History VideoGame / YuGiOhTheSacredCards

* BroadStroke: The game is largely anime-based, but Marik uses the manga's poison capsule instead of the anime's crate to force Yugi and Joey to duel.

* ElementalRockPaperScissors: As stated, this game uses it with monster types. Certain types can kill other types regardless of ATK. There are two type "triangles" that goes as follows:

*** The only exception is Divine, which [[InfinityPlusOneElement isn't weak to any other element, and is usually limited to ritual monsters and the Egyptian Gods.]]

* ForWantOfANail: With the player character taking over a bulk of the main plot, certain events end up playing out differently than they did in the manga / anime. Most notably...

* FullNameBasis: Whenever Marik Ishtar is referred to or addressed by name in this game it's always as "Marik Ishtar".

* InfinityPlusOneElement: Divine. Isn't weak to any other element, and is usually only found on ritual cards or the Egyptian Gods.

** Elemental wise, there's Shadow / Dark. It's weak to Dream, but Dream elemental monsters are so incredibly rare that it's possible to go the entire game without seeing one, which means you usually don't have to worry about the ElementalRockPaperScissors with Shadow / Dark monsters.

* SelfInsertFic: The easiest way to sum up the plot is that basically the player character combines the roles Yugi and Jonouchi played in the manga/anime during the Battle City Tournament arc, with Yugi and Jonouchi themselves basically reduced to supporting characters.

** Also averted in that elements that would get censored in the dub version of the anime are left untouched here. Instead of using Dark Energy Discs that will send the loser to the Shadow Realm', Arkana's use of buzzsaws that will cut off the loser's feet are presented in full force here, with him even saying the loser will be chopped up.

** Also averted in that elements that would get censored in the dub version of the anime are left untouched here. For example; instead of using 'glowing laser disc that will send you to the shadow realm', Arkana's use of buzzsaws that will cut off the losers feet are presented in full force here, with him even saying the loser will be chopped up by them.
** The casino's name was changed to "Building."

* AwesomeButImpractical: The Egyptian God Cards of course. Once they're on the field, you (Or Pantomimer/Strings, Ishizu, Rishid/Odion, Dark Yugi/Yami Yugi, or Marik) have essentially won. But once you're doing well enough to have enough tributes to summon them, you could probably have won without them.
** Same goes for Ritual Monsters in this game. You need a certain monster (For example: Mask of Darkness for Mask of Shine And Dark which comes in your starting deck), two other monsters, and the appropriate spell card. That's four cards, two of which have to be played together. Although, if you get them out, the balance quickly shifts into your favor since ElementalRockPaperScissors can't kill a Ritual monster as they are all Divine-class and most of them have a LOT of attack points.
* BigBad: Marik, of course.

* DemotedToExtra: Yugi. A painful example since the story still revolves around Marik seeking the God Cards and destroying Dark Yugi, yet you're the one who faces all the Ghouls/Rare Hunters and Yugi is basically not in the game until the finals begin.

* DeathByAdaptation: With you in the finals in place of Ishizu, you're the one who duels Rishid/Odion, and in the semi-finals Yami Yugi. This leaves Joey and Kaiba to duel Dark Marik, and it goes as well as you'd expect.
** SparedByTheAdaptation: In turn, this leaves Mai to duel Kaiba in the quarter-finals, sparing her canon fate. An even bigger case of SparedByTheAdaptation is Bonz, who was killed by Yami Bakura in both the manga ''and'' anime, but survives this game and is fine in its sequel.

* ForWantOfANail: With the player character taking over a bulk of the main plot, certain events end up playing out differently than they did in the Manga / Anime. Most notably...
** Joey [[spoiler: ends up in Mai's shoes during the tournament finals. Kaiba also ends up joining him shortly after when he duels Yami Marik in the finals, since the player duels the Pharaoh in the finals instead.]]

-------------

* AdaptedOut: Don't expect to see Duke Devlin and Serenity in this game, despite their large role in the story arc it's based on.

!!This game provides examples of

* DoppelgangerAttack: Strings is a shining example. Numerous monsters summon other monsters into play, two -- Doron and Revival Jam -- directly summoning another copy of themselves, and Strings specializes in such monsters.

* GuideDangIt: Dueling Arkana requires you to talk to a generic NPC in a specific screen.

** Doron. You start off with one, and it has a low deck capacity cost, and an ATK of 900. More importantly, it has the ability to duplicate it's self when played, which is really useful for tribute summons. Later, you can win a Revival Jam, which has the exact same attributes as Doron, but has 600 more ATK at the cost of a bit higher deck capacity limit.

The game uses unique rules only vaguely similar to the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG; the most major difference is the addition of ElementalRockPaperScissors, in which a monster whose type is strong against another's can kill it regardless of Atk/Def points. For example, a Dark monster of 300 ATK can kill a Light monster of 3,000 ATK, but does no damage to the opponent's Life Points.

The game also has a 'deck capacity' limit in order to keep players from adding a bunch of game breaker monsters to their deck and breezing through the entire game, so grinding will be required at certain points throughout the game. The game got a direct sequel in ''VideoGame/YuGiOhReshefOfDestruction'', which is [[SequelDifficultySpike much]], ''[[NintendoHard much]]'' more difficult.

** SparedByTheAdaptation: In turn, this leaves Mai to duel Kaiba in the quarter-finals, sparing her her canon fate. An even bigger case of SparedByTheAdaptation is Bonz, who was killed by Yami Bakura in both the manga ''and'' anime, but survives this game and is fine in its sequel.

