If you’ve been a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh for as long as I have, then you may remember how awesome it was to use your favorite cards on various Yu-Gi-Oh games on the GameBoy Advance. We all know that the game mechanics weren’t exactly the same as the American TCG, but it was still good enough to get you hooked on playing them.
As you may also already know, the earlier releases of Yu-Gi-Oh games play much more simple and have significantly less cards than the newer games. This is solely due to new game mechanics and cards entering the scene each and every year. With so many games on the market, it can be hard to choose just one.
In our comprehensive guide to the best Yu-Gi-Oh games for GBA, we’ll show you the best games on the market and give you some advice when it comes time to choose. Let’s get started.
IN A HURRY? HERE’S OUR TOP PICKS…
| Name | Our Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|
Top Pick: Yu-Gi-Oh!: 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005 | 4.5/5 | Click for Price |
| Yu-Gi-Oh!: World Championship Tournament 2004 | 4.5/5 | Click for Price |
| Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Eternal Duelist Soul | 4/5 | Click for Price |
1- Yu-Gi-Oh!: 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005
7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005 is our top pick for the best Yu-Gi-Oh game for GBA. This is the second World Championship Tournament game to release for GBA. The first game being World Championship 2004.
With the great success of the first game, there was no doubt that there would be a second, and more thereafter. This game is very similar to its predecessor with many new features. It is an open world where you are a duelist trying to become the best in Domino City.
You go up against various characters from the original Anime series like Tristan, Weevil, Rex, Marik, and even Yami Yugi. In order to gain new cards, the player must acquire DP, or duelist points. These points are rewarded upon winning a duel.
There are a total of 1,000 playable cards, but some great cards that were included in 2004 are missing and this was most likely due to memory restriction and time restraints. This means that there is effectively less cards in this game than the previous.
From the start of the game, there are 4 towns that you can visit. Hometown, shopping district, coliseum, and Area KC, and one secret town that is unlocked after winning the national tournament.
If nostalgia is your thing, then you will not be disappointed in this title. It’s easy to spend hours upon hours dueling your favorite anime characters and unlocking the endless card selection to create the best deck possible.
What we like
- 1,000 playable cards
- Free-roam open world
- Duelist points system
- Tons of unlock-able content
What we don’t like
- Less cards than its previous iteration
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2- Yu-Gi-Oh!: World Championship Tournament 2004
Yu-Gi-Oh!: World Championship Tournament 2004. The game that started it all. Many people will say that this is the best GBA Yu-Gi-Oh game of all time, but there is a still a lot to be desired about this title.
This title is in our opinion a watered down version of World Championship 2004. Although there more cards, 1,238 to be exact, the lack of open world leaves a lot to be desired. This game is as simple as it gets. You are allowed to assemble up to 3 decks that are then used to duel a variety of different characters on a character select screen.
The initial pace of the game is relatively slow paced, but can be sped up by holding the “L” button while in a duel. There are a total of 28 opponents that you can test your skills against. The game is slightly unbalanced as the weaker opponents decks are full of junk monsters that are very easy to defeat, while the harder opponents possess decks that are very strong.
In order to receive new cards, players must win duels. After winning a duel, you must choose a booster pack which contains 5 cards. In most of the cases, one of the cards is a rare which is highlighted to stand out. There can only be one rare card in any given booster pack that you open.
This game also features a trunk where it keeps tracks of all the cards you have. You can sort through them and see what cards you are currently using in each deck. Unfortunately there isn’t a feature to show the unique number of cards you have in order to complete the collection.
What we like
- Over 1,000 cards to collect
- 28 different opponents
- The first game in the World Championship series
What we don’t like
- Not open world
- Only 5 cards per duel with no DP system
- Hard to keep track of unique cards
- Can only assemble 3 decks
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3- Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Eternal Duelist Soul
The Eternal Duelist Soul is another great title for the GameBoy Advance system. This iteration of Yu-Gi-Oh has a smaller amount of cards than our previous two title mentions coming in at only 819 total cards.
At the beginning of the game, you are given a red, green, or black deck. The opponents in this game are separated into tiers. Higher tiers of opponents are unlocked after you defeat a tier a specific number of times. This means you essentially have to grind out the lower opponents before you can unlock the more challenging opponents.
Your cards are stored in a trunk which has a maximum capacity of 10,000 cards. Your main deck must consist of 40-60 cards respectively with a side deck allowing 15 cards. A cool feature about this game is the event calendar. There are special events that occur on certain days of the week that provide new challenges.
