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(More customer reviews)The Yugioh! card game doesn't translate well into a fully-fleshed out RPG, and each time Konami tries, veterans and fans of the true game suffer a little with each attempt. Games like Nightmare Troubadour are noble attempts, but focus on capturing the spirit of the anime rather than that of the game, and sometimes rules are sent to the side in the name of the story.
But Konami hasn't forgotten about those people who can recite to you the entire Ban List, or those who couldn't care less about the anime and want to play the TRUE card game. Ultimate Masters is simply that, a pure translation of the card game into electronic format.
From the get-go, you pick a name, an image to represent yourself in the game, and a starter pack containing about fifty cards. There's no pretense of a story here. Select Free Duel, pick an opponent, knock his lifepoints down to zero, and earn some Duel Points. Take those Duel Points, buy a booster pack, edit your deck, lather, rinse, repeat. No God cards. No Ancient Egyptian spirits.
For those of you who have played card games in the past, and seem intrigued by this, I give you a word of warning. This game is NOT beginner friendly. The name is Ultimate Masters, and it's for exactly them: people who have mastered at least the fundamentals of the game. There is no tutorial, no training mode, and one giant learning curve. Don't be discouraged, however. Konami churns out four or five Yugioh games a year, so there's one out there that's perfect for a beginner.
If you're still reading this, I'm sure you're at least familiar with the basics then. The game adheres to the current banlist (cards that are forbidden in play), and even features a password system to update the list to stay current with tournament rules.
Editing your deck is a breeze, with a multitude of filters to help you find the exact card you're looking for. One very useful one is the ability to search based on card function. If you're are looking for a card that has the ability to destroy Traps or Spells, select that function from the list, and the game will display all that apply.
Unlike the anime, where a single duel can stretch out over episodes, duels in this game are quick, challenging affairs. Very little effect is added to the game. No 3D images of monsters, no special summoning cutscenes. The most extravagant is a small "poof" as a card is destroyed. There's not much to the game audio-wise, either. The music is VERY forgettable, and sometimes downright annoying. This game's one to play with your MP3 player by your side. The most detail that occurs during the duels is the fact that for those familiar with the cards, it's pretty easy to tell which card is which without going to the Card Detail screen.
Were this minimal presentation in any other game, it would lose major points, but here it works. This game is for the people who want quick, brutal duels and none of that overdramatic flair the anime's famous for. So it works wonderfully.
Despite the fact that the game has Yuki Judai, from the new GX anime on the cover, you're not going to find hide nor spikey hair of Yugi, Kaiba, Yuki, or any of the other characters in this anime. Your opponents are the monsters themselves: a Skull Servant monster duels with an appropriate Undead themed deck. While this allows for a multitude of new strategies, and keeps duels from becoming predictable, I also miss the ability to school the "King of Games" in how a real duelist plays.
Anime based games generally follow the conventions of the show, and require you to focus on building one deck, and finetuning that one over the course of the game. This game EXPECTS you to build multiple decks built around multiple strategies. Any professional player can attest to the fact that in a serious setting, it's impossible to win by just "beating down" your oponnent. 2000+ cards leave the strategic options wide open, and the ability to save sixty different deck "recipes" lets you dabble with every strategy available without destroying a perfectly good deck to build a new one.
The Artificial Intelligence in games like this is the key to it's success. Many otherwise decent Yugioh games have been broken because of a faulty AI. While it's no Kasparov-beating Deep Blue by any stretch of the imagination, it does provide a very robust challenge now and again. Very often, I've won a duel literally by a handful of points because the AI seemed almost ready for my every move.
Should you tire of dueling, the game also provides Challenge Duels, which are a unique spin on the normal game, as well as a way to learn some of the advanced tactics and strategies that make the game popular with professional players. Goals like activating ten traps during a duel, or delivering 10000 points of damage during a battle will test your dueling-abilities, where a Boss Rush mode of Survival will pit you against random opponents, with your lifepoints carrying over from duel to duel.
For the serious player, Yu-Gi-Oh! Ultimate Masters: World Championship 2006 will be the very game that you have been looking for: A challenging AI, more ways to win than a player would ever need, and none of the overdramatic trappings of the anime. Beginners beware, but experts: This one's for you.
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Yu-Gi-Oh Ultimate MastersProduct Description: Yu-Gi-Oh: Ultimate Masters World Championship 2006 adds more cards and more replay value than ever before. The official software of the 2006 Yu-Gi-Oh! World Tournament has the most cards in any Yu-Gi-Oh! handheld game. Choose from over 1,500 cards, with new games like limited Life Point duels, dueling with an 80 card deck, and more!
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