Last year, Yu-Gi-Oh! marked its 25th anniversary, making fans and players alike feel the passage of time a bit more keenly. In honor of this ‘Quarter Century’ celebration, Konami rolled out a special treat: Yu-Gi-Oh! The Early Days Collection. This video game compilation includes roughly 14 titles from the franchise’s formative years, spanning the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. As someone deeply entrenched in the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, I was both intrigued and skeptical about this collection. Although I hadn’t played all of these titles before revisiting them for this review, I remembered them as being more appealing to anime enthusiasts than to those who actually played the card game. It turned out my instincts were pretty spot-on, but it wasn’t as jarring as I feared. For most, revisiting vintage Yu-Gi-Oh! is more about curiosity than anything else, but die-hard fans might find some charm hidden within. Just be prepared to dig a little to uncover it.
Let’s address the obvious: yes, this collection packages 14 full Yu-Gi-Oh! games that originally debuted between 1998 and 2005. It starts with the inaugural Yu-Gi-Oh! titles released exclusively in Japan for the DMG Game Boy, based on the manga, now fully localized in English. From there, it spans to include the Game Boy Advance world championship series, intended as a precise battle simulator, alongside some experimental ventures. At first glance, this array seems vast, but there are catches. The initial Game Boy offerings largely reflect incremental updates to the card game and its evolving rules at the time. Take Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories—this game merely introduces new rules and cards to fine-tune decks. Meanwhile, the western version, Dark Duel Stories (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4 in Japan), only adds a single zone for trap cards. This collection offers a historical peek into how quickly the game evolved both technologically and as a card game entity in Japan, but playing these early titles consecutively feels repetitive for most players. Observing how game design evolved, particularly in UI and UX aspects, was fascinating to me, but realistically, after a single match, I gravitated towards the more approachable games in the collection.
The standout surprise for me was Duel Monsters 3, never before available outside Japan. It follows the Monster World arc, where Yugi’s friends are transformed into monsters caught in a tabletop roleplaying scenario, with antagonists as Dungeon Masters. Notably absent are trading cards. Instead, players place monsters on a grid, much akin to a simplified Fire Emblem-style strategy game. Each monster carries unique attack patterns and receives buffs based on its position and proximity to friendly units. As a result, each encounter feels like a mini-puzzle. Attack outcomes depend on two D10 dice rolls, adding an element of chance. Dice rolls even decide enemy encounter rates during boss scenes. This system sets it apart from other collection titles. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Dungeon Dice Monsters and Destiny Board Traveler. Both lean toward a board game-inspired iteration of Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monster attempts to digitize a largely forgotten spin-off. Players face off on an isometric grid, placing cubes that unfold in specific directions. The goal is to carve a path to attack the opponent’s dice master. This sounds intriguing, but the absence of a tutorial makes it challenging. Players are dependent on a convoluted manual until the rules click. This is where I bumped into a few headaches with the collection. While its quality of life features aren’t bad, notable gaps exist. For instance, while game manuals are accessible, reopening them resets to the first page, inconvenient for games with hard-to-grasp rules (I’m looking at you, Dungeon Dice Monsters). This also applies to the type chart in early games and RPGs, where monsters can be instantly vanquished when up against an opposing type. This chart isn’t as intuitive as others, incorporating types not found in the card game, like ‘dreams’ and ‘shadow’. You can rewind gameplay up to a minute but there’s no fast-forward option, which could significantly boost the GBA duel simulator titles, where the CPU deliberates over moves.
Online support—or rather, the lack thereof—is another letdown. Only Duel Monsters 4 offers online dueling and card trading. It’s peculiar, considering this was a Japan-exclusive title. Stranger still, cheat menus in each game allow you to unlock cards and bypass duelist point restrictions. This wouldn’t pose an issue if Duel Monsters 4 weren’t split into three versions (one for Yugi, Kaiba, and Joey). While cross-version dueling is possible, there’s little incentive to do so. More enticing would have been online support for games like Stairway to the Destined Duel or World Tournament 2004, given their continued favor among veteran Yu-Gi-Oh! players. Future updates might change this, but for now, online feels like an afterthought, not enough to make this collection enticing.
The odd inclusion of Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2 feels like a misstep as well. Marketed for its popularity in Japan during Yu-Gi-Oh!’s zenith, it feels logical to include. Yet, unlike the other localized games, it’s entirely in Japanese. Some may argue it’s redundant, considering its western adaptation in Stairway to the Destined Duel, but its presence as a separate entry is perplexing. While other Japanese originals are accompanied by translated versions in the menu, this one isn’t. Considering all others were translated, excluding this one feels puzzling.
In capturing the essence of Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days, two distinct sides emerge. On one hand, it’s fascinating to revisit Yu-Gi-Oh!’s strange history before it became a legendary card game, with modern games either following anime narratives or being straightforward duel simulators. The number of games assembled impresses, but the collection lacks the depth and attention to detail it deserves. It sometimes feels like a partially realized anniversary collection. Quality of life features don’t measure up, certain games are hard to grasp without regular reference to the manual, one title remains in Japanese, and only a single game supports online play. The absence of additional artworks, concepts, or design documents omits an opportunity to add value for true Yu-Gi-Oh! fans. Among the entries, gems like The Sacred Cards, Duel Monsters 3, The Eternal Duelist Soul, and 7 Trials to Glory shine, but many feel like iterative steps forward or complete departures from the original card game essence. It’s a historical record, displayed without the care the subject deserves.
So, who is the Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection for? Nostalgic fans hoping to recapture the magic of Yu-Gi-Oh!’s heydays may enjoy it. The lineup looks impressive on paper, but these titles may struggle to hold your attention over time. I revisited a few as quick-play titles but found my enthusiasm waning as I reached the later GBA versions. Playing with a friend could have been delightful, yet with only one title supporting online play, it’s hard to recommend even to the most ardent fans. Go in with managed expectations; exploring the collection without preconceived notions, especially some of its quirkier titles, might still offer entertainment. Just be ready to feel relief as you step away from the early days.