Some cool features of this game are that you can acquire the Egyptian God Cards as well as special sets that lets you unlock additional rare cards.
What we like
- Can obtain Egyptian God Cards in game
- Battle against some of the most iconic Yu-Gi-Oh series rivals
- Random calender events
- Special sets
What we don’t like
- Low amount of playable cards
- Not an open world
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4- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Worldwide Edition Stairway to the Destined Duel
Stairway to the Destined Duel is a game of tournaments and cards. It’s that simple. If you love tournaments and collecting cards, then this game will satisfy both cravings. The plot of this game is fairly simple.
The game starts after defeating 5 ghouls. Tea, being controlled by Marik, leads you into the Ghoul’s pyramid where you must defeat all the foes and chambers awaiting.
This game contains around 1,000 cards which is increased from The Eternal Duelist Soul. At the start of your adventure, you are given a choice of three decks. Once you’ve received your deck, additional cards can be obtained through pack openings and passwords.
All packs contain 5 random cards from a set. You are awarded a pack after defeating an opponent. Additional booster packs can be won from tournaments and events.
What we like
- Tournaments and events
- 1,000 playable cards
What we don’t like
- Not much of a plot/story
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5- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Reshef of Destruction
Reshef of Destruction is considered to be probably one of the most difficult Yu-Gi-Oh GameBoy Advance games ever. This game begins in Domino City with joey by your side. Yugi enters the room saying that his Millenium Puzzle has disappeared as well as Yami Yugi.
After a few more cutscenes with other characters, it is deemed that all the Millenium pieces have been taken and you need to help save the world from Reshef.
This game is very heavy in the story line and features many quests. Many users have complained that the game is absurdly hard and is not very enjoyable compared to its counterpart The Sacred Cards.
This game features many of your favorite characters from the anime series and tons of side quests, however the AI is extremely unbalanced. We would only recommend this game if you’ve played all the other GBA titles as this title may be only worth the purchase if you are a die hard Yu-Gi-Oh fan.
What we like
- Features the Egyptian God Cards
- Lots of side quests
What we don’t like
- Extremely unbalanced AI
- Difficult to progress through the game
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6- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Ultimate Masters: World Championship Tournament 2006
The Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2006 is another crowd pleaser in the community. This game contains every card ever made at the time of its release (2000+). Some may argue that this is the best title for GBA while many still believe 7 Trials to Glory holds the number one spot (as do we).
Nonetheless, the World Championship Tournament 2006 is still an awesome title and deserves its spotlight as well. As with prior games, cards can be collected with passwords and by defeating opponents. The one main difference in this game is that you don’t duel with the typical anime characters in the series.
Instead, you duel against different monsters with their theme based decks. Dark Magician, as an example, would be an opponent you face that will have a themed Dark Magician Deck. This is probably the main downside that this game has to offer. Many love the idea of dueling against your favorite friends and foes from the series.
What we like
- Absurd amount of playable cards
- Unlock-able content
- Different duel types
What we don’t like
- Opponents are monsters instead of the anime characters
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7- Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Sacred Cards
The Sacred Cards came out before Reshef of Destruction and is the real crowd pleaser. This is the game that started the hype. The story of this game starts with the player and his two friends Yugi and Joey. They are preparing for the Duel Monsters Battle City Tournament.
In order to win the tournament, you must obtain six Locator Cards which are obtained after winning duels against certain opponents. After all the cards are obtained, the player is entered into the finals.
This game plays a little differently than the actual TCG/OCG versions of the card game because it was based on the prototype rules that were originally being looked at during the production of the card game.
Some differences include the use of Polymerization when fusing monsters, as well as some monsters having totally different card effects like Jinzo completely destroying a trap rather than just negating them.
Creating decks is rather different as well. Every card has a deck cost when added to a deck. Your deck capacity is increased by winning duels which allows you to use more and more powerful cards as you progress throughout the rest of the game.
Some consider the game to be too short, which actually means it was a good game and people wanted more of it.
What we like
- Different play-style due to utilizing the prototype rules
- Great story/campaign
- Face off against many anime characters
What we don’t like
- The game is very short
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8- Yu-Gi-Oh!: GX Duel Academy
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Duel Academy is officially the first ever release of a GX game. The main story of the game is based upon climbing to the top of the DUel Academy. You will duel against a variety of students from the GX Duel Academy to test your skills.
This game includes a total of 1,200 cards. Duelist points are obtained by winning duels and are the games main form of currency. Duelist Points can be used to obtain new cards.
