Honestly, I miss playing Yugioh cards with my little brother. He grew out of them, I didn't. If you know how to play the card game and want to be challenged, this is a great game. (I picked it up for $3 at a garage sale. Yippee!) Anyway, let me break it down for you:

-The plot is pretty basic. There's a tournament, some bad people... Plot has never really mattered in Yugioh video games so... whatever.

Pros:
-Your starter deck is selected based on a quick survey of your priorities and personality. Really quick, but it's kind of cool. Isn't that important in the long run though as you buy new card packs.

-Gameplay is fun. In general, the Yugioh card game is an intense strategy game. This video game does not take away from the actual experience of playing Yugioh cards in real-life. Dueling is exciting! Some opponents are easy and boring (Tea, Serenity, that one psychic guy) but others (Joey, Weevil, Rex, Yugi) can be challenging and unpredictable. The tables can turn very quickly, and you are heavily rewarded for crazy comebacks and low Lifepoint victories.

-Time passes. There is a vague morning/afternoon/night bar in the top right corner of the screen. Different duelists are out at different times of the day. The only downside is that you have to go to sleep at night eventually, and you can't save unless you go home. The passage of time is kind of unnecessary, but it gives the game a bit more life.

-Hundreds of cards. The classics are there, but also ones I've never seen before. For some reason, monsters that are seen in the Yugioh televison show get a special theatrical summon scene. Don't get too excited, it's not that great. I mean... the Celtic Guardian gets one. And... well... he's not that great.

-Really awesome fusion/ritual monsters. And they aren't that difficult to summon and they're super fun to bust out and use. Polymerization/ritual magic cards not that hard to come by. Also, there are monsters that can be used as substitutes for the actual fusion monsters required.

-You can collect deck recipes or create your own. If you build an awesome deck, you can save it as a recipe. Gives you flexibility to experiment with different deck themes and strategies. Also makes it easy to switch between decks depending on who you plan to battle next so as to have the advantage.

-Duelist tracking device is nifty. You don't move your character around in third person or first person. When you're just exploring, the top screen shows the scenery of your current location and the duelist/person you are talking to (if present). The touchscreen shows a map of the town. With your stylus, you can drag around a circular cursor and search for nearby duelists or choose a destination. After you duel someone a certain number of times, they'll befriend you and give you a deck recipe. Then you can easily find them on your duel disk and fight them. Also, other duelists upgrade their decks periodically as well, so don't expect an easy win every time.

-Moderately easy to receive points to buy new cards. You gain points whether you win or lose, but obviously gain much more if you win. There are easy opponents that you can seek out, too, if you really suck.

Cons:

-If you've never played Yugioh cards before, it might be a little difficult to learn through this video game. I suggest learning how to play in real life first or read an online tutorial, so that you aren't confused by the rules AND the game controls at the same time. That could be overwhelming.

-Repetitive. Very, very repetitive. If you love dueling and building decks, this won't be a problem, but if you're looking for a riveting story line and quick progression, this isn't the game for you. New duelists pop up as you level up, but it's more of the same- dueling.

-Dialogue is pretty boring. Plot is blah. Occasionally something weird happens or a bad guy shows up but it's pretty predictable. Also, many typos and weird phrases that are obviously due to crappy translation.

-Stupid Shadow Duels! If you walk around at night, sometimes a bad guy will stop you and force you to duel with them. If you lose in a Shadow Duel, it's game over! You have to restart from your last save. So don't walk around at night, and remember to save often. Great life lessons to take with you.

-The monster sprites move idly and pose depending on their position (attack or defense), but don't move differently when they attack or die. I know that might be expecting too much. Not that important.

Anyway, I don't know if I'd pay more than $20 for this game. (Alright, I'm cheap.) Search video game stores first. But if you really like strategy card games and developing a personal playing style, go for it.

As a kid who grew up in the mid-90's I was a huge fan of this show when it came out. I played the card game too, back when I was in middle school. When I got a bit older, and I got more into Magic: The Gathering, knowing how to play Yugioh made Magic a lot more fun/easy to learn, since the Yugioh card game is based on Magic. As a college kid now, I've noticed that all the things that were popular when I was a kid (Pokemon, etc.) have become commonplace around campus. I figured I'd buy this game to contribute to that trend. I don't regret it. For me, this game gives me a sense of nostalgia. It's like I've taken a trip back in time to when I was a young, innocent 6th grader, playing with cards and watching the show. None of the characters from GX or 5Ds are in this game, which makes me happy because I stopped watching the show before these came out, so I'm not particularly interested in playing card games on motorcycles.

This would definitely be a good buy for someone who wants to remember what Yugioh was like before GX and 5Ds. It's a fun fantasy-style trading card game that you can play against your favorite characters from the show. Also, it makes pretty good use of the touch screen. You use the touch screen to choose your actions, and the actions (attacks, etc.) play out on the top screen.

The game itself is fine, but I thought it would come in the case with the instruction booklet, as I paid full price for it. The game card insert only, was sent, wrapped in plastic and stuck in an envelope. No outer casing and no booklet. I was anxious to get the game, so I kept it and figured it out myself, but I don't think I'd buy from this seller again, as a result.

