Finally, after a few years we get a Yu-gi-oh! game on our not-so-portable console again! Was it worth the wait? Let's find out.
Gameplay - 7/10
As you start the game, the obvious choices to dive into are single player or multiplayer.
If you go into the multiplayer straight away, you will receive a deck to use and battle in either a single player duel or the new style tag team duel. On top of that, you can alter the rules for what your in the mood for. A short duel with few life points or a long duel where you will probably deck out before draining away all those life points!
Then there is the single player mode. If you have played any of the GBA or DS versions, you will know that there is a vast single player mode of choosing your opponents, unlocking new ones, choosing your booster packs and more which give at least 15 hours playtime doing the bare minimum. The single player of
this game is at the least 6 matches long. You're given the standard deck of the game against every other opponents themed decks. If you haven't played the card game in a while then you will get confused at the rate the CPU plays as before you can read the new card effects, the CPU decides to do something else extremely quick! Whether you win or lose, you gain random cards to add to your deck. The more points you score by fulfilling certain criteria, the more cards you win. Unfortunately, this is the only way to get new cards... random cards. If your hoping to earn a certain card then you will have to play for a long time unless your lucky. Once you have completed the tournament, you can start again... and again... and again...
Graphics and Sound - 4/10
Fairly basic. No special affects. No FMV sequences. Not even moving lips.
BUT, on the flip side, it is a card game. There isn't supposed to be 3D images of Judge Man or full on battle sequences between Blue eyes white dragons and Kuribohs. Graphics and sound are not great but you can discount this pretty quickly.
Lifespan - 8/10
Whether you like the single player or not, you will be forced to play it to get decent cards and if your heavily into collecting or having different themed decks, then your going to rack up a lot of hours. Once you've made your dream deck then you are going to rack up even more hours on the multiplayer and maybe even making new friends to tag team with.
Achievement Completion - 8/10
You can clear half the achievements just by playing the single player and the other half is grinding. As long as you can cope long enough to make a semi decent deck, you will get all of these eventually.
Overall - 8/10
As long as you like Yu-gi-oh, TCGs or fancy a new strategy game then your going to love this game. The highlight is without a doubt the multiplayer with tons of different play styles to use against opponents. Another highlight is the options for your deck as the customization is practically limitless with save states for your different decks. The single player, as mentioned before, is nowhere near the same league as it's portable counterparts. At the time of writing this review, the cards are up to date. It's just a case of seeing whether this game is kept up to date with new sets.
4.0