I
can't believe that Yu-Gi-Oh isn't dead yet. How many
variations of the same card game will gamers continue
to purchase? There is something about the essence
of this game that totally eludes me. Perhaps it's
because I'm older. Surely not wiser, but older none
the less. Whatever the case may be, this games possess
some kind of magic that continues to make it more
and more popular. I sure wish I was the one that thought
of it.
Maybe
the addiction to the game is the fact that it requires
some strategy. For many kids this may be the first
time they've ever used their noodle so intensely.
Some people devote their life to chess and while I'm
not comparing Yu-Gi-Oh to chess, there are some strategic
similarities. For young gamers Yu-Gi-Oh can offer
an incredible challenge that instills confidence in
their intellectual abilities as they develop their
playing skills. There still is the element of luck
and that variable is unpredictable giving less skilled
players a fighting chance against hardcore players.
It evens out the battlefield. Still, there's a lot
to consider at each turn of a card.
One
of my peeves with the series as of late is that there
is no tutorial to bring new players up to speed. I
don't know why Konami would want to alienate potential
buyers. It does however reward loyal fans that do
know what's going on by building on past foundations.
This version includes a thousand cards with 800 classics
and 200 new ones. These new cards don't change the
basic gameplay but do enhance it.
Explaining
how to play this game is far beyond the scope of this
review. I'm really surprised that Konami doesn't offer
an online tutorial for new fans. That way they wouldn't
have to pack it into the GBA cartridge. They could
throw together a text-based tutorial with some static
graphics in less than a day and make these GBA games
instantly accessible to novice players. Add some tips
and tricks and thousands of kids will be on their
way down to Wal-Mart to pick up a copy of the latest
Yu-Gi-Oh. Konami, if you're reading this I'll let
you know where you can send my royalty check.
Briefly,
the object of the game is to deplete your opponent's
8,000 hit points by playing cards that help take them
away. Both players have a deck of cards. These cards
contain monsters and certain powers or abilities (spells/magic)
that can be combined for more powerful effects. Your
opponent may be able to block or ever reverse these
threats depending on which cards he plays. You can
attack or defend and sometimes you can even do both
on one turn. You can never own the game because there
are random cards that can change the entire dynamics
of the match at any give moment. Sometimes it all
boils down to the luck of the draw.
Knowing
how to stack your deck is important. You begin by
purchasing packs of cards called booster packs. You
take the best cards out of them to create your battling
deck. As you engage in fights the objective is to
acquire money from your opponent to purchase more
booster packs. There is no shortage of fights. With
the money you earn you can acquire up to 20 different
decks to deal with (pardon the pun) virtually any
situation.
One
major improvement is the interface which allows you
to organize your decks in such a way that makes them
easier to access. It won't give you any help regarding
the selection of your decks but it will store them
in different categories for quick retrieval. Learning
how to stack your decks and play the appropriate cards
is a skill that you will acquire over time. Everyone
has a slightly different strategy because there is
no foolproof system thanks to the random cards.
The
isometric view has been altered to make it look more
like a real boardgame played on a table. The game
includes three limited edition cards which include
Silent Swordsman LV7, Kaibaman and Mind Control. Graphics
are bright and very colorful, making things not only
easy to see and read but appealing to look at as the
cards come to life with good animated effects. To
make things really seem fresh some new tunes have
been added.
My
interest in Yu-Gi-Oh peaked a couple of years ago,
although I still enjoy playing it for a few hours
when a new game comes out. Since I don't collect the
cards and I'm not interested in watching the series
I may not be the best person to review this game but
I realize there is a legion of fans that support this
franchise almost fanatically. Konami really knows
how to market to them and they respond in kind - with
cash. I can only approach this game as a videogame
reviewer and as such I can't really recommend this
game to fans since there's really nothing new about
it. With only 200 new cards out of 1000 that means
that only 20-per-cent of the content can be considered
new and if you take into account the structure of
the gameplay, which is unchanged, that percentage
will actually be quite lower than my generous 20.
If there were a tutorial this would be a great game
for beginners - but there's not so it's not a great
game for anybody.
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