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