You will encounter many different characters from the anime including Lyman Banner, Sartyr, Dr. Crowler, and Fonda Fontaine.
What we like
- 1,200 collectible and playable cards
- First game in the GX Academy series
What we don’t like
- Starter decks and cards are bad when first starting the game
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9- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Dungeon Dice Monsters
Dungeon Dice Monsters is a unique spin-off as it is based off of the board game in the Yu-Gi-Oh anime. This game plays very different from the original TCG’s.
In dungeon Dice monsters, there is a tiled board that is 13 x 19 in which the game is played on. On either end of the board there is a “Monster Lord” that represents either player. Each Monster Lord has 3 life points and the first player that loses all their life points loses.
The basis of this game is that each player has 15 6-sided dice. A player gets to roll 3 dice per turn which then determine their move on the game board. Both players continue to alternatively roll dice until one of the Monster Lords loses all of its life points.
What we like
- Tailored towards fans of the Dungeon Dice Monsters board game
What we don’t like
- Spin-off from the anime series
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10- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Destiny Board Traveler
Yu-Gi-Oh Destiny Board Traveler is another type of spin-off created from the Yu-Gi-Oh anime series. This game essentially takes the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG and combines it with a 5 x 5 game board. Each game board is themed based on the character it is assigned to.
At the start of each turn, the player draws one card. There is no limit to the amount of cards you can have in a deck which makes this quite interesting. After drawing a card, a menu appears that allows the player to summon up to six of their available monsters onto the board.
To win a game, a player must obtain a certain a specified amount of victory stars that are acquired through summoning monsters. Whenever a player’s monster is tributed or destroyed, they will lose the stars for that monster.
What we like
- Fast, unique game play
- Multiplayer functionality
What we don’t like
- Spin-off title
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What to Look for in a Yu-Gi-Oh GBA Game
Amount of Collectible Cards in the Game
Many players love the accomplishment of collecting all the cards in the game. A game with a large card base also allows for many different types of deck builds which is what makes the game fun!
You will not be disappointed in any of the Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship series games as they all tend to have a very large collectible card base. These games also usually offer the most authentic game-play experiences as well.
Story-line/Game-play
It’s important to note that not all games are created with a story in mind. Some games will have you recklessly duel against tiers of foes until you have conquered them all, while others will have some sort of story to complete.
Although some games do not have an actual story to them, they are also sometimes the most immersed when it comes to dueling, collecting cards, and just overall satisfaction.
Yu-Gi-Oh Spin-Offs
Be aware of the many different spin-offs from the anime series. These include games like Dungeon Duel monsters and Destiny Board Travelers.
While there isn’t inherently anything wrong with playing these types of spin-offs, just be aware that these aren’t the types of games to purchase or play if you are looking for more of an authentic game experience.
Best Yu-Gi-Oh GBA Game Brand
Konami
Konami Digital Entertainment is the exclusive licensee and holds all the rights the the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. The Konami group was created in 1973. They started as an amusement machine manufacturer for arcades and have since widened their horizon with moving into the TCG and video game industry.
Over the years, the company continues to grow and broaden its products across various markets.
FAQs
What Is the Best GBA Yu-Gi-Oh Game?
The best Yu-Gi-Oh Gameboy Advance Game is Yu-Gi-Oh!: 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship 2005 in our opinion. This game is a masterpiece. It offers 1,000 playable cards, a free-roam open world, a duelist point system, and tons of unlock-able content.
Do Yu-Gi-Oh GameBoy Advance Games Teach You How to Play?
No. Do not expect any of these games to fully teach you how to play the game. The general concensus of these games is that you are already familiar with how the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game works and is therefore tailored to the audience as so.
However, there are a few games that have short demonstration or tutorials so you can get the feel of how each of the turns works in the game, but nothing that goes in depth about everything about the actual TCG.
Final Thoughts
Yu-Gi-Oh!: 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship 2005 is our top pick. It is hands down one of the best Gameboy Advance Yu-Gi-Oh titles ever created. Its vast card list, its free-roam RPG elements, and hidden and unlock-able content makes this and awesome and fun game to play.
Yu-Gi-Oh!: World Championship Tournament 2004 is a very close runner up. It offers many of the same features as its 2005 counter-part, except for one big difference. It is missing the free-roam RPG element which is enough to bump this title down one notch in our eyes.
Whichever Yu-Gi-Oh game you choose for your GameBoy Advance system, we hope this guide has been helpful in your purchasing decision. Thanks for reading!