Bakugan: Defenders of the Core

Lore & Background

The game's plot follows a separate story arc from the anime, in which the Resistance must protect Earth from a furious assault by the Vexos, who are slowly taking over in order to destroy all of the Resistance's havens and Drago, who contains the Perfect Core that the Vexos are searching for. The player travels the world in Story Mode to collect Core Fragments while evading security drones, using Bakugan to disarm laser traps and other security devices.

Reader's Guide

Bakugan: Defenders of the Core is notable for its split gameplay: stealth sections where the player sneaks around enemy-occupied territory, and third-person brawler sections centered around mixing light and heavy combos. Battle Mode uses a fighting engine similar to Dragon Ball Z games and ability cards for powerful attacks. Up to twenty Bakugan can be captured and used in Battle Mode, which features three different gamemodes. Reception varied by platform: the DS, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions received 'mixed' reviews according to Metacritic, while the PlayStation Portable received positive reviews according to Game Rankings. In Japan, Famitsu gave the DS version a score of 27 out of 40.

Did You Know?

• The game is based on Bakugan: New Vestroia despite its title.
• It was released for DS, Wii, PSP, PS3, and Xbox 360 in 2010.
• Battle Mode uses a fighting engine similar to Dragon Ball Z games.
• The PlayStation Portable version received positive reviews according to Game Rankings.