Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is a video game compilation that is expected to be released on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game’s 25th anniversary. This collection was developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Konami. It contains emulated versions of the first 14 handheld games from the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. It will be released worldwide on February 27, 2025, for Windows and Nintendo Switch. The Yu-Gi-Oh! series is very popular, with a successful manga, animated series, and trading card game.
The game is estimated to have sold about 35 billion cards worldwide as of January 2021. Also, the game has been described as Konami’s biggest money-maker for the last two decades as it is one of the most popular trading card games globally. It has a massive following thanks to its anime and manga origins, making it rank among the top-selling TCGs consistently. Now the Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection will be widely available, which excites its fans. This article will further discuss all about the Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection, so keep reading to learn more.
An overview of Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection contains the Yu-Gi-Oh! video games from the earlier days of Dueling. All games in the collection are playable in Japanese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German, with the exception of Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2, which is only available in Japanese. The collection will be released on February 27, 2025, for Nintendo Switch and Windows via Steam.
In each game, players can remap the button layout, fast forward or rewind gameplay, and create save states. Online multiplayer is only supported for Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists but it will be added to other games after launch. The Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection includes 14 games, all featuring characters and cards from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Series. Here is the list of games included in Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection:
1. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (1998)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters is the first game in the Duel Monsters series and the only game released for the Game Boy. The series revolves around a young high school boy named Yugi Muto who should battle his opponents in the Duel Monsters card game, and the game includes 365 cards, with monsters and spell cards. The gameplay includes players performing fusions by summoning a monster from their hand on top of a monster on the field. Also, the game featured 300 monsters and 50 Magic Cards that were accessible during normal gameplay.
2. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories (1999)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories was developed and published by Konami and released on July 8, 1999, in Japan but was never released internationally. The game includes a larger card pool compared to the first game, adding new cards from the manga and allowing players to face off against various duelists. Some key points about the game include an expanded card library totaling over 700 cards, new card types featuring Trap and Ritual cards, a dark duel theme, notable opponents, and manga-based content.
3. Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule (2000)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule is a spin-off game within the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise. In this game, players collect and battle with ‘Capsule monsters’, chess piece-like creatures with unique abilities. The gameplay style requires players to breed and train the monsters to enhance their power for battles. Also, the game features characters and opponents from Yu-Gi-Oh! Universe.
4. Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories (2000)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories is a collectible card video game released in 2000 for the Game Boy Color. It is based on the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and card games, where players engage in duels using a unique ‘Drak’ mechanic that alters the attributes of monsters. It has a card battling system, including the ability to create their own custom decks. Also, it has a story mode with various characters to battle against.
5. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle Of Great Duelists (2000)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists was released on December 7, 2000, and includes 900 cards, including 800 standard cards, 33 new cards, and other cards. The game includes a save/ load feature, which replicates the infrared communication feature unique to the classic Game Boy Color platform. The collection also highlights card trading between friends and supports online battles.
6. Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monsters (2001)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monsters (2001) is a dice-based tactics video game that revolves around battling opponents using magical dice placed on a board to create dungeons. The game is exciting including dice and 7 figures and cards that players use to achieve a unique goal, which is to build a dungeon path and defeat the Enemy Monster Lord to win.
7. Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul (2001)
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul (2001) is a card-based game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. It features a single-player campaign against opponents from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime and a multiplayer head-to-head mode. The game transfers the rulebook of the physical card game into digital form, resulting in over 800 cards, which can be added by acquiring them from in-game card packs or entering a password on the physical card.
8. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2 (2001)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2 is a video game for the Game Boy Advance and it includes dueling, campaign, characters, and tournaments. The plot involves Tea Gardner being captured by the Ghouls and the players can find and select opponents instead of choosing them from a list. Also, some cards have alternate artworks.
9. Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards (2002)
Unlike other Yu-Gi-Oh! video games, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards (2002) has a story that is based on the Battle City arc of the anime. Also, the rules of the game are quite different from those of a real card game and resemble the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories. To win the game, players must obtain 6 Locator Cards which will be received after beating certain characters in Duel Monsters.
10. Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef Of Destruction (2003)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction (2003) features an all-new storyline that sets the players on a quest to stop Reshef from drowning the world in darkness. The battles are fought with cards, so the players should build a strong deck from 800 different cards, including all three Egyptian god cards to fight the enemies. The main storyline of the game is focused on collecting Millennium Items to resurrect the God cards and prevent the destruction caused by the dark being called Reshef.
11. Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel (2003)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel includes over 1000 trading cards from the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe. It allows players to build decks and duel against characters from the anime series. The game also features a password system to unlock cards based on physical trading cards and multiplayer capabilities.
12. Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004 (2004)
Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004 is very much similar to The Eternal Duelist Soul. The game has 1,138 cards and the player can assemble a deck and duel against a variety of computer opponents. There will be 29 opponents in the game and each opponent has different skills and decks revolving around a certain theme.
13. Yu-Gi-Oh! Destiny Board Traveler (2004)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Destiny Board Traveler (2004) combines the elements of Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game with a strategic board game. In this game, the players will be able to choose their favorite characters from the anime series, battle on different themed maps, and duel against up to three friends using over 750 game cards. Also, the game features a ‘Destiny Board’ mechanic, which is central to gameplay and progression through the different maps.
14. Yu-Gi-Oh! 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005 (2004)
The game features 1000 cards including 105 traps, 220 spells, and 675 monster cards to collect and Duel with. The game takes place in Light and Dark clash in a town where everyone waits for Dueling. The battles take the place of words and only the best will win the tournaments and achieve trophies.
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Conclusion
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a popular trading card game globally with a massive following thanks to its anime and manga origins, which introduces the characters and cards to a large audience. Also, the game has been described as Konami’s biggest money-maker for the last two decades, and now the Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is expected to be released on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game’s 25th anniversary.
It is a video game compilation that contains the Yu-Gi-Oh! video games from the earlier days of Dueling. The collection includes 14 games all featuring characters and cards from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Series. It is expected to be released on February 27, 2025, for Nintendo Switch and Windows via Steam, and the fans seem to be very excited.
