Beyblade Grevolution (GBA) (Beyblade Grevolution (GBA))

Member Name: thole09

Product:	Beyblade Grevolution (GBA)
Date:	26/04/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Accurate to anime series

Disadvantages: Gameplay, Graphics, Audio

"Beyblade G-Revolution" is a video game released for the Gameboy Advance console in 2004 by Atari. It is based on the popular Japanese anime series of the same name. In the United States, the game received a rating of "E" by the ESRB panel which deemed it suitable for all ages.

Primarily focusing on battles, the gameplay of this title reflects the series' premise in that young children construct spinning tops known as "Beyblades" to do friendly battles with one another. To guide these tops, they are enhanced with magical spirits which can detect and do damage to another spirit in its vicinity. It is very much like a fuse between "Scrapheap Challenge" and "Robot Wars" with the player being required to buy, sell and find parts for his or her Beyblade. Unfortunately, none of these parts appear to change any characteristic of the spinning top in terms of damage output or defense mechanisms. Battles are won by reducing the opponent's top to a standstill or removing it from the arena of play. Outside of these battles there is a roleplaying type game where players travel from arena to arena and repairing or upgrading their Beyblade though as previously mentioned these upgrades have no noticeable impact on actual gameplay.

The graphics of this title are highly repetitive and poorly implemented. Each arena of battle is identical in design and it is difficult to differentiate between the various Beyblades in play. Despite the requirement of reducing the opponent's RPM measure to zero, there is no noticeable change in spinning speed to the top during this lowering; a 1,000 RPM top will spin at the same speed of a 10,000 RPM top. The battles are presented from a top down perspective and outer world interaction is of a similar perspective which bears resemblance to other popular roleplaying games. Throughout the game the player will travel to foreign lands to compete in Beyblade tournaments and each town is identical in design. There is no obvious differentiation between buildings and it is quite easy to become lost when looking for an upgrade shop or traveling to a fellow combatant's home. The audio is also of a poor standard with frequently repeated guitar compositions and grinding battle sound effects which become an annoyance to listen to.

Overall, I would not recommend this game to prospective buyers. It could perhaps appeal to fans of the Beyblade series but would otherwise be seen as bothersome by those outside of this market.

Summary: Thumbs down