One of my favorite games from my childhood! I remember playing it for hours and hours without using the custom card thing because I didn't like not using "real cards." The game is definitely harder this way but not that bad if you tailor your deck for each opponent. I think you're a bit harsh. The game is pretty bad, sure, but it's ultimately a 24-year-old game that tried to simulate a complex card game on the Game Boy in 2000. You can't expect a Master Duel-like experience. The attribute system is 100% necessary because otherwise, you have no way of getting over monsters that have a higher attack than your whole deck (it would mean you could never get past Swordsman of Landstar in the early game, for example). Also, the duel music from stage 2 and stage 3 is awesome! It's what made me love the grind. I remember farming Yami Bakura over and over again in the hopes of dropping my second Thousand-Eyes Restrict. Ultimately, the game is quirky and weird, but that's sort of what I like about it. I like the challenge it offers, even if I agree that a lot of it comes from stage 3 onwards opponents having a stupid amount of power spells lol. I don't know if you've played it but you should definitely review Sacred Cards on GBA. That game was truly awesome (too bad it lacked a post-game)
@@maraiste8596 Despite the harshness I have a lot of fond memories of the game 😅 It's an amusing relic of the early DM era, especially as the TCG itself was still being established. I haven't played Sacred Cards, sadly, although I always loved Duel Academy, especially the Duel Puzzles, despite it's issues, and I'm very excited to see some of the older games come back in the Early Days Collection!
I remember owning this game a few years after Forbidden Memories and the Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack cartridge of Sacred Cards and Reshif of Destruction. I had a feeling Dark Duel Stories was gonna be another one of those "Yu-Gi-Oh with a twist" games just because it was in the Gameboy, but I didn't mind it at all because even though these games aged like milk, they're still fun to be had with them. I think back then, these games were a huge grindfest mostly because the Japanese audience is very local compared to the western countries. You mentioned that you get more Exp for your Duelist Level in Link Battles and that makes more sense as Yugioh was huge popular in Japan as well as the Gameboy itself, so kids and teens would likely play against each other there. The Campaign mode was meant to be grinding and practicing your deck for upcoming tournaments which is cool, but again, a thing in Japan that doesn't work out that well in the west. And I find funny that you day the soundtrack isn't that memorable since a few of those songs reappear in some of the later games, mostly Forbidden Memories haha. Good video in the end. I really would love to see some actual PvP duel with these games and now that we got news about DM4 and Worldwide Edition getting releases for both Japan and the west, I really hope they have a way to play with others online. I highly doubt it, but it would be pretty huge for fans who miss the older, and slower version of Yugioh.
@@luxerhusku2609 IIRC, the first official tournament ever was held on DM2 (the prequel to this game). It's definitely a case where the grind has aged badly as a result of it being old, in that it was always meant to be a multiplayer expereince, but even when I had it as a kid I didn't know anyone who had it so it was still quite grindy 😅 I'm hopeful for Early Days Collection, and eagerly waiting for more news- Konami's other collections as of late, Contra, the Castlevania ones, have been extremely high quality, and with the success of MD and the prior games like Link Evolution- plus the success of the Battle Network Collection's online play, I wouldn't be entirely surprised. As much as kinda Yu-Gi-Oh as it is, I would love to play Rashef online.
Former Yu-Gi-Oh! Judge; Personally I still play these older Yu-Gi-Oh! games because they don’t follow the card game and follow closer to the manga And duelist kingdom era. A lot of older fans forget those ridiculous duels from the anime where giant solder of stone destroyed the moon or mystical elf chanting a spell were what made the game so captivating. Furthermore something of note is that the game poses you as an underdog and puts restrictions on you to make you an underdog. Such as a ban list. Duelist Level and Cost. Yugi was always an underdog. In EP 01 he had exodia, however by EP03 exodia was in the ocean. Pegasus was a threat. Next arc built Marik up as a powerful threat with the god cards. Yugioh was always chasing duelists early on that on paper were better than him. So I really enjoy the underdog nature of Yugioh games.
