# Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection

Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is a video game compilation developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Konami, released in commemoration of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game's 25th anniversary. It contains emulated versions of the first 14 handheld games based on the Yu-Gi-Oh 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 and Windows. 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 states, and fast forward or rewind gameplay. Online multiplayer is supported for Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists, and is planned to be added to other games after launch. 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 (GB), Game Boy Color (GBC), and Game Boy Advance (GBA) handheld systems, all featuring characters and cards from the original Yu-Gi-Oh series. While the included games are primarily digital collectible card games, Monster Capsule is instead a real-time strategy game, while Dungeon Dice Monsters, and Destiny Board Traveler are based around board game 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.
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (GB, 1998)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories (GBC, 1999)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule (GBC, 2000)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories (GBC, 2000)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists (GBC, 2000)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monsters (GBA, 2001)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul (GBA, 2001)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2 (GBA, 2001)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards (GBA, 2002)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction (GBA, 2003)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel (GBA, 2003)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004 (GBA, 2004)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Destiny Board Traveler (GBA, 2004)
* Yu-Gi-Oh! 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005 (GBA, 2004)

## 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 Nintendo Switch and Windows via Steam; physical copies of the Nintendo Switch version included one of two limited edition Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards.

## Reception

Aggregate scores :
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 69/100 (NS) 64/100 (PC) |
| OpenCritic | 68% |
Review scores :
| Publication | Score |
| Hardcore Gamer | 2.5/5 |
| MeriStation | 7/10 |
| Nintendo Life | 7/10 |
| Nintendo World Report | 6.5/10 |
| The Games Machine (Italy) | 6.5/10 |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection received "mixed or average" reception according to review aggregator Metacritic.