Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004

"Worldwide Edition's dorky kid brother"

Forward:

Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2004 isn't a BAD game. As a matter of fact, it's actually pretty good and can be very addictive. So why call it the ''dorky kid brother of WWE?'' Because it just seems so inferior to its predecessor. Allow me to elaborate...

Graphics/Sound:

This game has crisp, clear graphics. The character portraits are nicely done and the cards are all recognizable.
The music is by far better than any other Gameboy Advance installment since it uses synths rather than the bleeps and bloops that force you to turn the sound down before your ears start bleeding. Still the tracks are forgettable and don't really stand out.
The battle areas are fair, but how much detail can you give them before they become distracting? This game's
scrolling background seems unnecessary and should probably stay unmoving until someone uses a field magic card. Anyway, it's all tolerable and won't deter you from playing this game.

Score: 8/10

Story

NONE! All you do is pick your opponent and go at it. There isn't even an attempt to create little scenarios for your duelist persona. If you want a game with some form of story, go with The Sacred Cards. This is purely a card game...and that could also be viewed as a good thing for those who want to get down to business and duel.

Score: 0/10

Gameplay:

This is where WC'04 begins it's descent. Basically all the controls are the same as in Worldwide Edition and Eternal Duelist Soul so you won't have to worry about that. The problem is, unless you push and hold ''L'' after selecting your opponent, the gameplay slows to a CRAWL. You may find yourself falling asleep while waiting for the cards to be drawn and placed. I'm sure that this slow gameplay would even get on novice players' nerves. However, after using the ''L'' button, gameplay speeds up to a much more tolerable level so that remedies the problem. However, if you forget to hit the ''L'' button, you'll probably want to reset.
As for opponents, to unlock most of them you have to meet certain requirements such as beatind duelists a certain amount of times, finding a card, opening booster packs, ect. All which can get tedious at times which is why it's probably best to play this game and then taking breaks to prevent madness.
As for the cards, while there is a wide variety to collect and choose, I noticed some of my old favorites were missing from the last installment (WWE). While that was disheartening, I found myself even more outraged when my opponents can use
multiple cards that I can only have one of in my deck! WHY?! To ''up'' the challenge? It would've been better if Konami had focused on improving the AI of the opponents. An example is when I battled Yami Yugi. He had his Summoned Skull (2500 AT) on the field and sacrificed it and another monster to summon Dark Magician (also 2500 atp) then used Dark Hole and wiped out everything on the field. Now every duelist (and/or fan of the show) would know, THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
It's best to find yourself an opponent in real life since this game can connect to anyone else's GBA with a link cable which is where the real fun is anyway.

Score: 4/10

Replay Value:

Of course since you can't collect all the cards in one day or one week or most likely in one month for that matter, this game will keep you entertained (or frustrated) for a long time to come. There are plenty of computer controlled opponents to unlock as well. Determination is a must!

Score: 10/10

Closing:

Konami...you could've done better, but at least we can give our tired, worn out Worldwide Edition and Eternal Duelist Soul cartridges a break. Get this game if you're a hardcore YGO fan willing to put up with some gameplay flaws or if you've got a lot of friends who have/want the game to play against. This game can make new friends...or new enemies. Have fun and good luck!

Final Score: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/04