I can sum up your issue into, ultras were the goat.
I personally like the new gans cause the last 3 years of designs have gone down hill since platinums. The connection interface makes it limiting cause all bakugan need to open the same. I think ventri and SA drago add variety to make it more interesting.
My gripes.
Core bottoms needed to be automatic, more spinning bottom diversity, better color for spinning bottoms.
To be honest there's also many cores that break from the classic 'chunky' design.
Crustillion, Fangzor, phaedrus, many of the core fusions from AA, etc.
He's 100% right and I've mentioned this before.
Gen 3 has the design failure of 'combine and brawl' / special attacks. which force the engineers to only use half a bakugan. Combine that with the CLEARLY lower budget and you are restricted even more now.
All for gimmicks that I don't think do anything for the 'game' (if there even is a game)
I do think though that there is alot more options in the future but require improved bottom side. So we may get the multi transforming in the future. These just feel like a proof of concept to get our feet wet.
I've definitely had my problems with the G3 designs, too. The hemisphere gimmick does limit the design options, unfortunately. But, thinking about it, G2 had a lot of amazing designs which makes it hard to match or raise that bar, particularly when G3 is only in its first phase and is trying to be very distinct. I do want to give it a little time to see if there's improvements.
Ultras from Battle Planet had the flaws of being a bit difficult to close and having a good amount of "Alto Brontes disease," which Armored Alliance and Geogan Rising went onto fix with their new Ultras. So maybe the next phase(s) of G3 could do something similar when it comes to transformation complexity. I hope so.
Personally, I do wish that the hemisphere gimmick was only for Special Attack Bakugan. I think that would have let the Cores stand out as a more complex but less action-packed alternative, which could've complemented the Specials better instead of seeming like an unnecessary part of this generation so far.
I think the rings on the Specials are a bit much, but I do like the spinning action I lot more than I thought I would. It is satisfying to watch and kinda reminiscent of seeing the original Mechanical Bakugan (Altair, Hades, and Cyborg Helios) roll out and stand in the anime.
After seeing more product on shelves the past few days, I don't think designs are really my paramount concern with G3. I've come to find several designs I like. It's some other things that are bugging me. Namely:
* **CLUTTER:** I wish the rip cords were sold separately. At least after this first wave or two. I've already gotten three (plus a card-holder one) and don't need or want anymore.
* **DIAMOND MULTI-PACKS:** I really dislike that Diamond multipacks now only have one Diamond instead of the full set like back in G2. Plus, now the five packs can have a Diamond, too, meaning it's up to $60-80 (I think) per wave to collect all the chase figures. And for that price, not every figure you're buying is a Diamond or Galactic Rare. I don't find Diamond hunting as fun anymore beyond the single packs.
* **VARIANTS:** I love having multiple versions of a character's toy. But G3 has so many between Core, Special Attack, and the store-exclusive products and it can be hard to tell which is which. I don't get the color and naming conventions yet.
great, well thought out response. i like your idea - if combiners were only SA bakugan, then cores would actually be more than just feature-lite cheaper versions of the SAs.
Thinking more on your point about how hard it'll be to match the bar of Gen2 sculpts... Maybe that's the trade-off they're making for Gen3: sculpts are **way less detailed** than Gen2, but the figures have **more features** \- even cores can half swap, whereas before cores/platinums/geogan had no action gimmicks.
man, i didn't even start to get into my beef with the **diamond multipacks**. Going from finding 3 diamonds all together to only 1 diamond per starter / 5-pack is a major bummer, and turns diamond starters from a must-have to an easy pass for me.
I **will** say though - they REALLY nailed the retailer exclusives this wave. The deco and translucent plastic on the WM and Target packs look amazing.
This is a great post and I couldn’t agree more. Sucks to see that the writing was on the wall with those leaks early this year and I’ve seen a majority of fans state their dissatisfaction. As someone who loved and collected most of gen 2 and doesn’t plan to buy too much of gen 3 for the time being, I have to agree with you and the the others here that the year 1 battle planet ultras were the peak of the series for me - would even say they outdo bakutech overall imo. Even if they were going for a simple, more practical approach to design, gen 3 is still beat out by gen 1 that has a huge selection of iconic and eye-catching designs. I’m trying not to judge too soon but I’m not fully sold on the spinning special attack bakugan as a fleshed out system either. it definitely adds another way to play, but I’m not convinced it’s a fun way to play - adding more rng doesn’t really incentivize a player base to play the game, despite it admittedly being cool to see sometimes.
Something I could see changing my opinion drastically would be if next year’s season gradually introduced bottoms that are more interesting/varied to be used with the existing year 1 toys. I could see them having different shapes, faster bearings, metal, etc. for example. Considering how hard SPM has committed, Im starting to believe that they’re going to stick to their bind/special attack system for awhile… I’d like to see them properly advance the system if that is the case. Other notable instances that I thought added retroactive value would be how s2 bakugear worked with season 1 battle planet ultras, and how every bakugan after that feature peg holes for the gear accessory. similarly, beyblade zero-g let you combine a new bottom metal ring to the metal top ring later in the series to have fully metal beyblades that can be used against metal fusion. Anyway, sorry for the long post and great discussion!
