Now, 5,000 years later, a boy named Yugi unlocks the secret of the Millennium Puzzle. He is infused with ancient magical energy, for destiny has chosen him to defend the world against the return of the Shadow Games, just as the brave pharaoh did 5,000 years ago.”

If I chronicled the phases of my childhood obsessions, it probably would look something like this: 3-5 years old, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 5-7 years, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. 7-8 years, Beast Wars. 9-10 years, Spider-Man and X-Men. 10-13, Pokemon and Digimon. 13-15, Dragon Ball Z. And finally, 15-17, Yu-Gi-Oh. By the time I was 18, you’d think I’d give up obsessing over kids shows, and you know what, so did I for a little bit.

“But nooooooo.” Because Nickelodeon just had to whip out one last kickass series that would ultimately annihilate any chance I ever had of growing up (Pranger’s Note: It’s Avatar. I bet he’s talking about Avatar). Anyway, what was the subject of the day again? Oh right, Yu-Gi-Oh, what I consider the finale of my official unofficial childhood.

Yet again, don't ask me where they all went. I couldn't tell you.

 Probably the most common misconception I’ve seen repeatedly concerning the Yu-Gi-Oh card game is that duelists (people who play Yu-Gi-Oh) are often thought of as aggressive, insecure outcasts who get easily offended when outsiders either mistake their game for Pokemon, or worse, call it a shallow knockoff of Pokemon. I’ll say while it is true that several older Yu-Gi-Oh fans have been known to be quite defensive in their support of this franchise, it’s not without its reasons. One reason being, well, it’s annoying honestly. How is Yu-Gi-Oh any more a knock off of Pokemon than Monster Rancher, Card Captors, or friggin Digimon? (It technically predates Pokemon, but that’s an argument for the ages.) It’s almost as annoying as people who wouldn’t stop calling James Cameron’s Avatar ‘Dances With Smurfs’ and think they’re so clever for it, even though all they’re doing is quoting South Park.

As for the card game itself, it is far from shallow. If there is anything Yu-Gi-Oh shares with the Pokemon card game, I would say it is its sense of simplicity of structure. Besides that one element, both games have a very unique style to play. In the case of Yu-Gi-Oh, the detail surrounding its simple structure feels far more complex. In Pokemon, all strategies are built strictly around the monsters you chose for your deck, with the energy’s being a requirement and trainer’s just sort of there for a little support. With Yu-Gi-Oh however, there are so many ways to string the three types of cards together; Monster, Spell, and Trap cards are all equally important in constructing a deck.

Pity this guy was never on the show.

To talk briefly about my strategy, I stuck with Dark type monsters for the majority of playing the game. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer was the driving force of my deck for quite some time: A four star monster (the highest level monsters that can be summoned without sacrifices) with 1800 attack points that allowed me to remove from play two monsters in my opponents Graveyard (discard pile). This ability was useful because it highlighted my biggest strategy. Monsters that were sent to the Graveyard were never really gone forever, because there were far to many avenues to revive them, (Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted, a ton of others). Figured my best bet was to remove as many cards from my opponent’s Graveyard as possible. I also stocked my deck with other removal cards like Noblemen of Extermination and Noblemen of Crossout.

These were especially helpful when up against a Fiber Jar (a card very popular when I was a duelist) that’s effect enforced both players to reshuffle all cards in play and essentially reboot the game with the exception of life point count. Any cards I removed previously would not return to my opponent’s deck, and even if my opponent had a similar strategy, Kycoo had a second ability that prevented my opponent from removing any cards, and that was my strategy: Ostracize my opponent from his minions while keeping my own team together.

And that is why friendship is the greatest thing in the... wait, what the heck is Duke doing here?

Probably one of the most appealing things about Yu-Gi-Oh was that its card game was so much in sync with the anime. They made starter decks named after characters in the show, containing cards identical to the ones they used. I remember being sixteen and in High School when this game was a hit, but I could only imagine what it must have been like to be six and in Grade School at the time of this game’s/show’s hay days. It must have felt super special awesome to actually use the exact same cards as Yugi and Joey. All we were missing were complex holographic duel systems, which, let’s be honest with ourselves, if they really existed, EVERYONE would play this game.

I would now like to focus our attention on the Anime. Yu-Gi-Oh was based off the manga of the same name by Kazuki Takahashi. The series was licensed by Shonen Jump in Japan and localized in US on Kids WB by 4Kids Entertainment. Now, before we all jump on the 4Kids hate wagon… again, I want to be fair and admit that at the time, I had no problem with the way the series was translated. We hear over and over again how 4Kids has utterly ruined every single anime series ‘One Piece’ at a time (Pranger’s Note: I see what you did there), starting with their opening themes, and I am more than aware of this occurrence. But to their credit, the opening theme music for the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh, was actually really good. Easily some of the best work 4Kids’ music department has done.

