is a

video game compilation A video game compilation is a type of product bundling in which different video games are available for purchase as a special collection. They are often stored on the same physical media or digital package, making use of menu interfaces that al ...

developed by

Digital Eclipse Digital Eclipse Entertainment Partners Co. is an American video game developer based in Emeryville, California. Founded by Andrew Ayre in 1992, the company found success developing commercial Video game emulation, emulations of arcade games for ...

and published by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

, released in commemoration of the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' Trading Card Game's 25th anniversary. It contains

emulated In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use perip ...

versions of the first 14 handheld games based on the ''

Yu-Gi-Oh is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' between September 1996 and March 2004, with its chapters collected in 38 volumes. The s ...

'' franchise, originally released between 1998 and 2004. Several of the included games were localized and released outside of Japan for the first time as part of the collection. ''Early Days Collection'' was released worldwide on February 27, 2025 for

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the collection's preservational aspects and amount of content, but criticized the games themselves for their slow gameplay and lack of tutorials.

Features

All games in the compilation are playable in Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, including those which had not previously been localized, with the exception of ''Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2'', which is only available in Japanese. In each game, players can remap the button layout, create

save state A saved game (also called a game save, savegame, savefile, save point, or simply save) is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. From the earliest games in the 1970s onward, game platform hardw ...

s, and fast forward or rewind gameplay. Online multiplayer is supported for ''Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists'' and ''World Championship Tournament 2004'', with select games planned to receive online support in future updates. An "enhancements" menu allows the player to apply special modifiers to each game; examples include unlocking all cards, removing deck point limits for player decks, enabling cards normally banned from play, or activating hidden characters and cards that could originally only be accessed through special means. An in-game gallery includes digital scans of the games' original box art and instruction manuals.

Games included

''Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection'' includes 14 games originally released for the

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

(GB),

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

(GBC), and

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

(GBA) handheld systems, all featuring characters and cards from the original ''Yu-Gi-Oh'' series. While the included games are primarily

digital collectible card game A digital collectible card game (DCCG) or online collectible card game (OCCG) is a computer or video game that emulates collectible card games (CCG) and is typically played online or occasionally as a standalone video game. Many DCCGs are types of ...

s, ''Monster Capsule'' is instead a

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, tur ...

game, while ''Dungeon Dice Monsters'' and ''Destiny Board Traveler'' are based around

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

mechanics. All three versions of ''Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists''—''Yugi Deck'', ''Kaiba Deck'', and ''Joey Deck''—are available for play in the compilation.

Development and release

''Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection'' was announced on February 5, 2024, at a Konami event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' Trading Card Game. The announcement revealed two of the included games, with the remaining entries confirmed gradually over the course of the year; the final list of included games was published in December 2024. The compilation marks the first international release of ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters'', ''Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories'', ''Monster Capsule'', ''Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists'', and ''Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2''. The game was released on February 27, 2025 for

and

via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

; physical copies of the Nintendo Switch version included one of two limited edition ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' trading cards.

Reception

''Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection'' received "mixed or average" reception according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{Digital Eclipse video games 2025 video games Digital Eclipse games Konami video game compilations Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Switch games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Yu-Gi-Oh! video games