Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards

"Flavorless, Yet Addictive(Sorta like sunflower seeds)"

This game is obviously a Yu-Gi-Oh! game. Well, if not for the license, you wouldn't even realize it. This game is more based on the ''Duel Monsters'' game in the anime than the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game we all know and love. None the less, it was a little fun. I would buy it and then sell it
for the promos it comes with...

Note: Some spoilers ahead

Story:7/10

I think the story was pretty good. You play as some kid who entered the Battle city Tournament. You are best friends with Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler, as well as other characters from the show. You are competing for the God Cards. Marik Ishtar, and his gang of ''Ghouls'' are out to steal rare cards from more inexperienced duelists to win the tournament and the God Cards. They then plan to take over the world with them(but I think Marik is going to take all the world for himself). Thing is, you are the hero, not Yugi.

Gameplay:4/10

Kind of weighs the score down. The gameplay is...cheesy. The whole strategy from the real Yu-Gi-Oh! card game. The elemental system-didn't even consider it. I hate it. Rock-Paper-Scissor thing. I'm not even going to go into it. Anyway, there must be EXACTLY 40 cards in your deck at all times. And you have to have enough ''deck capacity'' to hold the cost of all your cards. And you have to have a high enough duelist level to have a card in your deck. Gee that sucks. Your duelist level gets higher as you win more duels. Simple as that. You can buy new cards as you get more Domino, the currency in this game. With Domino, you can buy more cards. That's it. There are Monster, Spell, and Trap cards. The effect cards are stripped from all the best effect monsters in the real game. Some new ones are added, none too big. And the effects are also altered from Spell cards. I think the Traps are all the same, though. It goes like this: Get a monster out on the field, attack, set traps. Maybe stick a few Spells in there somewhere. You have to sacrifice monsters to bring out stronger ones, but you can sacrifice any monster. The higher the attack, usually the better.

Graphics:8/10

The graphics were pretty crisp. Close ups are great. Map graphics are similar to Legacy of Goku/LOG2. There isn't
much eye candy when dueling though. The battle animations are all the same. The attacked cards get slashed and then burst into flames if the attack was successful. Nothing too special. Sprites are pretty good and pretty detailed.

Sound:3/10

Sound and music was horrible. Mediocre. I had to turn off the sound while shopping for cards to keep myself from ripping my hair out. It isn't always bad, but it can get annoying. Very redundant sounds and songs. I wouldn't bother using the headphone jack for this game.

Overall:5

It's an average 4, but I won't let a game that I was so surprisingly addictive to get below half. I was addicted as I always am with any form of RPGs. I would rent it if you aren't going to sell it right away. If you do sell it, make sure to keep the promos;)

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/23/03