The name changing, censoring of guns, and a couple punches to the face didn’t bother me all too much either. What did bother me was when I found out about how several bits of dialogue completely changed subject matter in translation. At its roots, Yu-Gi-Oh is the story of a young boy [Yugi] in present day Japan who discovers the game he thought to be a simple hobby has become the battleground for modern day sorcerers attempting to harness ancient Egyptian magic to do their bidding, and he must ally himself with the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle [Yami] to return the magic back to whence it came. It’s quite a compelling story to juxtapose kids in modern day just playing a game with a 5,000-year-old Egyptian prophecy, yet much of the discussion about the mythology surrounding the game, including Yami’s origins, is etched out of the early portions of the dub and replaced with more pep talks about friendship. What ends up happening is once we do get to the final season that actually does take place in Ancient Egypt, it wasn’t built up properly and almost felt like it came completely out of left field.

I think I was maybe one of four people in the theater when this came out.

I should mention as I write this, I have not seen any of the current Yu-Gi-Oh spinoff known as 5D’s, and I only watched a few episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh GX before I completely lost interest. So when I say that I loved this show for its colorful characters, surprisingly clever strategies, and its ability to create a legit amount of suspense and drama (out of playing children’s card games no less), you’ll know I’m talking specifically about the original series. But now that I’ve gotten this far, it would not be right if I left my history of Yu-Gi-Oh without talking about Little Kuriboh’s Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series.

Actually now, it's three times.

What we have here is quite possibly the greatest series of web videos ever made. Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged stars a full grown British guy named Martin Billany, better known throughout the web as Little Kuriboh, who takes clips strait from the Yu-Gi-Oh anime and dubs the voices of all the characters himself (save for a few guest appearances), adding sound effects, music clips, and well-known movie/TV quotes to create one of the most balls-out equal-opportunity-offender parodies of all time.

The series first aired July of 2006. I was introduced to it somewhere late 2007. At first I wasn’t sure what to think because the videos struck me as someone who didn’t even understand the series trying to put it down (LK has openly admitted to never actually playing the Yu-Gi-Oh card game). But as I watched more of his videos, his audio and voice work got better and his writing and sense of satire grew on me. I realized just how much he got this series and was probably no less a fan of the show than I was. On his 50^th Episode, Joey Wheeler Ace Attorney (my favorite character BTW), which aired end of October last year, there was one bit of dialogue where Little Kuriboh dropped the act and let his true feelings for Yu-Gi-Oh shine through, even if it was only for a moment:

Joey: Maybe we have committed copyright infringement, but you gotta’ know we’ve done everything in our power to support the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, and if it weren’t for us, I don’t think the show would be nearly as popular as it is right now.

Johnson: And where is your evidence, as such?

Joey: Look around, Johnson. There are more Yu-Gi-Oh fans now than ever before, and the more you try to stifle our creativity, the more we’ll try to express our love for a show that’s more than just about children’s card games. It’s about fighting for what you believe in. And I believe in this show and its fans now more than ever. Because they believe in me.

Yugi: This is so Meta.

Joey: Flame Swordsmen! Use the power given to me by the Yu-Gi-Oh fanbase to wipe out Judgeman’s life points!

Flame Swordsmen: My name is FRAAAAAAAAAAAAANK! (cuts down head of 4Kids Legal Department)

Johnson: NOOOOOOOOOO!

And for that, Mr. Martin Billany, I thank you for persevering through so much controversy to keep this series and it’s fan base alive. For better or for worse, you pioneered the entire Abridged fad that is sweeping across Youtube. I’ll keep watching, and praying to the Egyptian Gods that you survive another 50 episodes.

P.S. your voice work as Frieza in Team Four Star’s DBZ Abridged is easily stealing the show. Keep up the Super Special Awesome work.

So there you have it, and you know what? I really want to play some Yu-Gi-Oh right now.

Like Children’s Card Games? Maybe you’ll like these:

-Forget-Me-Nots: My History With The Pokemon Trading Card Game

-Bakugan Battle Packs Game Review

-Uno: A Brief History of the Classic Card Game

Formalities aside, we’ve all had a history with Pokemon. However, not all our histories are the same. Sure, both Chris and I (as well as just about every other kid our age) watched the Kids WB TV series for at least the first few seasons, yet whileChris has reminisced of his past experiences playing the various games for Nintendo’s handhelds, the teen version of me was much more busy collecting Pokemon trading cards to drown in the games. Sadly enough, my hobby was probably much more expensive in the long run. It still baffles me that my brothers and I actually managed to scramble up enough money and trading tactics to collect every single card from the Base, Forest, and Fossil sets.

