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IT’S TIME TO D-D-D-DUEL all over again!
Konami’s release of Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection revivifies old-school Duelists of the Gameboy era! Containing 14 titles from the original Gameboy, GB Color, and the GB Advanced – offering a mix of card strategy and RPG elements – nostalgic fans will have a blast from the past with this lineup.
Released on February 27th, 2025, the Early Days Collection can be played on Steam and the Nintendo Switch.
Show your cards!
This low-key remaster includes 14 classic Yu-Gi-Oh! titles, with 13 of them translated into English: Duel Monsters, Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories, Monsters Capsule, Dark Duel Stories, Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists, Dungeon Dice Monsters, The Eternal Duelist Soul, Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2, The Sacred Cards, Reshef of Destruction, Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel, World Championship Tournament 2004, Destiny Board Traveler, and 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005.
They are just as they were; with hardly any tweaks and graphical updates. This collection is a pure, loyal Gameboy experience. As such, most of the issues and bugs failed to be addressed. Games like Reshef of Destruction are still as poorly paced and wicked as they once were. Generally, one’s enjoyment of this collection will depend on whether you value complete loyalty over novelty and perfection.
If you are unaware of the Yu-Gi-Oh! video game series, essentially you are your own player, and you duel against a variety of characters, including Yugi Muto, in a turn-based, monstrous game of cards. Some titles have a heavier story element to them, such as The Sacred Cards and Reshef of Destruction. The two loosely follow the Battle City plot events of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and manga. There is also the (rather unpopular) board game-style Destiny Board Traveler and Dungeon Dice Monsters, which haphazardly combine the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game with dice and table-top mechanics . . .
Any aces up the sleeve?
Having so many games combined into one collection, not only does it reek of 1990s and 2000s nostalgia but this makes it easily accessible for newcomers to select whichever title and begin playing. Admittedly though, the overall UI is bland and shoddy (like it was in the past). This might be conflicting for new fans.
The supposed “enhancements” of the Early Days Collection are minuscule and debatably helpful. There is a new rewind feature to allow players to redo a previous action(s), however it only goes back 60 seconds. So, especially if you are a slowly-paced player, this will not aid with anything. Only select games have a fast-forwarding option, and this is sorely needed for all of them in my opinion. There are many portions of each game that feel sluggish, and some players might get impatient with the NPCs’ leisurely game moves. This is as opposed to an emulator (if you have used one before) where you can quicken the game at 2x or 4x speed.
Some games will also allow for multiple save states, which can be super useful especially in notorious titles like Reshef.
Currently dealt a bad hand . . .
Initially, Konami advertised the Early Days Collection as having local multiplayer features. The Nintendo Switch version, at least, released the game before this functionality was added. When I played the game, trying out multiplayer resulted in an error message. I am not sure why the release date was not pushed back.
Local multiplayer is a major point of charm and excitement, perhaps driving some fans to make the game purchase. One may think – wow, I can play my classic favorites with my friends! Nope. Waiting to add multiplayer functionality after the initial hype dwindles is a poor move. This is especially unfortunate as this disallows multiple players to trade with one another, which blocks the original method of unlocking special cards.
The collection’s enhancements are also essentially “cheat codes,” so trading is not truly needed. Players are able to unlock all cards at any point during their playthrough. This is cozy for some, but perhaps cheap and lazy for others.
As of right now, it seems that Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists is the only title with multiplayer available. However, it is only through online play. It baffles me that the Yu-Gi-Oh! board game title lacks online play, especially since it seems to be what it is made for. The CPUs are just insane!
Kazuki Takahashi’s iconic art style
The art style is faithful – very retro, very anime, very Yu-Gi-Oh! It is difficult to claim that the games “hold up; I personally do not find these games to be much to look at. Some of the sprites and texts are a bit muddy, and the audio quality, well, it certainly feels like you are listening to a Gameboy. Quite choppy indeed.
For each game, players can toggle between different filters, like the TV, LCD, and Monitor filters. Other bonus features of the collection include extra preserved box art and manuals from every title, which are super cool to sift through. Obviously this is a key inclusion for any modern collection.
Final thoughts
It is difficult to give a definitive option about Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection. It is an overly faithful remaster and delivers what is pretty much expected.
A lot of these games are quite frankly the same gameplay and mechanics over and over again, so only a handful are worth playing. The collection only offers small amounts of extra features, including manuals, cheats, and rewind and fast-forwarding abilities, yet simultaneously lacks quality and bug fixes, updated UI, and local or online multiplayer functions. Not to mention, this collection is a full $50, which is rather overpriced for a bunch of outdated games.
Old-school fans may appreciate the bundle. If you are looking for a replica of a 90s to early 2000s childhood gaming experience, the Early Days Collection is robust in that department.
