Ok, don't tell anyone that I actually beat this game and enjoyed it.
Yu Yu Hakusho Tournament Tactics is a micromanagement light tactical RPG. It is fairly simple, but brings a couple of interesting gameplay elements into the mix to make it worthwhile.
Graphically the game is everything that I would expect from a GBA tactical RPG. It takes an isometric viewpoint that is not adjustable, which can create some confusion when your character is behind obstructions that block your viewpoint. The battle areas are nicely drawn and have enough eye candy to be interesting but not overly cluttered. The characters look similar to the ones from the show and have little movements that they perform every once in a while to keep the game from getting static. Overall the game is graphically pleasing.
The gameplay revolves around the characters 'spirit energy' which is used in performing attacks or mending (healing) the characters. On one particular character it is also used when healing other characters. More powerful actions generally use more spirit energy and/or initiative. Initiative is basically a rating that determines how long before your character is able to move again after performing the action; The higher the number the longer before your able to perform another action. There are also items that you can use to heal characters, recharge spirit energy, or perform attacks. Since all of the characters are able to do these actions even without the items, items are pretty much unnecessary until the very end of the game when 'Heal Mega' becomes useful.
Attacks come in three general forms; melee attacks against those right next to you, ranged attacks, and area attacks. All ten of the characters can have up to six different types of attacks that they can do. Outside of the healer in your party (who becomes by far the most valuable member) most of the other characters are fairly similar with differences in how fast they are able to act, how much damage their attacks do, and whether they have more ranged attacks or close quarters attacks.
Enemies generally come in two types: demons, which are common, and unique characters. or bosses. This where the game breaks down as you meet far too many of the same demons over and over again and the unique characters are not around long enough to really get a feel for their fighting styles. The demons are also lacking in area attacks which allows for the same tactic of bunching up your characters around your healer to be used over and over again.
There is some variation in types of missions; basic destroy all enemies (timed or not), destroy all enemies with respawning gates that you must take out, chasing down a single target to kill before he is able to reach a certain location (called pursuit), and tournament battles against boss characters. The pursuit missions are easily exploitable for quick power leveling if needed.
Overall this game provided nearly 20 hours of decent tactics based gameplay that is repetitive at times but also enjoyable. I would recommend it to individuals that have an interest in tactical RPGs but don't want to deal with the great complexity the high profile games can provide.