Don't ask me where they all went. I couldn't tell you.

I suppose one of the ways we justified spending so much to obtain every single card was convincing ourselves that the rare ones would be worth something in a few years. But in all honesty, it was just a stubborn sense of self-satisfaction that came with “catching ‘em all” that we were really after. Unfortunately, shortly after our victory over the first three sets, before we could even take a sigh, the Rocket, Gym Hero, and Gym Challenge sets came immediately after that. After that, it was Neo. Then there was EX, and it went on and on from there.

But this went way beyond the collecting aspect because we did play the game as well. Yet even after we completed collecting an entire set, and could theoretically create decks with the greatest potential possible, a new series would come along with cards far more superior than their predecessors, rendering all the cards we collected before, if not flat out written out of the rules, completely obsolete. It was a marketing system that couldn’t be beat.

For example, here is a Promo Mewtwo from the First Movie...

And here is Mewtwo ex from several years later. Same attacks. Same energy cost. Yet greater HP and Damage

Yet despite difficulties to keep up with trends, my memories of the Pokemon Trading Card Game have been generally positive. It was one of the few activities of my childhood in which all my younger siblings and I had a common interest, something that is scarcely found nowadays. It wasn’t a very complicated game by any means, and there was always a good amount of luck involved, yet it didn’t matter because it was easy to learn and teach newcomers, and aspect that, I can say from experience, Magic the Gathering seriously lacks. So with that, I would like to take a look at my past and show just a few of my favorite cards over the years.

First Generation: Mr. Mime

Mrs. Ketchum would be proud.

The fundamental rule about the Pokemon card game that separated it from the video games is that players are highly encouraged to chose a team of only one or two elemental types, seeing as the game worked on an energy card system (not much different from mana in Magic The Gathering) in order to instigate attacks. Back in the day I made numerous decks and experimented with all elements, but I always found my Psychic Decks came out the most effective. While the majority of Psychic pokemon had low HP, they made up for it with the most unique attacks and abilities that were best at throwing your opponents off guard.

Take Mr. Mime here: Only 40 HP? You’d think most high-level pokemon could wipe it out in a single hit. However, it has a Pokemon Power (a special ability that bends the rules) called Invisible Wall that renders all attacks higher than 20 hit points completely useless. Up against a Charizard, a Gayrados, or a Richu? No problem? Just bring out a Mr. Mime, and your opponent’s ace in the hole immediately becomes useless.

Rocket/Gym Leader Generation: Sabrina’s Kadabra

Every bit as intimidating as the Kadabra from the show.

Seriously, when Ash fought Sabrina’s Kadabra in episode 22: Abra and the Psychic Showdown, that was probably the first point in the whole series where I genuinely felt there was a legitimate threat in Ash’s journey to be the best. The first time I was like “Dang bro! There is NO WAY he can beat this thing. I can’t wait to see how he pulls it off.” (Technically he never did, which was kind off a letdown.) So imagine my excitement when I saw that the card representation of said Pokemon had it’s own deal breaking move. Here is one that isn’t even that hard to get. This is an uncommon card that you get two of just by buying a Sabrina Starter Deck. What’s better is that Sabrina’s Abra can be evolved right away and have its extremely effective attack ready with one psychic energy. Life Drain has a 50-50 shot of bringing your opponent’s Pokemon down to 10 HP in a single attack. And it isn’t affected by opponents with resistance against Psychic, which may likely be present if you’re facing any normal type Pokemon. If you’re up against a heavy hitter with 70+ HP, with a little luck this could be a game changer. Then you evolve to Sabrina’s Alakazam to finish the job.

Neo Generation: Unown

You let one ant stand up to you, and they'll all stand up.

Another fundamental rule of the Pokemon card game was that you could have up to four Pokemon of the same name in one deck. This worked excellently with the Unown, because each of them had its own unique Pokemon Power. Here was an instance in which you had lower level Pokemon that, alone, wouldn’t seem like much of a threat, but together become an almost impenetrable force. The four Unown I used were the following: A, whose ability increased every Unown’s Hidden Power attack with every damage counter on him; I, which could summon another Unown still in my deck onto the field; Q, giving me a 50-50 shot of avoiding every single attack onto any Unown every turn; And X, with the potential to give my Hidden Power attack an unlimited amount of damage, dependent on how lucky I am. If all of these abilities are in play at once, I cannot tell you how frustrated my opponents will get.

