"The best Yu Gi Oh game and the BEST PSP game!"

Having played all the previous GBA and DS Yu Gi Oh! games and enjoyed them immensely, I literally snatched the PSP game off the shelf of my local games store. So far all the PSP games I have played did not engage me for very long and I was worried that UMD loading might get in the way. However, my worries were unfounded once I started to play this brilliant game.

After a very attractive opening sequence the main menu is displayed. To begin with there is not much you can do other than start story mode. You then name your character and you become a transfer student at the GX Duel Academy. Unlike most previous games you get to move about various locations on the GX island, talking to characters and dueling them. Each day you attend class and this initially provides a tutorial on the rules of dueling, useful for beginners. Eventually, attending class just involves a short cut scene and than it is back to dueling and earning DP to exchange at the store for booster packs of cards. Since there are over 2400 cards in this version of the game it is going to take a lot of dedication and patience to collect them all.

GRAPHICS. Everything is drawn beautifully. The card art is crystal clear and the duel screen is almost perfect. Overall, much clearer than the GBA and DS versions of the game. The background of the duel screen is a very nice swirling vortex which changes to represent field spells when they are played. Some of the field spells do tend to make the duel area harder to see but this is only a minor gripe. Also, the duelist and card animations are very nice but I soon turned them off to speed up the duels.

SOUND. Worth listening to through your Headphones. A nice jazz track plays during the duel and changes when a duelist life total becomes dangerously low. Also, mainly card flicking noises and little explosion effects.

PLAYABILITY. If you like dueling and Yu Gi Oh! this game is a must. If you don't like the previous games then I doubt you would change your mind playing this version. Loads of cards to collect, decks to build, lessons to attend and duels to play. It is just brilliant.

The bottom line is simply that if you are a Yu Gi Oh! fan or a strategy gamer then you need this game inserted into your PSP as soon as possible. Possibly the best Yu Gi Oh! game to date. 9 out of 10!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/12/06