you watch Young Justice League?
Definitely, I thought that it was pretty great! Justice League is still my favorite superhero cartoon of all time, but Young Justice really did a good job of bringing in a great amount of plot and making the characters likable. The animation was also solid and much better than the recent DC shows that I’ve seen. (Teen Titans GO….) Yeah, I was definitely disappointed that Young Justice didn’t keep going. The Darkseid plot was really getting intense! I take it that you saw the Invasion arc right?
Dude, I really REALLY wanted Young Justice to carry on, there was literally zero reason for it to stop. I really liked the concept of up and coming heroes doing good. Original Teen Titans was so good too, I loved robin and all of the other 4. I think my favourite would probably have been beast boy.
Definitely! At least we got the video game which bridges the gap between the two seasons, but we really needed more closure. Hopefully they can come up with a film or something to end it out someday. The original Teen Titans was certainly a blast. Robin was definitely my favorite hero of the group, but I’ve loved him in just about every continuity. I still remember really liking the episode where Starfire goes into the future and teams up with Nightwing and the future versions of the other characters. The show could get very intense and plot driven when necessary. It got 5 seasons, which was very impressive.
All these memories of these shows whilst I was still in high school! Sooo Good! haha, Have you heard of Megas XLR? probably my best loved highschool cartoon at the time.
Oh yeah, I’ve definitely heard of it along with the infamous Reset Button that the characters have. They always aired ads for the show while I was watching Megaman NT Warrior. It definitely looked like fun and I’m always up for some good robot action. That’s another good show to check out someday. Perhaps Toonami will air it as that was how I finally got to check out Samurai Jack and Symbiotic Titan. That animation style seems to be enjoyed on that block and airing this one would be fun. The characters fought a few times on the blog so I got to do a little extra research on the show. Megaman and Pokemon were two shows that I really loved in those days and I was also gearing up to start Naruto at the time. I started it around the time that Shippuden was starting and I remember that I had to literally wait years for it to get dubbed. That was definitely a long wait.
Yeah hah, I knew nothing about anime/manga at that time. I was so out of the loop them. I don’t think I have Toonami, I don’t watch TV as much as I used to, just YouTube is literally the only videos I watch. Samurai Jack is also on my watch list, I’ll watch it when I get time. So many kid shows I grew up with, I usually just watched random episodes all the time lol.
I barely even knew what anime was at the time. I just thought that the difference between a cartoon and an anime was that anime characters have bigger eyes. They’re just distinctive in that sense. I watch TV moderately, for some anime and shows, but mostly movies and then Youtube is for most of my anime. Especially Cardfight and Buddyfight as they are streamed a day before they air in Japan through the official Youtube channel. That’s always fun since shows never used to get dubbed so quickly. The kid shows back in the day were so fun. I feel like today’s shows for kids aren’t quite as good although lately they’ve been getting some fun ones. Like Transformers and Sonic Boom.
Kid shows now a day are so stupid, it’s nothing like the good old days. Cartoon Network was a god send, now it’s just crap with nothing but censored stuff. And yeah, I thought the same, just eyes gave it away.
I have to wince whenever I see an episode of Adventure Time or one of the new cartoons airing for sure. Teen Titans Go is another example of this. Nowadays, the cartoons like just exaggerating the humor and not even bothering to have a plot. It’s sad and it shows that they don’t consider the kids to be very smart anymore. Nothing beats the 90’s/early 2000’s for sure.
Totally agree, I’ve seen the first episode for Adventure Time, I don’t really get it. I don’t quite see what other people see in the series. I might have to give it more time, we’ll see if I can find time to watch it.
Yeah, it has a big fanbase so I should give it more of a shot someday. I like how crazy it can get, but the characters don’t seem very likable to me at the moment. Of course, that could always change. I saw part of one episode for Avatar once and it happened to be not so good which left me with a negative impression of the show for a while even though it seems pretty decent on the whole. That’s another show that I need to check out someday.
Yeah also what I think, I think with these type of shows, it’s a matter of what a person might like, and what they’re into etc. If its anime you like then I guess an american show most likely won’t appeal to you, vice versa.
True, and I have always had a big preference for anime! That being said, I love the super hero genre as well. Aside from that, it is true that I’m not really into any american animated shows that are based on original content. All of the ones that I watch tend to be based on a video game, comic, movie, etc. When I was a kid I saw Arthur, Clifford, and the others, but I don’t think that I’ve ever seen an original American cartoon from start to finish with the exception of Samurai Jack and Symbiotic Titan. (Those two were quite good though)
What about Avatar? And Legend of Korra?
I still haven’t gotten around to those. I saw a clip of Avatar a while back, but I’ve never actually seen a whole episode. It’ll be good to check that one out someday as the concept is sound. I take it that you’ve seen those shows?
I’ve seen bits and bobs whilst I was young of the original, then tried my hands on Korra but couldn’t find a lot of time. I’ve heard a lot of good stuff from them.
Gotcha, the shows definitely have a very good reputation. I own one of the video games and it was pretty fun. Even if I don’t see the shows for a little while longer, I do plan to get the video game sequel on the Gamecube at some point.