EX Generation: Deoxys

Yet another way to mess with your opponent's head.

This was just about the last generation of Pokemon Cards I invested in, but boy was it a crazy one. Deoxys was one of those cards of a Legendary Pokemon that actually lived up to its title as a Legendary Pokemon. Its Poke-Power (the successor to Pokemon Power in later generations), Form Change, worked surprisingly a lot like how the Pokemon itself changed forms in the game and in the movie, Destiny Deoxys. I was able to switch out my Deoxys on the field with any of its other three forms in my deck at any time. I would start off in his Defense Form to trickle my enemy down little by little while keeping my HP up, then when my opponent was weak enough, switch out to his Attack Form to deliver the final blow. If the defending Pokemon had a resistance against Psychic or some other special effect in play that would negate my damage, than I could switch to Speed Form and use Swift to bypass my opponent’s defenses. And with all the separate forms safe in my deck, my opponent would be hard pressed to predict my next attack.

My career as a Pokemon Card Trader ended not long after that, but boy was it fun while it lasted, and that’s really all that mattered to me. I couldn’t care about being the best, especially in a situation where masters are genuinely determined on how much money you are willing to depart with. But how about you guys? Any particular cards, elements, or strategies you found most effective? Leave a comment and let me know. In the mean time, I have some weird Egyptian guy challenging me to a children’s card game for the fate of the world.

Card images courtesy of  PokeBeach.com

Can’t get enough about Pokemon? Then check these articles out:

-5 Aspects of Pokemon That Make No Sense

-The 10 Best Pokemon Moves Ever

-Triple Feature: Pokemon The First Three Movies

Uno was invented in 1971 by a man named Merle Robbins. Supposedly, he had an argument with his son about the rules of another popular card game, Crazy Eights.

As a resolution to the disagreement, Robbins invented a new card game and dubbed it “Uno.” This makes sense as the game is very similar to Crazy Eights. The player has to match the color or number played before him or her. There are wild cards, essentially taking the place of the “crazy eights,” but there are several other action cards that distinguish Uno from its inspiration.

After becoming the card game of choice of the Robbins’, the family saved up $8,000 and manufactured the first 5,000 Uno decks, selling them out of Merle’s barber shop. By 1981, the game was hugely popular, so Merle sold the rights to the game to International Games for $50,000 plus royalties. The card game is now produced by Mattel and is still going strong.

In lieu of the success of Uno, there have been countless versions of the game, similar to the editions in Monopoly. These versions range from Peanuts Uno to NSYNC Uno. There is also a version of Uno for various sports teams, mostly from the MLB and NFL. There have also been various spinoff games, the most popular of which is Uno Stacko, a game that bears a striking resemblance to Jenga.

But now, in this electronic age we live in, this classic card game has naturally progressed to the world of video games. A handheld version of the game exists, and for only a few bucks, one can download the game on any current generation console on the market today. And yes, it can even be downloaded to your cell phone, meaning you can now play it literally anywhere.

What’s next for this increasingly popular card game? It’s impossible to tell. But as long as technology keeps advancing and the game remains popular, you can bet that it will continue to bring fun and entertainment to people of all ages.

At the International Toy Fair held in February 2009, the Toy Industry Association awarded Bakugan its 2008 honor as Toy of the Year, Boy Toy of the Year, and Property of the Year.  While these awards are not necessarily for the game itself, they do show the popularity of the cartoon/toys in general and lead one to understand the catching popularity of the Bakugan in its many forms.

Fans of the show Bakungan are sure to love most toys associated with its characters, but this game ends up being a bit of an addiction for fans and newbies alike.  (Beware: Some parents have even admitted that they enjoy playing this game with the kids!)

How to Play Bakugan

This collectable card game teaches a bit of strategy and skill since the players must place the cards strategically and aim the balls so that they pop open when landing on the appropriate magnetic cards.  The balls are magnetic and the card sets come with some magnetic cards (Gate Cards) and non-magnetic cards (Ability Cards).  Accessories like the play arena and ball launchers are not necessary to play the game, but can add to the fun.

Bakugan Battle packs come with balls and cards enough to share and play (battle) together.  Starter sets can be used to update to a new series or to start a new collection of Bakugan.  Of course, booster packs are also available to expand a set with the most recent series cards.

Each set comes with Gate Cards and Ability Cards.  Sometimes finding these toys in stores can be difficult due to their popularity, but you can find Bakugan Battle Packs here.  Since this is a collectible game there are plans for updates and changes with each series released.