While I'm no fan or follower of the tv show or the actual game, this delivers where Yu-Gi-Oh! cannot...
User Rating: 8 | Duel Masters PS2
Let me prefice this by letting you know that I don't follow the tv show (I've seen it once), I don't play the card game, and I'm going to college currently for animation, so I rip the animation up a tad seriously. I played Magic: The Gathering when it first came out (back in like 92 or 95 or something), and this has the same feel as that. (which it should since it's made by the same people.) I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh! and have been waiting for a real card game to come out for a console, since every Yu-Gi-Oh! game has been an utter disappointment and as such I haven't tried its newest installment. There are some flaws in this game that are hard for me to get past, but they do not directly affect the gameplay, so they should matter, but only in a small sense. The first one that should be noted is the flash looking cut scenes in the beginning. They look half-arsed and they shouldn't have been added if they wanted to do them so poorly. What they should have done is had the original animators of the series draw it out for them and add it as a real cutscene instead of using a 14-year-olds flash project. The cell-shaded graphics also look bad. The style has been killed and should not be allowed to resurface. While it may look good for certain games, this one just couldn't pull it off. The models tend to lose their outlines at times, and they don't seem to have any type of assigner to them that makes it so they are a hard body so they cannot be penetrated (you'll see their chin go into their chest when they move their head down at times). The creatures looked great and as such they should have stuck to the fantasy/realism style. The models look well done although you only see them from afar most of the time. They could have integrated the attack animations together rather than making them seperate entities and piecing them together. This is a big complaint from me, as I like to see my monster hit the object, not see my monster throw something and then cut to the other monster to see it get hit. Eventually you'll turn them off, so the cut scenes won't really matter. The sound blows. It's absolutely abhorrent, but it isn't something I really look for in a game. The voice acting is garbage as well. I could go ahead and break down why it's bad, but I don't feel like it, so just know that it's bad. The gameplay is alot of fun. There is a tutorial at the beginning of the game, and if you're new to everything you should definitely do it. I did it and had no problems understanding it all, and have done quite well so far. If you're new to the series, like I am, though, here's a quick rundown. Rather than attacking monsters and losing points in that fashion, you attack the persons shields, of which they have 5. After you blaze through their shields you then have to attack them for the final blow. At first it is easy, but eventually it gets harder (that sounds logical, but the first few fights are really easy if you've played any card game). The drawback to the game (overall I'm talking about, not just the console, but the card game as well), is that you only have certain monsters that block and others that attack, therefore creating a conundrum for you should you not have any, aptly named, blockers. If you do have them, then you must use them wisely as you may want to save it for a time when you really are getting stomped rather than right away. You also never attack creatures unless they are a blocker or if they have attacked and then become tapped. It actually provides for some interesting gameplay as you have no way to rid yourself of those 6 million point monsters directly. The other bad part is that you'll run into monsters that are pretty much undefeatable in the beginning. 9000 point monsters and you've got nothing to match that. You'll have to make sure you're not sacrificing your spell cards in the beginning for mana, so that you can blaze through those, as they can get pretty annoying. You get to have 5 monsters on the field at a time, which is the standard, I suppose, for most all of these card games. It probably would be wise to also know something of the abilities that these mosnters have. I do not, so I am at a disadvantage sometimes. I have found out that a "slayer" creature kills any creature it does battle with even if it has a lower attack than the blocker (or monster) it's attacking. It will also die if it is lower, but this type of ability is especially useful for getting rid of those 9000 point monsters. Since you can't attack them directly, you'll need to use a low-level monster to attack the player and, thus, try to get the 9000 point monster to attack that monster next turn. If it does so, then you can attack it with a "slayer" type-monster and kill it. It sounds like alot more work than it really is. How the game goes about it kind of lame, I have to admit. You go from the mall, to the tournament thingy challenging people to duels back to the mall, then to where I dunno because I'm not that far yet. That part is really no fun, and you don't really walk around, you just move from one person to the next challenging them. Again, it is lame, but you're not here to walk around like your friggin' Zelda. You're here to duel. The load times are nominal, which is nothing new for the ps2, but you get over it quick. If you gotta grab a pop, do it during these or go take a whiz and you'll never notice them, although it will take you longer to do both of those activities than the load time will leave you for. Lastly, when you win matches you get 3 cards. These cards are put into your collection. To access your collection you'll have to hit [O] outside of battle, when you're standing in front of people. Taking and putting cards into your hand is a bit confusing the first time you look at it, but it's really quite simple once you do it the first time. I went through the first 6 or 7 people without changing my deck, because I didn't know how to so I thought that this was worth mentioning. I still won, I just would have liked to put some of the cool cards I'd gotten into it. I am only getting through the very first part of this game, so my perception of this game is very limited at this time, but I haven't put it down yet and I really had expected to want to take this game back after I opened it. As such, I must say I've really enjoyed this game thus far, but am only at the Mall again, so I know there's alot more to be seen than just what I've seen. If you're a fan of the series and you can get past the flaws that really don't matter (in my opinion) then I'd get it. If you're not a fan, but are tired of lame Yu-Gi-Oh! games that never deliver I'd get it. 
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