Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monsters

"Fans of that one week...thing...yeah...REJOICE!"

Whoo boy, have we've been waiting for this in English. This game is top notch, to say the least. The graphics may be a bit dull and hazy, but hey...it's the gameplay that counts, right?

Anyway, this game is pretty much based around those few episodes in the Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series about Dungeon Dice Monsters (as the name implies). You start out with a handful of die...nothing special, really, just a starter, so to speak. As you progress, you gain die. Nuff said.

GRAPHICS: 5/10

I'm guessing it could've been better, but when you think about it...those itty bitty details in each and every die would be pretty hard to jam into that little cartridge. But still, we've gotta complain. The graphics seem very...I don't know how to put this...blurry. Imagine a very small picture...then put it through a photo enhancer and quadruple the size. Voila! You've got Dungeon Dice Monsters graphics.

STORY: 3/10

Er...Story? Not unlike other Yu-Gi-Oh! video games, there really isn't much of one. So...not much to put here.

SOUND: 8/10

When you're playing this, chances are you won't be paying very much attention to the sound. But if you listen...it's actually a-OK. Again, not much to say in this area.

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

This is where it gets good. This game requires you to THINK instead of just jabbing at the screen to decide where you'll ''Dimension'' the dice. See, the whole goal of the game is to create a ''Dungeon Path'' to the other player's ''Dice Master'' and attack his/her ''Heart Points'' by summoning monsters. When you summon a monster, the dice unfolds into a sort of cross shape. Bada bing, your Dungeon Path has appeared. Note that your opponent will be summoning monsters at the same time...well, duh.

To summon monsters and do...anything in the game, you roll a set of 3 die. If, per say, you roll a Movement Crest, it gets added to your Crest Pool (oy, the vocabulary) for use later. Movement Crests allow you to...move. This goes for pretty much all of the other crests - except one.

The one left over is the Summoning Crest (oooh aaahhh). If you happen to roll a pair of these, you get to summon a monster that you selected earlier (when you were choosing die to roll). Put that on the field, the die unfurls, and your monster appears to do your bidding. Nuff said.

OVERALL: 9/10

I know that it doesn't average out as easily, but you gotta admit when you play it...it's pretty darn good.

BUY, RENT, OR BURN?

By all means, BUY!! This game is out in stores and is waiting for you to get your grubby hands on it. If you can help it, don't rent. Five days isn't exactly all that great if you want to play this game to its fullest.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/03, Updated 02/12/03