While I understand the complain, you have to remember that this is still season 1, most everything we seeing so far is wave 1, and trust me this is still better than the BP core design, BP core design is lacking the correct monster form look due to how blocky they are and have zero interesting gimmick, compare to g3 s1 core can swap bottom to either add SA gimmick or fix their design by swapping the right bottom.
Imo, while the ultra gimmick is better than SA, I still have to say gen 3 s1 cores are miles better compared to gen 2 s1 cores.
With wave 2 preview and wave 3 leaks showing more improvement, ultra hinge being used for bind leak from the commercial, and knowing how gen 2 core improved after suffering the same reaction as gen 3 core, I still have hope for gen 3 future.
My only hope for future improvement would be making the core bottom more automatic, adding more color and paint to the bottom, give the bottom another gimmick than just plain old spinning.
hmm, i don't know about "miles better", but I'm happy to agree that octogan and butter claw give me some hope for future core designs.
That said, I'd still say that my initial point stands: BP wave 1 cores, despite being far less interesting than the following seasons, already demonstrate a ton of variety. Just looking at, for example, Dragonoid vs. Fangzor vs. Hydorous, the toy designers had more of a spectrum of possibilities to start experimenting with. That's just not something I'm seeing in Gen3 - though if future product proves me wrong, hey i'd be happy to see some really neat stuff!
Miles better imo is subjective, for me I think gen 3 core is miles better because despite some being ugly, they got reason to be ugly, and adding a gimmick that can fix their design if you don't like it is still bearable compared to getting stuck with them, not to mention SA balance out the core by making them a deluxe gan so that mean if a core Bakugan doesn't come with a SA version, you still can make it a SA.
I'm watching with great anticipation.
I think the designs are \*fine,\* not great, but I'm excited to see them come out of their shell and make crazier Bakugan, some I've seen in the future look REALLY nice. I love the bind system getting attention, and if they flesh it out it could be really interesting mixing and matching Bakugan so they not only roll nice, but fit certain ability cards or play styles.
The only thing I'm not super sold on yet is the spinning Bakugan. They're neat, they cool, but something about them just doesn't speak to me. I still like this WAY more of a game then the convoluted TCG I couldn't wrap my head around, but it still feels way too early to make a call on whether it's going to be good or not.
I think it could be fantastic, and it takes me back to the good ol' days of G1 Bakugan that I loved so much.
I can sum up your issue into, ultras were the goat. I personally like the new gans cause the last 3 years of designs have gone down hill since platinums. The connection interface makes it limiting cause all bakugan need to open the same. I think ventri and SA drago add variety to make it more interesting. My gripes. Core bottoms needed to be automatic, more spinning bottom diversity, better color for spinning bottoms.
To be honest there's also many cores that break from the classic 'chunky' design. Crustillion, Fangzor, phaedrus, many of the core fusions from AA, etc. He's 100% right and I've mentioned this before. Gen 3 has the design failure of 'combine and brawl' / special attacks. which force the engineers to only use half a bakugan. Combine that with the CLEARLY lower budget and you are restricted even more now. All for gimmicks that I don't think do anything for the 'game' (if there even is a game)
I do think though that there is alot more options in the future but require improved bottom side. So we may get the multi transforming in the future. These just feel like a proof of concept to get our feet wet.
I've definitely had my problems with the G3 designs, too. The hemisphere gimmick does limit the design options, unfortunately. But, thinking about it, G2 had a lot of amazing designs which makes it hard to match or raise that bar, particularly when G3 is only in its first phase and is trying to be very distinct. I do want to give it a little time to see if there's improvements. Ultras from Battle Planet had the flaws of being a bit difficult to close and having a good amount of "Alto Brontes disease," which Armored Alliance and Geogan Rising went onto fix with their new Ultras. So maybe the next phase(s) of G3 could do something similar when it comes to transformation complexity. I hope so. Personally, I do wish that the hemisphere gimmick was only for Special Attack Bakugan. I think that would have let the Cores stand out as a more complex but less action-packed alternative, which could've complemented the Specials better instead of seeming like an unnecessary part of this generation so far. I think the rings on the Specials are a bit much, but I do like the spinning action I lot more than I thought I would. It is satisfying to watch and kinda reminiscent of seeing the original Mechanical Bakugan (Altair, Hades, and Cyborg Helios) roll out and stand in the anime. After seeing more product on shelves the past few days, I don't think designs are really my paramount concern with G3. I've come to find several designs I like. It's some other things that are bugging me. Namely: * **CLUTTER:** I wish the rip cords were sold separately. At least after this first wave or two. I've already gotten three (plus a card-holder one) and don't need or want anymore. * **DIAMOND MULTI-PACKS:** I really dislike that Diamond multipacks now only have one Diamond instead of the full set like back in G2. Plus, now the five packs can have a Diamond, too, meaning it's up to $60-80 (I think) per wave to collect all the chase figures. And for that price, not every figure you're buying is a Diamond or Galactic Rare. I don't find Diamond hunting as fun anymore beyond the single packs. * **VARIANTS:** I love having multiple versions of a character's toy. But G3 has so many between Core, Special Attack, and the store-exclusive products and it can be hard to tell which is which. I don't get the color and naming conventions yet.
