If you ever spent way too much time shuffling through physical Yu-Gi-Oh! cards as a kid, this GBA version nails that same chaotic energy. You start off with a basic deck—some Dragons, a few Spell cards, nothing too wild—but after a couple duels against the early NPCs, you quickly realize how badly you need better monsters. The AI doesn’t mess around, even early on.

What’s cool is how it sticks to the original TCG rules (none of that weird anime-only card nonsense). You’ll recognize the usual suspects—Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes, Exodia—but pulling them feels just as rare as in real life. The deck-building is addictive, especially when you start unlocking boosters after wins. I remember wasting an entire afternoon trying to get a Jinzo, only to get wrecked by some random duelist running a cheap Trap-heavy deck.

It’s not perfect—the animations are basic, and the music loops get old fast—but the core gameplay holds up. If you ever wanted to relive the early 2000s card-slinging obsession, this is the closest you’ll get without digging through your old shoebox of commons.