Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force is a 2006 card battle strategy video game developed and published by Konami released for the PlayStation Portable.  The game serves as the first installment in the Tag Force series and is based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX series.

Campaign: The campaign is extensive and is split into three parts.  The training part (where players duel and try to find a partner), the Tag Force tournament, and the Shadow Rider part. The story isn’t really compelling and almost nonexistent but it does pick up during the third act.

Players control a student who’s transferred to Duel Academy during the events of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX featuring characters like Jaden Yuki, Chazz Princeton, Zane Truesdale, Syrus Truesdale, and many more. My favorite partner in the initial playthrough was Alexis Rhodes. Now, I will admit that there is a serious lack of main character interactions.

For a majority of the campaign though, players will be battling to compete in the Tag Force tournament. If you’re a fan of dueling, the campaign is quite extensive especially when it comes to the building the friendship meter with the various characters. Which takes a long time.  Still, this does a great job of helping players learn and master the game. (3 out of 5)

Gameplay:  The name of the game is dueling and if you’re a fan of the series you know how it goes.  Players engage in “duels” which consist of two characters each with decks of 40+ cards consisting of normal, effect, magic, and trap cards in which the goal is to defeat your opponent by depleting their life points to 0 or if they have no cards to draw.  After winning duels, players are given points to buy booster packs to acquire better cards and experience points which gives them access to more booster packs.

Players need to know that their first deck is shitty as hell and that they’re going to lose.  A lot.  And the other NPCs will not hold back as they will have many moments where they seem like they know every move you’ll make.  God mode is the word floating through the air.  Also, the AI can be frustrating at times.  Fighting them, you’ll see that they’re competent and challenging but sometimes when you’re teamed up with them, they’ll make the most ridiculous moves that cost you the duel more times than not.

Next to dueling, players must build their “friend meter” with the other characters so that they’ll partner with them.  Players are given up to 2400 cards to choose from to build their decks, which they can have multiple decks. The game has its own game time and week days offer classes that you can choose to attend if you want. Depending on the certain time and the day of the week, you will be able to meet more characters depending on the location.

The controls are actually pretty simple though the gameplay is more complex when it comes to creating decks, building friendships, and how to duel.  The game does keep record of player stats such as how many times they’ve dueled a character, highest points earned in a match, characters you’ve befriended, etc. I will admit that the gameplay that can be repetitive.  However, experience does prove the game can be frustrating if not fun.  (3 out of 5)

Graphics:  The graphics are good at simulating the animation style of the series.  As a bonus, character moves are simulated by an animation as well as some of the monster card summons.  The card designs are great with a lot of attention to detail. (4 out of 5)

Score:  I think this is probably the weakest point of the game.  There are no voice performances in the game.  The music isn’t really memorable and it sucks that none of the themes from the show are included.  However, the music that is presented is decent and the sound effects are good.  (3 out of 5)

Replay Value:  If there is one thing that this game has it’s replayability.  For me, I’ve spent dozens of hours going through hundreds of cards to form multiple decks.  Deck building is so addictive especially with so many options given to the player. If you want a Warrior-type deck, you have enough options to make several Warrior decks, each one different from the last.

Another point of interest is the number of characters the player can team up with.  Not only are there a bunch of characters from the show but there are tons of minor characters that can be teamed up with.  Each team up can change each play through.  Next to Alexis Rhodes, I love playing the Mimicry character as he can play with any of the decks that I build.

Third, there are a ton of content to unlock, Whether we’re talking about characters to team up with, cards to acquire, and medals that can be earned by constant battling. But this is just a few of the many things that this game has to offer.  (5 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force is a great game for fans of the series.  Now, the game is not without its flaws.  The AI is an asshole to fight and an idiot to team up with, the story is almost nonexistent, repetitive gameplay, and the characters feel bare bones.  However, I can honestly say that the game has a shit ton to offer.  There are thousands of cards to pick from and tons of decks to make, tons of characters to team up with, tons of unlockables, character animations, and replay value out this world.  Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force gets 4 out of 5.