This is by far the best YuGiOh video game ever made!! I am a 26 year old as this is something I'm not ashamed of at the least bit...I even have a Yugi Muto tattoo on my left shoulder blade and a Yami Yugi tattoo on my right shoulder blade if that tells you anything.
What I really like about this game is that you can ACTUALLY become friends with many,if not all of the characters/duelists in the game as they soon Email
you(Yeah,I know that sounds a little weird...)and soon after awhile that your registered duelist friends want to
trade cards with you!! I've ALWAYS wanted to become friends with "the good Bakura" and "Yugi Muto" so now is my chance!! This goes for all of you whom want to become
friends with a certain character...Kaiba EVEN becomes your friend,OR at least he demands your friendship in which soon leads you to a duel for IF you get the opportunity to receive Obelisk The Tormentor OR Slifer!!!
As for another person with the comment of characters/duelists,you can ALSO unlock dueling against Yami Bakura(The evil Bakura AKA "The Spirit Of The Millennium Ring")so Yami Bakura's deck is LETHAL!! You must defeat Ishizu 3 times in a row to unlock dueling against Yami Bakura yet at night when you look on the duelists available so Bakura has no recolection of where he is NOR how he got to The Expert Cup side of the map.
If you talk to Bakura about 2 or 3 times,Bakura will keep on saying that he's had his fill of dueling for the day as he's going home...DON'T TRUST HIS WORDS AS
YAMI BAKURA WILL APPEAR TO CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!!!
YOU MIGHT WANT TO BE CAREFUL OF HIS "DESTINY BOARD" AS IT WILL TAKE 5 TURNS TO COMPLETE THE MESSAGE,"FINAL" AS WHEN THIS HAPPENS,YOU CAN SAY HELLO TO "THE SHADOW REALM"
AS THIS WILL MAKE YAMI BAKURA EXTREMELY HAPPY!!!
Also,IF you defeat Yami Bakura,it will unlock the Expert Cup Finals yet it will take a few days to get there with your only duelists to duel of choice are Joey
and Mai. BE CAREFUL OF THE BEGINNING OF THE ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE OPENING PARTY FOR THE EXPERT CUP FINALS SINCE IT LOOKS VERY MUCH LIKE MOKUBA IS YACKING SOMETHIN' ABOUT "PLANS" AND WAH,LAH...IT'S NOA WITH
A VIRTUAL GAME TO DEFEAT "THE BIG FIVE" AND LATER ON TO DEFEAT BRAINWASHED MOKUBA,FOLLOWED BY DUELING NOA,THEN
SURPRISINGLY...YOU GET TO DUEL AGAINST GOZOBORO KAIBA WHOM CHALLENGES YOU TO DEFEAT HIM WITHIN 20 TURNS. GOZOBORO JUST STALLS WITH SCORES OF SPELL CARDS AS WELL AS THE BLACK EXODIA(WHAT'S IT'S NAME?)SO DON'T LET HIM SUMMON THIS MONSTER...DESTROY IT'S BODY PARTS!!! IF YOU LOSE AGAINST "THE BIG FIVE," NOA,OR GOZOBORO...THEN A SATELLITE(THAT MESSED UP KAIBA CORP. IN THE VERY BEGINNING.)WILL ZAP AND DESTROY THE WORLD!!
The part after that is that you can become friends with the ParaDox Brothers,Pegasus,etc. whom conducted Shadow Games previously...you duel against Yami Bakura in
The Expert Cup Finals,but it's NOT Shadow Games...
DAMN IT!!! Anyways,once you've beaten The Expert Cup Finals then I've NEVER ran into Yami Bakura afterwards...
I wish somebody would be kind enough to let me know WHERE
Yami Bakura is and HOW I get to duel him again?!!
On the flip-side to that coin,you get to duel against Arcana,Strings,Lunis&Umbra,Odion,etc. yet you run into the normal Marik though he refers himself as "Namu." Once you defeat Odion,he goes to the hospital...uh,oh!!
That basically means that Yami Marik appears!!!
Once this happens,Yami Marik will continuously want to duel against you with the threat of destroying the world into crumbling to The Shadow Realm!!! If you defeat him several times and have Slifer OR Obelisk(Ishizu asks you IF you wish for "power" OR "wisdom" once you defeat Kaiba..."power"=Obelisk "wisdom"=Slifer.)
IF you have Obelisk OR Slifer in your "trunk" NOT your deck,then eventually Yami Marik will offer his "Ra" for your Obelisk OR Slifer and soon Yami Marik will offer his friendship...WHAT THE HELL?!! Anyways,I personally don't see a "Nightmare" in this title unless you refer it to Yami Marik's threat to "destroy the world crap."
Other than that,AWESOME GAME!!! ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS...BRING BACK YUGI AND FRIENDS TO THE DS!!! I WANT ANOTHER YuGiOh DS game...NOT a YuGiOh GX game,PLEASE!!!

*J. Allen*

This game has improved a lot from the GBA games of the series. You can use your stylus to walk around and edit your deck. The card pool is big, but it is missing some cards. The enemies have gotten smarter, but they still aren't smart enough. It's very tedious in the first few hours. Then, you will enjoy your yourself through the rest of the game. The multiplayer is fun. There is a lot of stuff to collect. The graphics and sounds are nice, but the animations are way too slow for fast paced gamers. There are puzzles and tutorials, though. Good game. Not great, though.