Summary
- Yu-Gi-Oh: Early Days Collection includes online multiplayer and quality-of-life features like rewinding gameplay states.
- The collection features classic titles never localized in the West, remastered for modern platforms.
- Players can customize gameplay, unlock hidden content, and remove restrictions for a more enjoyable experience.
Konami and Digital Eclipse confirmed a number of features for the upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh: Early Days Collection, including quality-of-life features like rewinding gameplay states, removing deck limits, and online multiplayer. The Yu-Gi-Oh: Early Days Collection package features a number of classic titles remastered for modern platforms. These include games that were never localized in the West and have been Japan-only releases for the longest time.
First revealed in February 2024 for the franchise’s 25th anniversary, the Yu-Gi-Oh: Early Days Collection digs deep into its back catalog, with fourteen games collected from across its long history that were previously released on the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance systems. This package of retro video games includes titles from the series’ past that use a different ruleset that was established before the physical card game’s traditions were set. With the Early Days Collection set for a February 2025 release on both Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam, Konami and Digital Eclipse have revealed some new features exclusive to this remastered collection, including some important quality-of-life features that will make certain titles a much easier time.
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On the official Yu-Gi-Oh: Early Days Collection Steam page, one of the first things confirmed for the remastered releases is online play. Players can challenge each other in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists at launch, with select titles in the collection getting an online play patch post-launch as well. Certain Yu-Gi-Oh titles like Stairway to the Destined Duel and Destiny Board Traveler did support multiplayer with the Game Boy’s link cable, so it’s entirely possible that these titles will get multiplayer after launch.
Yu-Gi-Oh: Early Days Collection’s Features:
- Online Multiplayer: Challenge Duelists from around the world with online play in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists! Select titles will also be updated to support online play after release.
- Customizable Gameplay: Unlock hidden characters and cards, the option to remove Deck Capacity, Duelist Level, and cards from the Forbidden & Limited List, customize your button mapping, and much more.
- Rewind and Fast-Forward: Turn back the clock with the Rewind function or fast-forward to watch your strategy unfold at mach speeds.
- Save Anywhere: Pick up and Duel right where you left off with the option to save at any time.
- Digital Gallery: Explore preserved box art and manuals from each title in the Digital Gallery.
Also listed in the Steam description is the game’s variety of quality-of-life features, including the ability to save anywhere and the rewind and fast-forward functions. The most important QoL feature listed, however, is the ability to customize the gameplay. This includes the ability to unlock certain characters and cards straight away, along with the ability to remove Deck Capacity, Duelist Level, and cards from the Forbidden and Limited list. Many of these features can make certain classic Yu-Gi-Oh games, such as the highly contentious Reshef of Destruction, much easier, as it imposed a lot of artificial difficulty. Reshef of Destruction in particular was criticized for only being able to save the game in one spot, along with the restrictions that stemmed from the Deck Capacity and Duelist Level mechanics.
The ability to turn off some of these features is entirely optional, so hardcore nostalgia-driven fans can also play these classic retro Yu-Gi-Oh games in their original form as well. The Early Days Collection will also feature a digital gallery that preserves all the box art and manuals from each title, too. All told, Yu-Gi-Oh: Early Days Collection looks to be a complete retro package with enough modern features for fans to enjoy.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection brings together some of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! games of yesteryear, including Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists and Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2.
Digital Card Game
Strategy
