Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel

"Yugioh TCG Fans: GET THIS."

Yugioh Worldwide Edition for the GBA
Hey all. This is my first review, but I can bet ya it won’t be my last. First, we tackle the new Yu-Gi-Oh game, Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel.

GAMEPLAY: Yeah, this is one of its best points. In the beginning, this game seems fresh and new, completely different from its predecessor, Eternal Duelist Soul. First off, it has three “Starter Deck”-esque packs to start off the game. They all really stink, because they have quite a few level 7 2-tribute monsters with low ATK (like 2300). Just wait, though. Each deck has 41 cards, not even a fraction of the thousands of cards in the game. Oh yes. THOUSANDS. Just when you think you have all the cards in the game, you really only have 500. That’s a challenge that will take months, maybe even a year to beat. You get to duel against all of the characters (pretty much all of them, anyway) from the TV show. Not only that, it’ll take quite a while to get every character out and beat them. There are MANY booster packs. Yeah. MANY. The way to get many of those packs is to build up your Duel Points. The dueling itself is basically the same as if you really play in real life, except for you don’t have to spend $1000 to get all the good cards. Now, the best part. Just when you think the game is getting really dull and stale, a fresh new challenge, booster pack, or character pops up. There are many new cards, including the ENTIRE Labyrinth of Nightmare set, the Premium Packs, and some other goodies from future sets are also thrown in. Also, the game is very colorful, which leads me to the next part of this rating page.
GAME PLAY RATING: 10/10

GRAPHICS: All I have to say is WOW. This game really pushes the GBA (SP) limits of graphics. All of the cards are amazingly detailed for a GBA, just like the real card game. Not only that, there are some REALLY COOL animations. One that involves Exodia, and one involving the Destiny Board, but I won’t go into detail. Get the game to see ‘em. Next, the dueling backgrounds. The brick one may seem boring, however there is a way to change it. Yep, and they are called Field Magic Cards. There are at least 30 in this game, and they all change the dueling background. The characters themselves look pretty detailed, like you’re actually watching an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh. Yup. Pretty cool, eh? The only downside is that the map that you find the people to duel with on isn’t very.. um… detailed or cool in any way.
GRAPHICS RATING: 9/10

STORYLINE: Unlike what some of the other reviewers stated, there is a bit of a story to this game. You are in Battle City, and you must rack up Duel Points to unlock new characters and booster packs. To build up your DP (Duel Points), you must challenge all of the characters in this game, and beat them. You should to talk to the passengers, as they provide helpful information. Still, it really is focused around dueling, so there really is no need for a huge storyline.
STORYLINE RATING: 5/10

REPLAYABILITY: Yup. The challenge of collecting all the cards will make you want to play the game over and over. In fact, you could play it up to 3 times without getting bored, as there are 3 different Starter Sets, with completely different cards in them. It’ll take a good 12 months (yes, a year) to achieve this goal.
REPLAYABILITY RATING: 10/10

BUY OR RENT: Buy. Definitely. There is NO WAY you can unlock all of the secrets and cards, not to mention characters and booster packs, with a weeklong rental from your local Blockbuster. Get the game. If you have EDS, get the game still. There are at least 200 new cards that weren’t in EDS, as well as a different storyline and new characters.

TOTAL RATING: 9/10

And, that concludes my review. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I’ve enjoyed typing it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/03, Updated 06/13/03