A game for fans, not for duelists. Bugs that almost cripple gameplay, and confusing layout.
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Lets take a look at the gameplay.
2/10
Outside of duels, the player walks around Domino city as a friend of the main character Yugi Moto. They may skulk around and find duelists to play against in the city, and even duel characters from the show, such as Weevil Underwood or Rex Raptor. However, pedestrians will only duel the player at a maximum of one time, and certain dialogue choice can appear to make further dueling an impossibility. This makes finding a variety of battles later on in the game difficult. Currently the only ones who will duel me are Bonz, Tristan, and Weevil because my cheeky attitude has made every other duelist worth his salt hate me and refuse to battle.
Any hardcore duelist who plays with real cards will notice the oddities of in-battle gameplay. It seems the the developers not only didn't read the rulebook of Duel Monsters, they also didn't read the cards themselves. The set-up is almost instantly recognized as flawed because the deck is not present. As far as I know it is impossible to surrender.
As well as that, many effect monsters such as Man Eater Bug have no effects at all, and instead have a half-assed description of the monster itself. "A hulking insect whose forelegs end in awesome pincers." That is a direct quote. Awesome pincers? Really? Ok.
This can be an advantageous to the player, but anticipating trap monsters is one of the few things that throws excitement into a real game.
Spell cards also vary from their real life counterparts. Black Pendant for example -- an equip card that increases a monsters ATK by 500, and deals 500 points of direct damage to the opponent when destroyed -- now only boosts the ATK of a spellcaster with the second effect completely ignored.
Phases do not come into play either. A player may place monsters and attack subsequently using magic cards in-between however they choose and in whichever order willy-nilly.
Lastly, and most definitely the biggest flaw of battle gameplay is a crippling bug that may cost you the duel, even if there's no way you can lose. Often, a card ATK and DEF will not register, allowing it to become invincible. Low power monsters can defeat monsters with an ATK power triple their own, leaving the player to scratch his head in a puzzled rage. This bug also occurs in sister game Reshef of Destruction.
This can benefit the player if their monster is the one to become invincible, however, it is unlikely that a sane duelist would ever attack a high level monster with their Basic Insect. It can become very frustrating, especially when it is a very close duel.
I think the most infuriating instance was when my Last Warrior From Another Planet -- ATK 2350 DEF 2300 -- was mercilessly obliterated by The Unhappy Maiden -- ATK 0 DEF 100. Needless to say, I wanted to cry. And perhaps huck the game across the room.
The deck itself is limited. Each card costs a certain number of points. Good cards cost hundreds of points, so if you intend to have any sort of "winning" deck, you would need to spend many upon many hours playing as each duel garnished maybe 5-10 points added to the maximum capacity of the card deck.
The storyline itself also gets confusing at points. I'm stuck at a part and don't know how to proceed. Usually talking to people opens up new areas, but I'm at a complete loss. So I'm just robbing Tristan for all that he's worth in cards until I figure it out.
A pro to the gameplay may be that it offers a different way to play, and allows for more roleplay on the battlefield than other yu-gi-oh games. Most other duelists are weak and easy to win against even with low level monsters.
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Music - Generic, upbeat, fun to listen to. The music may be one of the things that keeps me coming back.
8/10
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Design - The design is overall very pretty. Card pictures are visible -- though relatively small -- on the field. The city is at least fun to explore even if much of it is inaccessible early on.
9/10
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Re-playability? Very high. I don't know why, but something keeps me coming back to this game.
9/10
Overall Score: 5.5/10
This game is one of the worst Yu-Gi-Ohs to release on the Game Boy Advance. It does have its charm and appeal on a fan level via the character interactions and gallivanting around the city. But if you plan on dueling anyone while you're here, you might be in for a big disappointment.