Building a church building from the ground up lyrics. Wants you not to litter. That's the message that comes across in the opening minutes of this latest Yu-Gi-Oh game, at least, as your speechless, anonymous hero meets up with all the major characters of the most recent Yu-Gi-Oh cartoon series - but doesn't talk to any of them. Instead, he busies himself with picking up the various Duel Monsters cards scattered about on the ground around them, then walks away without a word. So the message I get, from that, is that Konami just wants you not to litter.It's an odd start to a storyline, but it's where begins - and, conveniently enough, all those random cards your hero acquires through his selfless streetcleaning just so happen to come together to form a cohesive, well-balanced starting deck. You then take up your garbage stack of discards and begin the Yu-Gi-Oh routine in earnest - walking around challenging everyone you meet to Duel Monsters duels, earning notoriety, cash and more cards every step of the way.It's a formula we've seen three times before on the PSP, as Tag Force has become a once-a-year sub-franchise for the greater Yu-Gi-Oh brand - and it works well enough. The interface here is slick and easy to navigate, with a full view of the Duel Monsters playing field taking up the right side of the screen while the complete text for the card your cursor is currently hovering over shows up over on the left. You can move through each match pretty fluidly, just as you were able to in, and from '06, '07 and '08.

The style of the duels is slick and well-organized, helping to bring some structure to the complexity of Duel Monsters.The key difference for '09 then, since the core gameplay is the same as before, is Tag Force 4's alignment with the newest Yu-Gi-Oh animated series. This is the first PSP Yu-Gi-Oh title to feature the characters and settings of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, including Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas, the Satellite District and all the rest from the series currently airing on Cartoon Network here in America.That's got to be a positive for fans of the show, but it also leads to some disappointment as the characters seem to be mostly window dressing. Because your hero seems to stay silent and anonymous throughout the story mode, Yusei, Jack and all the rest of the major players from the cartoon just feel like they're there for show - not really all that interactive. Which is a further disappointment, later on, when you're trying to recruit one of these heavy hitters to be your tag-dueling partner.The extra gameplay hook that makes 'Tag Force' an appropriate subtitle is that you'll occasionally engage in two-on-two team matches instead of just the normal one-on-one fare - and during your journey around town picking up old cards off the pavement and dueling everyone in sight, you're supposed to be building a rapport with the duelists you'd most like to partner up with in these inevitable four-person challenges.

It's just hard to feel too connected to any of them, though, when your hero's just some average guy with a baseball cap pulled down low over his eyes - an inconsequential nobody in the greater Yu-Gi-Oh story.but the simple, super-deformed, 2D characters in the story mode feel like they're not taking advantage of the PSP's capabilities at all.I personally prefer the story mode approach featured in a different recent Yu-Gi-Oh release - on the DS. Its single-player adventure wasn't the greatest thing ever either, but it went several steps beyond what Konami's still offering PSP players here - it was fully 3D, had an actual storyline to explore and puzzles to solve, and a mystery to unravel about the true identity of who your player character really was. It was more engaging, and made me want to play more of the game. So it's disappointing that the PSP, with its more powerful hardware that could more easily handle a fully 3D adventure, is still stuck with the 2006 Tag Force style of super-deformed 2D character sprites walking around mostly flat environments.

Yu-gi-oh 5d

The VerdictI don't consider myself a truly hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh fan any more, as I haven't kept up with every episode of the cartoon since GX went into its third season or so and it's been a while since I even looked at the physical card game. I am still a fan, though, in that I continue to love the strategic aspects of the Duel Monsters card battling design and look forward to diving back into it each time I'm asked to review a new digital version.I think the core gameplay of the Duel Monsters matches remains solid and addictive, and the wealth of deck customization options and variety of card selection (with over 4000 individual cards included) is excellent. Longtime fans will have no problem diving in and putting together their favorite styles of decks, then taking them wireless to duel against other like-minded human opponents. I just think there's more that could have been done with the single-player portion of the game design here, as after four Tag Force adventures the 2D cutesy style and lack of any real sense of interaction with the storyline or characters is disappointing - it'd be nice if Konami could take some cues from itself, and from the more robust story modes being crafted for other Yu-Gi-Oh games on other systems.(Though it is nice that the company's promoting environmentalism. Remember kids, don't throw your Yu-Gi-Oh cards on the ground.).

8 Presentation Slick. The style, interface and organization of elements on each screen help to put some order to what can sometimes be a pretty chaotic game to understand. 7.5 Graphics Also nice. The super-deformed 2D sprites that populate each environment feel out of place, but the fully 3D characters and camera work featured in the actual duels tie in well to the cartoon's style. 7 Sound Nothing revolutionary, but catchy all the same. The tunes and tempo of the music will change depending on how your duel's going - victorious fanfare if you're winning, ominous tones if you're not.

Yu-gi-oh 5d's Tag Force 4 Psp

Episodes

6.5 Gameplay The single-player story mode misses the chance to feel more involved with its odd, silent hero and limited interaction with other characters. The core Duel Monsters game, though, remains addictive. 7 Lasting Appeal With thousands of cards to collect and endless decks to construct, you really could play this one for over 300 hours (as Konami claims). Multiplayer is still just Ad-Hoc, though.

Yu Gi Oh Tag Force Games

About First Released November 17, 2009 Platforms psp Genre Card Rating Rated 'E' for Mild Fantasy Violence Summary Based on the all new Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's animated series, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tagforce 4 reignites the story of the Dark Signers. The Dark Signers, derived from the Underworld, have been reborn with incredible abilities, a lust for revenge and a desire for complete power. These Earthbound Immortals were sealed in the Earth by the Crimson Dragon or the God of the Signers. The battle rages between good and evil for total domination of New Domino City and the fate of Satellite in story mode.

Yu-gi-oh 5d's Tag Force 4 Deck Recipes

Or battle opponents in one-on-one free duels or team up with a partner to defeat your opponents with more than 3,500 cards.