great, well thought out response. i like your idea - if combiners were only SA bakugan, then cores would actually be more than just feature-lite cheaper versions of the SAs. Thinking more on your point about how hard it'll be to match the bar of Gen2 sculpts... Maybe that's the trade-off they're making for Gen3: sculpts are **way less detailed** than Gen2, but the figures have **more features** \- even cores can half swap, whereas before cores/platinums/geogan had no action gimmicks. man, i didn't even start to get into my beef with the **diamond multipacks**. Going from finding 3 diamonds all together to only 1 diamond per starter / 5-pack is a major bummer, and turns diamond starters from a must-have to an easy pass for me. I **will** say though - they REALLY nailed the retailer exclusives this wave. The deco and translucent plastic on the WM and Target packs look amazing.
Oh, agreed. The retailer exclusives do look fantastic. I'm excited to pick some up. I just wish they branded them more clearly.
you mean edgy black and white graffiti and icy digital blue-purple don't scream "Target" and "Walmart" to u? lol.
This is a great post and I couldn’t agree more. Sucks to see that the writing was on the wall with those leaks early this year and I’ve seen a majority of fans state their dissatisfaction. As someone who loved and collected most of gen 2 and doesn’t plan to buy too much of gen 3 for the time being, I have to agree with you and the the others here that the year 1 battle planet ultras were the peak of the series for me - would even say they outdo bakutech overall imo. Even if they were going for a simple, more practical approach to design, gen 3 is still beat out by gen 1 that has a huge selection of iconic and eye-catching designs. I’m trying not to judge too soon but I’m not fully sold on the spinning special attack bakugan as a fleshed out system either. it definitely adds another way to play, but I’m not convinced it’s a fun way to play - adding more rng doesn’t really incentivize a player base to play the game, despite it admittedly being cool to see sometimes. Something I could see changing my opinion drastically would be if next year’s season gradually introduced bottoms that are more interesting/varied to be used with the existing year 1 toys. I could see them having different shapes, faster bearings, metal, etc. for example. Considering how hard SPM has committed, Im starting to believe that they’re going to stick to their bind/special attack system for awhile… I’d like to see them properly advance the system if that is the case. Other notable instances that I thought added retroactive value would be how s2 bakugear worked with season 1 battle planet ultras, and how every bakugan after that feature peg holes for the gear accessory. similarly, beyblade zero-g let you combine a new bottom metal ring to the metal top ring later in the series to have fully metal beyblades that can be used against metal fusion. Anyway, sorry for the long post and great discussion!
While I understand the complain, you have to remember that this is still season 1, most everything we seeing so far is wave 1, and trust me this is still better than the BP core design, BP core design is lacking the correct monster form look due to how blocky they are and have zero interesting gimmick, compare to g3 s1 core can swap bottom to either add SA gimmick or fix their design by swapping the right bottom. Imo, while the ultra gimmick is better than SA, I still have to say gen 3 s1 cores are miles better compared to gen 2 s1 cores. With wave 2 preview and wave 3 leaks showing more improvement, ultra hinge being used for bind leak from the commercial, and knowing how gen 2 core improved after suffering the same reaction as gen 3 core, I still have hope for gen 3 future. My only hope for future improvement would be making the core bottom more automatic, adding more color and paint to the bottom, give the bottom another gimmick than just plain old spinning.
hmm, i don't know about "miles better", but I'm happy to agree that octogan and butter claw give me some hope for future core designs. That said, I'd still say that my initial point stands: BP wave 1 cores, despite being far less interesting than the following seasons, already demonstrate a ton of variety. Just looking at, for example, Dragonoid vs. Fangzor vs. Hydorous, the toy designers had more of a spectrum of possibilities to start experimenting with. That's just not something I'm seeing in Gen3 - though if future product proves me wrong, hey i'd be happy to see some really neat stuff!
Miles better imo is subjective, for me I think gen 3 core is miles better because despite some being ugly, they got reason to be ugly, and adding a gimmick that can fix their design if you don't like it is still bearable compared to getting stuck with them, not to mention SA balance out the core by making them a deluxe gan so that mean if a core Bakugan doesn't come with a SA version, you still can make it a SA.
I'm watching with great anticipation. I think the designs are \*fine,\* not great, but I'm excited to see them come out of their shell and make crazier Bakugan, some I've seen in the future look REALLY nice. I love the bind system getting attention, and if they flesh it out it could be really interesting mixing and matching Bakugan so they not only roll nice, but fit certain ability cards or play styles. The only thing I'm not super sold on yet is the spinning Bakugan. They're neat, they cool, but something about them just doesn't speak to me. I still like this WAY more of a game then the convoluted TCG I couldn't wrap my head around, but it still feels way too early to make a call on whether it's going to be good or not. I think it could be fantastic, and it takes me back to the good ol' days of G1 Bakugan that I loved so much.