'''Yu-Gi-Oh: The Sacred Cards''' is a GBA video game made by Konami based on the Battle City arc of the [[Manga/YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh manga]] and [[Anime/YuGiOh anime]]. The plot itself is more or less a SelfInsertFic of the Battle City arc, with the player character replacing Yugi as the main protagonist. Yugi himself does appear in the game, albeit with a much smaller role.

'''Yu-Gi-Oh: The Sacred Cards''' is a GBA video game made by Konami based on the Battle City arc of the [[Manga/YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh manga]] and [[Anime/YuGiOh anime]]. The plot itself is more or less a SelfInsertFic of the Battle City arc, with the player character replacing Yugi as the main protagonist. Yugi himself does appear in the game, albeit with a much smaller role. The game uses unique rules only vaguely similar to the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG; the most major difference is the addition of ElementalRockPaperScissors, in which a monster whose type is strong against another's can kill it regardless of Atk/Def points. For example, a Dark monster of 300 ATK can kill a Light monster of 3,000 ATK, but does no damage to the opponent's Life Points.

** Doron. You start off with one, and it has a low deck capacity cost, and an ATK of 900. More importantly, it has the ability to duplicate it's self when played, which is really useful for tribute summons. Later, you can win a Revival Jem, which has the exact same attributes as Doron, but has 600 more ATK at the cost of a bit higher deck capacity limit.

'''Yu-Gi-Oh: The Sacred Cards''' is a GBA video game made by Konami based on the Battle City arc of the [[Manga/YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh manga]] and [[Anime/YuGiOh anime]]. The plot itself is more or less a SelfInsertFic of the Battle City arc, with the player character replacing Yugi as the main protagonist. (Yugi himself does appear in the game, albeit with a much smaller role.) The game uses unique rules only vaguely similar to the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG; the most major difference is the addition of ElementalRockPaperScissors, in which a monster whose type is strong against another's can kill it regardless of Atk/Def points. (For example, a Dark monster of 300 ATK can kill a Light monster of 3,000 ATK, but does no damage to the opponent's Life Points.)

The game itself is pretty fun, although it has the nasty tendency to introduce difficulty spikes at points in the game. The game also has a 'deck capacity' limit in order to keep players from adding a bunch of game breaker monsters to their deck and breezing through the entire game, so grinding will be required at certain points through out the game. Overall, it's a pretty fun experience if you can forgive the above.

The game got a direct sequel in ''[[{{VideoGame/YuGiOhReshefOfDestruction}} Yu-Gi-Oh!: Reshef of Destruction]]'', which is [[SequelDifficultySpike much]], ''[[NintendoHard much]]'' more difficult.

** SparedByTheAdaptation: In turn, this leaves Mai to duel Kaiba in the quarter-finals, sparing her her canon fate.
** At least Mai came back in canon. An even bigger case of SparedByTheAdaptation is Bonz, who was killed by Yami Bakura in both the manga ''and'' anime, but survives this game and well into its sequel.

** Similarly, if you defeat Rex and then answer "yes" when he asks if you've come to laugh at him afterward, he will refuse to duel you ever again, and if you agree that Espa Roba should give up dueling after you defeat him, he will listen to your advice.

** Inverted with Mako at the Aquarium. If you give him sympathy, he'll feel like he's being condescended to and leave, and you can't duel him again until he appears at the Pier. If you just tell him "tough", he respects your brutal honesty and says it'll inspire him to get stronger, and he'll stay at the Aquariam for you to re-duel until moving to the Pier later.

** Inverted with Mako at the Aquarium. If you give him sympathy, he'll feel like he's being condescended to and leave, and you can't duel him again until he appears at the Pier. If you just tell him "tough", he respects your brutal honesty and says it'll inspire him to get stronger, and he'll stay at the Aquariam for you to re-duel until moving to the Pier later.

* VideoGameCaringPotential: Telling Bandit Keith that it's not hopeless rejuvenates his fighting spirit, and he'll happily face you for tons of money and 10 deck capacity points should you win.

** Inverted with Mako at the Aquariam. If you give him sympathy, he'll feel like he's being condescended to and leave, and you can't duel him again until he appears at the Pier. If you just tell him "tough", he respects your brutal honesty and says it'll inspire him to get stronger, and he'll stay at the Aquariam for you to re-duel until moving to the Pier later.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: After you beat Bandit Keith for the last time, you can find him sulking at the Pier. When you beat him again, he loses all hope and gives up on life, asking you if it's hopeless or not. You can actually tell him that it ''is'' hopeless, causing him to leave the warehouse and never return.

** Inverted with Mako at the Aquariam. If you give him sympathy, he'll feel like he's being condescended to and leave, and you can't duel him again until he appears at the Pier. If you just tell him "tough", he respects your brutal honesty and says it'll inspire him to get stronger, and he'll stay at the Aquariam for you to re-duel until moving to the Pier later.

* AdaptedArc: Don't expect to see Duke Devlin and Serenity in this game, despite their large role in the story arc it's based on.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: After you beat Bandit Keith for the last time, you can find him sulking at the pier. When you beat him again, he loses all hope and gives up on life, asking you if it's hopeless or not. You can actually tell him that it ''is'' hopeless, causing him to leave the warehouse and never return.

** Joey [[spoiler: ends up in Mai's shoes during the tournament finales. Kaiba also ends up joining him shortly after when he duels Yami Marik in the finals, since the player duels the Pharaoh in the finals instead.]]