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Two years after its Japanese release, this game finally made it to the States. And like,
two million years after their extinction, a dinosaur has returned to reclaim the planet
or something. And beware, humans! Because he’s going to do it...with a top.
Welcome to anime. And welcome to Beyblade: Metal Masters.
Based on the anime series of the same name, Beyblade: Metal Masters is a strange freaking
game. I mean, it’s like some kind of fighter with tops. So I guess...imagine a Pokémon
game, only the characters battle with toys instead of electronic rodents.
Of course, one of the key differences between Beyblade and Pokémon is that you’re actually
in control of the combat in this one. You move your top around the arena with the d-pad,
the goal being to either destroy the opposing top or knock it out of the arena entirely.
So it’s kinda like, you can also win via count out.
Although...the title cannot change hands.
And honestly, it looks a lot more interesting than it actually is. Yes, you can unlock a
bunch of different characters and tops—more than 30, in fact. And yes, you can also choose
which top to face which prior to the combat. But when it comes down to the actual gameplay,
I mean...this is about as repetitive as possible.
But one of the more interesting things about Beyblade is that you can customize the performance
of your top. And furthermore, before each match, you have a brief amount of time to
optimize your top in three areas by mashing some buttons as fast as possible. And the
results of the mashing have a real effect on your top’s performance.
Sadly, while that starts as a cool idea, it gets annoying after just a few rounds. And
the same can be said for much of this game. It’s nice to see new games still coming
to the DS, and although it’s a weird one, Beyblade: Metal Masters is a game that fans
of the anime will eat right up. But objectively speaking, the quality doesn’t quite match
the weirdness.