Bakugan Battle Arena Product Review

Reviewed by Mel S-W

We were delighted to receive the Bakugan Battle Arena.   The set arrived, quickly and very securely packaged and in great condition.  My son couldn’t wait to get his hands on it and play and was pleased it wasn’t wrapped in any unnecessary cellophane.

The set comes with a number of pieces to put together at home….. How it all fit into the box is beyond me ! Inside were the components for the deluxe arena, 1 Special Attack Bakugan, 2 Clan Flags, 3 Sparring Totems, 1 Character Card, 1 Special Attack Card, 2 Gate Cards, 1 XL Ripcord and 1x Bakugan Token.

The game play is different every time and you get a different outcome every time.  The Special Attack Bakugan launches off the XL ripcord and slides, spins and moves all around the battle arena at speed.  There are a number of obstacles such as spinners and paddles which means you have no idea where the Bakugan ball will end up or how the battle will end! It is exciting and kept my little boy engaged.  With only the contents of the box, it meant that we weren’t able to complete a battle as we only had 1 special attack Bakugan but we could see how this bounced off the obstacles and how much fun it would be.

The instructions contained in the box were a little vague.  There were a number of pictures showing you how to connect the arena together. It was fairly self explanatory, the pieces clipped together fairly well and the picture on the front of the box helped.  There were a few of the red pieces of the arena that didn’t clip in as well as I’d expect.  There were plenty of sections to store the Bakugans around the edge of the play arena, but it would have been good having some illustrations or logos that can be stuck to the arena, even if there could have been some inserts that could be pressed out of the sections of the box and added around the arena.

The play instructions were included in a tiny booklet and I had to go online to find out how to battle.  So … How to play… each person chooses an unopened bakugan to battle with.  The battlers count down and shout “Bakugan brawl” however we just shouted BATTLE!!!  Then spin or roll the Bakugan onto the playing area across the gate card score zone.  If your Bakugan opens, you score.  If both Bakugans open in the battle you scored based on which Gate Card it lands on.  The gate cards are magnetic so randomly allow the Bakugan to open, it’s great to see.

The Bakugan Arena comes with a phone holder so you can record your battles and watch them back afterwards.  Sometimes using the ripcord, they spin so fast and we were able to record them in slow motion.  The set can grow and grow and you can purchase extra sets, training kits and Special Attack Bakugan.

What I liked about the Bakugan Arena playset was that it can connect up with online games.  Each set has a code where you can interact with the online game Roblox.  We don’t play this as a family so I can’t comment on how this interacts but I like the thought of this game interacting with another game format.

Rating 3.5 out of 5 – this is something to invest in and would be great to have other friends or family to get involved in it so the battles can be better.  Haven’t given it a 4 out of 5 as it would have been better to have another special attack ball.

RRP £39.99. We had so much playing this but for the money it would have been good to have been good to have more of the Special Attack Bakugan or some more gate cards.  It’s great that the game can change and you can add to it but for the money, I would have liked more to be included.  It would be on the high side for a game such as this where the expansion possibilities are numerous.

The product can be purchased from Amazon and other retailers https://www.amazon.co.uk

Rating: 3.5/5