During today's Nintendo Treehouse livestream focusing on Paper Mario: The Origami King combat gameplay, a special announcement was made. At the back end of the live stream, a new game was announced for a franchise seeing a resurgence in recent years. Introducing Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia, a Nintendo Switch exclusive battling game based on the Bakugan reboot that kicked off in 2018.
Bakugan got its start all the way back in 2006 as a combo animated series and toy competition game. It blended elements of Yugioh, Pokemon, and Digimon, as well as future products like Beyblades. It mixes cards, as well as toys that can be rolled like a ball, to create a surprisingly complicated but still fun gaming experience. The game ultimately struggled, however, and ended up being rebooted in 2018 as Bakugan: Battle Planet.
Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia is an original game that builds off of the Bakugan: Battle Planet animated TV show. So while Bakugan fans will be able to appreciate the expanded world and story, it's also perfect for new players, too.
As for what kind of game Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia is, it's an action-RPG at its heart. It features an open-world-like design allowing players to explore and battle at their own pace. And it features huge battles with giant Bakugan summons, too.
Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia is being developed by WayForward Technologies, which is best known for its recent work on the Shantae games. It's also known for dozens of different licensed game releases, however, making it the perfect fit for Bakugan. Bakugan is working with the creators of the Bakugan game, Spin Master, which coincidentally has Reggie Fils Amie on its board. The game is being published by Warner Bros., of all publishers. It's an interesting group of involved parties, to say the least.
While Bakugan is likely to be well received by its intensely loyal fanbase, there is some controversy related to its launch. An announcement had been teased for this Nintendo Direct and, as Nintendo fans are wont to do, there was a lot of unfair hype for the announcement. That the game being announced was Bakugan hasn't gone over well with these die-hard Nintendo fans. The dry spell of big Nintendo Direct events may be contributing to the problem. Bakugan, unfortunately, just got caught in the crossfire.
Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia releases November 3 on Nintendo Switch.