"Seriously, it's time to duel . . . hard."

Another year, another World Championship Tournament - seems like Konami has been busy lately, eh?

Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2008 is the official software of the 2008 Championship Tournament, and it has made great progress since the 2007 edition of the game. WC2008 boasts about 400 more cards than WC2007, many of which were released in the recent TCG booster packs, Tactical Evolution and Gladiator's Assault. These sets introduced many new series; from Crystal Beasts to Cloudians to Gladiators, these cards will certainly keep your hands full. Since Konami is so generous, you can snag three exclusive cards with your game purchase that are currently available nowhere else!

In previous WC games, you selected your opponents from a menu. You may receive duel points for buying card packs if you won, but beyond that there was not much else to do. The DS games jazzed up their playability with mock holographics. These apparitions appeared when monsters were summoned. Special monsters were bestowed with a 3D summoning graphic. Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Spirit Caller (and possibly NT) introduced WiFi duels, a well-worn feature by now, and a wardrobe that you could expand by unlocking clothes and duel discs. WC2007 introduced the ghost system, which allowed you to download ghost opponents. It also institutionalized the Leaderboard, to see where you rank and who was the best of the best. The download system also allowed you to download cards and ghosts; experienced players could download new ban lists to open up a new dueling experience.

Gameplay: 9/10

Now that our history lesson is over, I can tell you about THIS game. In addition to the regular features found in WC2007, it also introduces "Tag dueling", in which two pairs of players face off and duel as teams. While the concept isn't new, this is the second game to feature it, first on a Nintendo platform. The computer AI isn't perfect, but it appears to act better in WC2008. This game also features tournament-style elimination matches, an interesting distraction if you get that far. Plus, there are so many cards, every duel seems to feature some new strategy. A caution to casual gamers, this game may not be meant for you. This game doesn't do so well in teaching a newbie how to play, and you need to really know your stuff in order to solve certain puzzles in this game. You may want to start on an easier game like WC2007.

Story Mode: 8/10

The most major feature this game has to offer would probably be the Duel World, a challenging story mode that features six levels of duels and puzzles. I was slightly disappointed though, at its weak plot and confusing event triggers.

Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 9/10

The graphics of the duels themselves remain the same (possible lagging in hyperspeed duels between AIs), but I was very impressed at the hand drawn splendor of the duel world, as well as some beautiful 3D cutscenes. The sound has little improvement, except for a few new soundtracks. I was irked to find that sometimes the stereo sound would desynchronize (a flaw also found in WC2007), but this has only happened once, and was fixed by restarting the game.

Play time: 10/10
Replayability: 10/10

The story mode covers only five worlds, the sixth being kind of a "bonus" world. However, it took me 44 hours to beat it, a long time with repetitive portions. As for replayability, since there are over 2000 cards, 40 packs, and thousands of online duelists, this game is replayable until we can expect WC2009; and I'm telling you that it is way too early for that.

Overall: 9.34/10

As long as you know how to play, this game's a true gem. If you don't, try a simpler WC, the GBA versions are quite easy and good for learning. Mastered WC2007? This game is 10x that great. Seriously, it's time to Duel . . . hard.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/17/07

Game Release: Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2008 (US, 12/04/07)