One of the popular video card games to ever launch is Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links. It is a game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime. The anime centers on the story of Yugi Muto, a high school boy who solved an ancient puzzle called the Millennium Puzzle. After settling in, he became host to an ancient pharaoh who is good at playing duel monster cards.
Players get to collect different cards and build a deck. They then use the deck to duel against the game’s AI or other players. The game also features many of the iconic characters in the franchise.
This match includes the characters in different Yu-Gi-Oh! Series like the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, and more. To help you understand more, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, let’s briefly look at the history of the franchise. We’ll discuss in this article its beginnings. Starting from the manga and up to the video game. If you love playing card games like Duel Links, you can check out more similar games.
The Brief History of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links comes from the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime. However, it is not the very first title from the franchise. The anime itself is an adaptation from a manga with the same title. But what’s surprising about it is that the original concept of the manga was supposed to have a more horror background, according to an article from The Geek Show.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Manga
Kazuki Takahashi was the manga artist who worked on Yu-Gi-Oh! The manga initially had a horrifying background, and this was evident in the early story arcs. The characters were the same, even the part where Yugi Muto solved the Millennium Puzzle and became the host for an ancient pharaoh. But the earlier arcs didn’t give much attention to duel monsters.
Whenever the pharaoh would show up to bail Yugi and his friends out of trouble, he would usually challenge opponents to various games. Also, each week would feature a different game, which also included the duel monster game. Duel monster cards were earlier called Magic and Wizards, as a tribute to the popular Magic The Gathering card game and Wizards of the Coast, its producer. But the popularity of the card game forced the artist to focus more on it in the later arcs. This thing gave birth to the Duelist Kingdom arc, and later on to the Battle City Arc.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime
Toei Animation adapted the manga into an anime series and debuted it in 1998. This adaptation never aired outside Japan. In 2000, Studio Gallop produced its anime adaptation but focusing mainly on duel monsters. But what most fans outside Japan will remember is the English-dubbed anime that 4Kids produced. Similar to the ones Gallop provided, the ones they aired focused more on duel monsters.
However, the producers not only dubbed the English language on the anime and changed some of the character’s names, but they also altered the series to soothe a younger audience. They edited out the more violent, mature, and religious aspects of the manga and the Japanese version focused more on duel monsters. Death was removed from the series, using the phrase “sent to the shadow realm” as a replacement, according to The Geek Show.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game
Konami launched the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card game in Japan in 1999, and then they brought it to North America in 2002. The gameplay of the trading cards mostly follows the duel monsters on the anime. There are some significant changes, like beginning the duel with 8,000 life points and having restrictions on how many copies of a single card is allowed.
Moreover, players can have three copies of a card in their deck, except for Forbidden/Limited cards. The cards that are on the Forbidden/Limited list are only allowed either 2, 1, or 0 copies per deck. The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card game achieved a milestone in 2009, being named in the Guinness World Records as the top-selling trading card game in the world, according to Wiki. Konami sold 22 billion cards worldwide.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links: Video Games
Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd didn’t only release the physical trading card game for Yu-Gi-Oh! Besides, they are also the company that issued the different video game titles for the franchise. The first title they released was Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule: Breed and Battle for PlayStation in 1998. Shortly, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters followed for Game Boy. The Third game they released was Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark duel Stories for Game Boy Color in 1999.
All of the three-game titles were released in Japan. The first title to be released in the U.S. was Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories in 1999 for PlayStation. Konami has released many different Yu-Gi-Oh! Across different consoles and devices after that. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Link released in 2016 for iOS devices then 2017 for Android and PC (Steam). The latest game right now is Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution, which released the Nintendo Switch in 2019 and release in 2020 on PC(Steam), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Overall, the history of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links drawn to many parts where it casually succeeded. Until now, this game and anime series has become well-known to people. You might say that this has become a legacy, especially those who witnessed its journey from the very beginning. After all, it is not only the success of creators but also the players to which they grew with the game.