@@Mattchu.the.Pikachu As critical as I am I'm a big fan of the DM, GX, and 5Ds era anime, and this game definitely plays by the DM era "we need to write ourselves out of a corner" era that I do genuinely love. You're definitely not wrong about the underdog element, but I wish the optimal strategy wasn't farming cheesy custom cards, as I would've loved to deckbuild... more properly with iconic DM cards and crawl from underdog to king of games. Mad respect on passing the dueling book, I"ve tried but despite my intense love (and current play) of the series it sure do be a mess. Also if I may self promote some I also have a cideo on the Pokemon TCG GB game you may enjoy ;p
@@ntmaproductions I passed the exam during the 5ds era when I was just 18. My local card shop needed judges for its tournaments and I wanted to understand the game from a more contextual level. After Zexal I went and became a judge for MTG that I still judge to this day. As for your Pokémon TCG I would love to watch. I love hearing it in the background while cleaning or doing paperwork. Hence how I ended up here.
There is a card called Bookoo. It was my favorite card along with Yamata Dragon Scroll. It was like a book with hands. I liked the art of that and a few cards. Hoshinigen and some weird electric lizard I think is was called kaminarizou or something.
@@theerealatm That makes sense, I shoulda known that. Not sure if generating them woulf help too much but it's tribute fodder I suppose, assuming you could somehow protect them
I had this game as a kid. The attribute system confused me a lot since I'd been unfamiliar with the Manga at that time. I think I had the game for all of a few months before The Eternal Duelist Soul released and I never went back after that.
![โรงเรียนตอนตี 2 โคตรหลอน..!! [โรงเรียนไดเม่]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2MAEMwqVYh8/mqdefault.jpg)
This video brought back a flood of memories.
Loved this game as a kid. Thank you for this retrospective
One of my favorite games from my childhood! I remember playing it for hours and hours without using the custom card thing because I didn't like not using "real cards." The game is definitely harder this way but not that bad if you tailor your deck for each opponent.
I think you're a bit harsh. The game is pretty bad, sure, but it's ultimately a 24-year-old game that tried to simulate a complex card game on the Game Boy in 2000. You can't expect a Master Duel-like experience. The attribute system is 100% necessary because otherwise, you have no way of getting over monsters that have a higher attack than your whole deck (it would mean you could never get past Swordsman of Landstar in the early game, for example). Also, the duel music from stage 2 and stage 3 is awesome! It's what made me love the grind. I remember farming Yami Bakura over and over again in the hopes of dropping my second Thousand-Eyes Restrict.
Ultimately, the game is quirky and weird, but that's sort of what I like about it. I like the challenge it offers, even if I agree that a lot of it comes from stage 3 onwards opponents having a stupid amount of power spells lol.
I don't know if you've played it but you should definitely review Sacred Cards on GBA. That game was truly awesome (too bad it lacked a post-game)
@@maraiste8596 Despite the harshness I have a lot of fond memories of the game 😅 It's an amusing relic of the early DM era, especially as the TCG itself was still being established. I haven't played Sacred Cards, sadly, although I always loved Duel Academy, especially the Duel Puzzles, despite it's issues, and I'm very excited to see some of the older games come back in the Early Days Collection!
I remember owning this game a few years after Forbidden Memories and the Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack cartridge of Sacred Cards and Reshif of Destruction. I had a feeling Dark Duel Stories was gonna be another one of those "Yu-Gi-Oh with a twist" games just because it was in the Gameboy, but I didn't mind it at all because even though these games aged like milk, they're still fun to be had with them.
I think back then, these games were a huge grindfest mostly because the Japanese audience is very local compared to the western countries. You mentioned that you get more Exp for your Duelist Level in Link Battles and that makes more sense as Yugioh was huge popular in Japan as well as the Gameboy itself, so kids and teens would likely play against each other there. The Campaign mode was meant to be grinding and practicing your deck for upcoming tournaments which is cool, but again, a thing in Japan that doesn't work out that well in the west.
