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Developer: Atari
Publisher: Atari
Genre: Strategy
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 01 Jun 04
User Rating
10 (4 votes) -
- Can't get enough of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!? Atari hops on the card battle bandwagon with this solid debutant.
Overview
Over the past few years we have been seeing more and more card based games hit the handhelds then ever before. From Pokemon, to Yu-Gi-Oh, to now Atari's latest Duel Masters: Sempai Legends. So how does Atari's latest stand against the rest of the pack, you're just going to have to read on through the review to find out.
Gameplay
Card games have really taken the handheld market by storm over the past few years. This is one of those genre's similar to RPG's that is either you love them or you hate them, there is not usually an in between.
With Duel Masters: Sempai Legends you start the game with an opening storyline and then a tutorial to give players who are unfamiliar with the series a chance to learn the ropes of the game. The game has five different types of cards, which are Light, Water, Darkness, Fire, and Nature.
Of course the main part of a card game is going to be the duels and the duels setup is quite simple. First you flip a coin to see who will be going first. Following this you will draw five cards for your shield and five cards for your hand. Each player takes turns taking one card and placing one of their cards into the mana pool, and then casting spells or summoning monsters. Basically you need to have enough mana in the pool to pull off these abilities.
Once you have monsters out on the playing grounds you can send them to attack the opponent's monster or shield depending on which you find better to attack at the time. This is where most of the strategy comes from the game. Once you send your monster to attack though you must be careful not to leave yourself open to attacks, which could put your shields out in the open.
As you continue to play through the game you will pick up more and more cards, which will make you want to customize your deck even more. When customizing the deck you always much is aware of what you are doing so that you balance your deck correctly. You will find that this is the most essential part of the game especially as you get farther and farther through the game. The game gets increasingly difficult as you progress to where strategy becomes more and more vital.
On the whole the gameplay is solid, there is nothing out of the ordinary coming in the gameplay department but there is enough depth and strategy involved in this game to make any fan of the genre interested in Duel Masters.
Graphics
Card Games have never been the best looking games on the market, but usually just do everything they can to make things nice and easy and not straining on the eyes. With Duel Masters you get just that, nothing special, just enough so no one is really going to complain.
The graphics are colorful, clean, but that's about it. There is really not much to the graphics of the game. The one downside that I had with the graphics was that there was plenty of room to get the text a bit bigger, but instead they chose to go with a rather small font size.
Overall the graphics of Duel Masters isn't anything special, but it's good enough to get the job done.
Fun Factor
Duel Masters: Sempai Legends has quite a bit to offer for an RPG card game like this. It doesn't really have anything new to it, but it is just one of those games that is solid all the way around. There is plenty of strategy that you would come to expect in a game like this along with plenty of action. This game would definitely be fun for any card game enthusiast.
Overall
Duel Masters: Sempai Legends is a game that has plenty to offer fans of the genre, combining great strategy with great action. For anyone out there who is looking for a new card game to add to your GBA, Atari has a solid game for you in Duel Masters: Sempai Legends.
- Gameplay
8.0 - Graphics
7.0 - Fun Factor
8.0 - Overall
8.0
