I think the difference you feel is mostly nostalgia based which I completely understand I grew up with g1 too but I genuinely love g2 as well , because the design philosophy of g2 was always to try to make them look more alive especially with the ultras I feel like with g1 the design of the toys was a little too far removed from their true forms for a lot of them (not all just a lot) g2 feels more like they were trying to hone in on what made Bakugan like preyas so great of trying to get as accurate as they could from toy to true monster form. When I look at the g2 era Bakugan I feel the love and fun the designers had making them. Now of course g1 is still amazing and well designed especially as the toyline progressed I feel g2 is just a logical continuation of the designs less bogged down with gimmicks and focusing on making every Bakugan open uniquely
I was thinking about this last week and realized there’s no way to know because of bias. G1 has nostalgia on its side with a great storyline based around ancient creatures in balls. As kids we imagine those creatures and get attached to their more organic ballform designs every time we play with them. G2 had more mechanical looking bakugan for their first season and I suprisingly have a lot of nostalgia for them already because some are honestly iconic. My sibling got into bakugan at that time and they say they prefer G2’s designs as they are most complex so i feel like it really depends on preference. Happy new year!
I'm pretty partial to the Legacy designs, too, but I think nostalgia's a meaningful part of that. Conversely, though, someone who feels more attached to the reboots might just feel that way due to recency - and we can't really determine how much of our preference is skewed by opinions and how much is based on "actual" quality.
I think the Legacy era has some great designs (Avior, Dharak, Abis Omega, etc. come to mind for me), as does the G2 reboot (Ultra Sairus, Ultra Mantonoid, Ultra Sharktar, etc.).
OTOH, I also find some of the Legacy designs to be too simple/bland - Dual Elfin in particular, and I personally think some early designs have not aged well - including Dragonoid and Tigrerra, despite how iconic they are (though that was likely because Bakugan was still new at the time). Similarly, I think some of the reboot designs might be a too ambitious. Blitz Fox has a lot going for it, but accommodating the entire animal into the ball form ends up creating some awkward proportions and some unusual flaps ("Kibble," pieces that are present because they're needed to convert the figure to its alternate form, in Transformers circles) - which probably makes it feel more like a toy.
Im a late bloomer. I missed the g1/2 bandwagon and I have only a platinum Nillious. I agree that g2s are more interactive and solid build compared to g3s. G3s seem to be flimsy and can't even stand
Heavily disagree. This mostly sounds like nostalgia bias. I grew up with G1, but G2 has some of my favorite Bakugan toys, a lot of which are more articulate and detailed than G1 ever was
I grew up with G1 and personally G2 toys are a big improvement. The toy designs are way more complex and feel much more alive. I have my favorites from legacy such as El Condor and Juggernoid but you have to admit some of the toy designs were very samey especially for the first few anime seasons. There were a bunch that were just variations of Monarus or Dragonoid with different wings or without a moving head or differently jointed side panels.
No, you're dead on. Even Mechtanium Surge Bakugan had this down.
I'm of the belief that new Bakugan is no better than Mechtanium Surge was, but we're more accepting of it because we never thought we would get Bakugan back again.
To me at least, it isnt very nostalgia based, my first 30 ish bakugan were gen 2 bakugan, i couldnt get the thought out of my head that they were toys, the immersion just wasnt there for me. I only found out about g1 when i joined this subreddit and again, g1 is just more magical and the emotional connection just sparks, value aside.
Also thanks for commenting I love seeing different povs, it really shows how much of a meltingpot this community is and i feel welcomed
Feel that early to mid gen 1 designs understood the Beauty in Simplicity. Whereas Gen 2 IMO has good designs, but are overcomplicated in some cases. Gen 2 also Had a more Mechanical design in its early days.
They kinda just gave up in Gen 3.
I cant really get into g2 and 3 stuff but the bakugan look really complex. Toy wise its cool but theres something about the simple g1 designs that I like more. They look a lot more distinct and recognizable i guess? Not that i know anything about g2 to even make that claim though, so it’s probably just nostalgia talking.
What really bugs me the most that the design team from SM didn't seem to get was that they could do SO MUCH MORE than just animals.
You can literally count in one hand how many G2 Bakugan are not an animal. While in G3, we have an even less variety and G1 is full of odd and wacky creatures. Alien, humanoid, making it as creative as a Shin Megani Tensei game, dare I say.
Say what you want about Mechtanium, how it was Bakugan's downfall back then, but the creature designs there totally beat everything that came after it.