And I find funny that you day the soundtrack isn't that memorable since a few of those songs reappear in some of the later games, mostly Forbidden Memories haha.
Good video in the end. I really would love to see some actual PvP duel with these games and now that we got news about DM4 and Worldwide Edition getting releases for both Japan and the west, I really hope they have a way to play with others online. I highly doubt it, but it would be pretty huge for fans who miss the older, and slower version of Yugioh.
@@luxerhusku2609 IIRC, the first official tournament ever was held on DM2 (the prequel to this game). It's definitely a case where the grind has aged badly as a result of it being old, in that it was always meant to be a multiplayer expereince, but even when I had it as a kid I didn't know anyone who had it so it was still quite grindy 😅 I'm hopeful for Early Days Collection, and eagerly waiting for more news- Konami's other collections as of late, Contra, the Castlevania ones, have been extremely high quality, and with the success of MD and the prior games like Link Evolution- plus the success of the Battle Network Collection's online play, I wouldn't be entirely surprised. As much as kinda Yu-Gi-Oh as it is, I would love to play Rashef online.
Boo Koo is a card in the game btw
one of the cover characters is cheat code exclusive? lol
There is essentially a fifth of the characters locked behind them lol
Former Yu-Gi-Oh! Judge;
Personally I still play these older Yu-Gi-Oh! games because they don’t follow the card game and follow closer to the manga And duelist kingdom era. A lot of older fans forget those ridiculous duels from the anime where giant solder of stone destroyed the moon or mystical elf chanting a spell were what made the game so captivating. Furthermore something of note is that the game poses you as an underdog and puts restrictions on you to make you an underdog. Such as a ban list. Duelist Level and Cost. Yugi was always an underdog. In EP 01 he had exodia, however by EP03 exodia was in the ocean. Pegasus was a threat. Next arc built Marik up as a powerful threat with the god cards. Yugioh was always chasing duelists early on that on paper were better than him. So I really enjoy the underdog nature of Yugioh games.
@@Mattchu.the.Pikachu As critical as I am I'm a big fan of the DM, GX, and 5Ds era anime, and this game definitely plays by the DM era "we need to write ourselves out of a corner" era that I do genuinely love. You're definitely not wrong about the underdog element, but I wish the optimal strategy wasn't farming cheesy custom cards, as I would've loved to deckbuild... more properly with iconic DM cards and crawl from underdog to king of games. Mad respect on passing the dueling book, I"ve tried but despite my intense love (and current play) of the series it sure do be a mess. Also if I may self promote some I also have a cideo on the Pokemon TCG GB game you may enjoy ;p
@@ntmaproductions I passed the exam during the 5ds era when I was just 18. My local card shop needed judges for its tournaments and I wanted to understand the game from a more contextual level. After Zexal I went and became a judge for MTG that I still judge to this day. As for your Pokémon TCG I would love to watch. I love hearing it in the background while cleaning or doing paperwork. Hence how I ended up here.
@@Mattchu.the.Pikachu Well I'm always glad to help :)
There is a card called Bookoo. It was my favorite card along with Yamata Dragon Scroll. It was like a book with hands. I liked the art of that and a few cards. Hoshinigen and some weird electric lizard I think is was called kaminarizou or something.
@@theerealatm That makes sense, I shoulda known that. Not sure if generating them woulf help too much but it's tribute fodder I suppose, assuming you could somehow protect them
yeah the best strat is most def use lvl 4 crafted cards of you can craft it about 1700 you can load up a cheap deck. ntmaproductions
@@ntmaproductionsalso... Yami yugi theme is dope. Check out Henry Tudor on duels of the roses. It's remade.
I had this game as a kid. The attribute system confused me a lot since I'd been unfamiliar with the Manga at that time. I think I had the game for all of a few months before The Eternal Duelist Soul released and I never went back after that.
lol i moved on to GX Duel Acadmey eventually
i hope ntma stands for what I think it does. 🤭
🤠 im not sure what you mean tbh