Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection

Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is a funtime if you have an existing nostalgia for the series. Some features and mechanics could be better explained from game to game, but the developers may not have wanted to tamper with the original experience. Thankfully, menus and manuals create enough quality of life improvements to look past the sour spots among the included games.

Despite a few challenges with translating retro games to a modern audience, the Early Days Collection is a must-have for anyone who wants to revisit the earliest entries in the Yu-Gi-Oh! video game series or experience them for the first time.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is a compilation clearly aimed at a very specific niche: the early fans of the series, those who have loved it since its very first years. For everyone else, including those who got into the TCG from 2008 onward, these games will, in most cases, feel far too “dated” in their structure to be truly enjoyable. The essence of the collection lies in its historical value, but even from that perspective, it’s hard to fully justify its steep launch price.

This nice trip down memory lane to the golden days of Yu-Gi-Oh! includes 16 games ranging from Game Boy to GBA. They are a fun companion to kill time, also the new collection provides some nice extra options but won't ignite the same type pf hype that was surrounding Yu-Gi-Oh! back in the days.

Despite my many hangups with this collection, you can still have heaps of fun. The game is compelling as you set traps for your opponents, cast spell cards to improve your monster's ATK and DEF, and tribute your current beasts for stronger cards like the Blue Eyes White Dragon (which is also in Legacy of the Duelist). Playing Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships 2004 sent a wave of nostalgia towards me, and if I had a Switch copy of this collection, I'd be playing it for hours, lying on my couch, just like my childhood. It's just a shame that this collection failed to modernize the classic games with better UI. The lack of save states is also frustrating, and the selection of games on offer may be a disappointment, especially because the Game Boy games are outdated. Also, I don't know about you, but Dungeon Dice Monsters might be the worst idea for the series, and that's unfortunately part of this collection rather than something like Duelists of the Roses. It's probably best to ignore this collection and check out the more recent Master Duel instead if you're not affected by nostalgia.