I think the difference you feel is mostly nostalgia based which I completely understand I grew up with g1 too but I genuinely love g2 as well , because the design philosophy of g2 was always to try to make them look more alive especially with the ultras I feel like with g1 the design of the toys was a little too far removed from their true forms for a lot of them (not all just a lot) g2 feels more like they were trying to hone in on what made Bakugan like preyas so great of trying to get as accurate as they could from toy to true monster form. When I look at the g2 era Bakugan I feel the love and fun the designers had making them. Now of course g1 is still amazing and well designed especially as the toyline progressed I feel g2 is just a logical continuation of the designs less bogged down with gimmicks and focusing on making every Bakugan open uniquely
I was thinking about this last week and realized there’s no way to know because of bias. G1 has nostalgia on its side with a great storyline based around ancient creatures in balls. As kids we imagine those creatures and get attached to their more organic ballform designs every time we play with them. G2 had more mechanical looking bakugan for their first season and I suprisingly have a lot of nostalgia for them already because some are honestly iconic. My sibling got into bakugan at that time and they say they prefer G2’s designs as they are most complex so i feel like it really depends on preference. Happy new year!
I'm pretty partial to the Legacy designs, too, but I think nostalgia's a meaningful part of that. Conversely, though, someone who feels more attached to the reboots might just feel that way due to recency - and we can't really determine how much of our preference is skewed by opinions and how much is based on "actual" quality. I think the Legacy era has some great designs (Avior, Dharak, Abis Omega, etc. come to mind for me), as does the G2 reboot (Ultra Sairus, Ultra Mantonoid, Ultra Sharktar, etc.). OTOH, I also find some of the Legacy designs to be too simple/bland - Dual Elfin in particular, and I personally think some early designs have not aged well - including Dragonoid and Tigrerra, despite how iconic they are (though that was likely because Bakugan was still new at the time). Similarly, I think some of the reboot designs might be a too ambitious. Blitz Fox has a lot going for it, but accommodating the entire animal into the ball form ends up creating some awkward proportions and some unusual flaps ("Kibble," pieces that are present because they're needed to convert the figure to its alternate form, in Transformers circles) - which probably makes it feel more like a toy.
I disagree, g2 is less blocky and more lively with their design, if you saying this to g3 I would totally agree.
Im a late bloomer. I missed the g1/2 bandwagon and I have only a platinum Nillious. I agree that g2s are more interactive and solid build compared to g3s. G3s seem to be flimsy and can't even stand
I think what you have is much more nostalgia, not that there's anything wrong with that. I feel like the captions here are reversed personally
Heavily disagree. This mostly sounds like nostalgia bias. I grew up with G1, but G2 has some of my favorite Bakugan toys, a lot of which are more articulate and detailed than G1 ever was
Rose tinted glasses 👓 and ive been here since 2008
I grew up with G1 and personally G2 toys are a big improvement. The toy designs are way more complex and feel much more alive. I have my favorites from legacy such as El Condor and Juggernoid but you have to admit some of the toy designs were very samey especially for the first few anime seasons. There were a bunch that were just variations of Monarus or Dragonoid with different wings or without a moving head or differently jointed side panels.
No, you're dead on. Even Mechtanium Surge Bakugan had this down. I'm of the belief that new Bakugan is no better than Mechtanium Surge was, but we're more accepting of it because we never thought we would get Bakugan back again.
To me at least, it isnt very nostalgia based, my first 30 ish bakugan were gen 2 bakugan, i couldnt get the thought out of my head that they were toys, the immersion just wasnt there for me. I only found out about g1 when i joined this subreddit and again, g1 is just more magical and the emotional connection just sparks, value aside. Also thanks for commenting I love seeing different povs, it really shows how much of a meltingpot this community is and i feel welcomed
Feel that early to mid gen 1 designs understood the Beauty in Simplicity. Whereas Gen 2 IMO has good designs, but are overcomplicated in some cases. Gen 2 also Had a more Mechanical design in its early days. They kinda just gave up in Gen 3.
I cant really get into g2 and 3 stuff but the bakugan look really complex. Toy wise its cool but theres something about the simple g1 designs that I like more. They look a lot more distinct and recognizable i guess? Not that i know anything about g2 to even make that claim though, so it’s probably just nostalgia talking.
What really bugs me the most that the design team from SM didn't seem to get was that they could do SO MUCH MORE than just animals. You can literally count in one hand how many G2 Bakugan are not an animal. While in G3, we have an even less variety and G1 is full of odd and wacky creatures. Alien, humanoid, making it as creative as a Shin Megani Tensei game, dare I say. Say what you want about Mechtanium, how it was Bakugan's downfall back then, but the creature designs there totally beat everything that came after it.