Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards, or Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 7: Kettou Toshi Densetsu in Japan, is a Game Boy Advance game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime developed and published by Konami. It was first released in Japan on July 4, 2002. It was released in North America the following year and in Europe the year after that.

Unlike the previous "Yu-Gi-Oh!" video games, this game has a story. It is based on the Battle City story arc of the anime. The player assumes the role as a friend of Yugi Moto as they compete in the "Battle City" tournament.

The game is generally thought as inferior to other "Yu-Gi-Oh!" games because the rules in this game are different from the trading card game.

Gameplay

The game consists of a series of card games based on "Yu-Gi-Oh!". To win each game, the player must lower his opponent's "life points" to zero. This is done by declaring attacks onto him using "monster cards". The player loses if his own "life points" are reduced to zero. Everyone starts with 8000 life points.

There are three alternative ways to win the game. One is to have all five cards known as "Exodia" in one's hand. One spells out the word "FINAL" with the specific spell cards. The other way is to have the opponent's deck run out of cards.

In between card games, the player can walk around the city and talk to people. There are two ways to talk to people. One is to simply chat with them and the other is to challenge them to a duel. Each is done with a different button. While the game is paused, the player may re-organize their deck. The deck must contain exactly 40 cards. There are 900 cards in the game in total as well as the 3 exclusive cards that come with the game including:

* Negate Attack
* Riryoku
* Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth

The rules of the game are slightly different than the real card game. They resemble the rules of "Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories". Unlike the real game, there is an elemental ruling. For example, water beats fire, electricity beats water. Also, there is a notable absence of game phases and numerous card effects have been removed or changed.

There is no multiplayer available in the game.

toryline

The game starts when the player and his two friends, Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler are preparing for the "Battle City" tournament of the card game known as Duel Monsters. In order to win the tournament, the player must obtain six "Locator Cards" which are received after beating certain characters in Duel Monsters. After all of the locators are obtained, the player is entered into the finals.

However, a mysterious person named Marik has a gang of card thieves known as Ghouls which he is using to obtain the three Egyptian God Cards to bring the world to darkness. Marik's "Ghouls" eventually take over the whole city. Even the owner of the card shop works for Marik and tries to kill the player. Then, the player meets up with a character named Ishizu Ishtar. She challenges the player into a game of Duel Monsters to see if he is strong enough to wield an Egyptian God Card. After she is beaten, the player must beat Seto Kaiba, the person that organized the tournament, in order to obtain the first God card.

After the player gets into the finals which take place on a blimp, he duels Marik. After Marik is beaten, it is found out that it was not really Marik. It was actually one of Marik's servants. The real Marik was the person the player met earlier in the game that became one of Yugi's friends: Namu. Then, Marik starts stealing the souls of those he beats. After Yugi beats Kaiba, the player must challenge Yugi. After Yugi is beaten, the player must face Marik. The game can't be saved after beaten so once the game is beaten, you will restart at the last save point.

Reception

"Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards" received mediocre reviews with an average of 59% on Game Rankings. It was criticized for its shortness.

However, it did receive a sequel known as Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction. Its sequel increased the game's difficulty and length by raising the card restrictions. However, it is considered too difficult for the wrong reasons.