Beyblade Burst Rivals 899.9999.9999

A puzzle game with a Beyblade theme

Among the various toy franchises that have come from Japan, Beyblade has enjoyed steady success despite not being as popular as it's contemporaries. With the rise of mobile games, it’s no surprise that Beyblade is trying to cash in on the trend by making its own. That game is Beyblade Burst Rivals by Epic Story Interactive. However, unlike card games like Yu-gi-oh or video games like Pokemon,Beyblade requires an actual physical Beyblade toy to play with. Is Beyblade Burst Rivals a good version of the toy as a mobile game?

Traditional Beyblade

Beyblade is a spinning top toy by Takara Tomy that two people can use to battle each other. A Beyblade match involves two players with their own Beys. Both players will release the Bey onto a Beystadium and victory is determined by a simple points system. Watching the two tops battle each other is what makes Beyblade so enjoyable, so how does Beyblade Burst Rivals bring this concept to a mobile game format?

Beyblade-themed Puzzle Game

The answer is that it didn’t actually do it. Sure, the aesthetics of the game still has a lot of Beyblade elements, but the gameplay is clearly just apuzzle game. In Beyblade Burst Rival, the combat screen is split in two. At the top of part, you will see the two fighting Beys. Below that is just a standard matching puzzle game. Your objective is to match tiles to give your Beyblade power-ups. When you successfully match tiles, you will get an animation at the top part of the screen showing your Bey making powerful attacks or special moves. Needless to say that if you were in this for Beyblade, you’re going to be mightily disappointed as this game could have been about any other subject and it would have been just the same.

Good Puzzle Game?

As a standard puzzle game, however, it’s not too bad. The graphics and animation are nice and fluid, and it features pleasant music that’s good for thinking. While the game lacks voiceover dubbings, it's dialogues are easy to read and understand. The only major issue with this game is that it really doesn’t have anything to do with Beyblade.

Beyblade Burst Rivals is an acceptable puzzle game, but as a Beyblade game, it’s lackluster. It’s really baffling how the game developers thought that a match 3 puzzle game was the best way to adopt a spinning top toy into a mobile game. It’s nice to collect different Beyblades, but other than that. It can definitely be skipped.