Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories

'Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters III: Tri-Holy-God Advent' (遊戯王デュエルモンスターズIII Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu III Toraihōrīgoddo Adobanto) is a video game of the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe for the Game Boy Color. The game was Konami's third in the Japanese series "Duel Monsters", and also the first attempt at a Yu-Gi-Oh! game released in English. This game was released in America as "Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories", although the Dark Duel Stories was the title of the previous game in the Japanese series.

Players of the game can trade and battle with other players using a link cable.

Duels
Players must beat each player in a stage 5 times, in order to get to the next stage. Once the player beats a character 5 times, he or she may keeping on dueling them for more points [see Passwords & More]. Here are the list of characters that a player may duel against:

Stage 1

 * 1) Tristan Taylor (Hiroto Honda)
 * 2) Joey Wheeler (Katsuya Jonouchi)
 * 3) Mai Valentine (Mai Kujaku)
 * 4) Mako Tsunami (Ryouta Kajiki)
 * 5) Yugi Muto (Yugi Mutou)

Stage 2

 * 1) Espa Roba (Esper Roba)
 * 2) Rex Raptor (Dinosaur Ryuzaki)
 * 3) Weevil Underwood (Insector Haga)
 * 4) Seeker (Rare Hunter)
 * 5) Pandora (Arkana)
 * 6) Seto Kaiba

Stage 3

 * 1) Paradox (Simon Muran)
 * 2) P. Seto (Priest Seto)
 * 3) Ishizu Ishtar (Isis Ishtar)
 * 4) Slysheen (Known as Heishin in Forbidden Memories)

Stage 4

 * 1) DarkNite

Stage 5

 * 1) Yami Yugi (Dark Yugi)
 * 2) Marik Ishtar (password required)
 * 3) Yami Bakura (Ryo Bakura - password required)
 * 4) Shadi (password required)
 * 5) Nitemare (password required)

Format
Dark Duel Stories does not totally conform to the rules of the Offical Card Game. This includes many cards having different effects, or having their effects removed altogether.

During gameplay there is more than one way to win. A player may win by decreasing the opponent's life points to zero, forcing your opponent to run out of cards (have them unable to draw a card at the start of their turn), or by having all five pieces of Exodia in your hand.

In order to duel, a player's Deck must contain 40 cards and be under their current Duelist Level. If the Deck is over/under 40 cards or over the Deck limit cost, the player will not be able to duel until the error is fixed.

Here are some basic rules for playing:


 * You may only have up to 5 monsters on the field.
 * You may have up to five cards in your hand (Note: If you have five cards in hand at the start of your turn, you will not be able to draw a new card)
 * Each Monster Card may attack any opposition monster card on the field
 * Once the field is empty, you may attack the opposing duelist's Life Points
 * Each duelist starts with 8000 Life Points (Life Points)
 * In order to summon a 5-6 star Card, you must Tribute one monster that is already on the field
 * In order to summon a 7-8 star Card, you must Tribute two monsters that are already on the field
 * You may only summon one monster per turn.
 * You may also set one Trap Card on the field (Note: If the Trap is not used during the opponent's turn, it is removed at the start of your turn)

Battle types
In the game, players may notice a few different types of battle between monster cards.

The most basic way to defeat an opposing monster is to have a monster with higher attack

Example: Player A's card = 1000 ATK, Player B's card = 1200 ATK. Player A's card is destroyed and loses 200 Life Points (Life Points)

However, in Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories monsters can be destroyed because they have an inferior Alignment (which substitutes Attribute in this game). In this format, the difference between Attack or Defense points does not matter and the card with the inferior alignment is instantly destroyed. The exception to this rule is when the monster with the superior alignment also has higher attack points (when attacking) or defense points (when being attacked in defense position), in which case battle damage is calculated normally. However, when a defense position is attacked by a monster with an inferior alignment, the monster with the inferior alignment is destroyed.

Alignment List:



Fire beats Forest

Forest beats Wind

Wind beats Earth

Earth beats Thunder

Thunder beats Aqua

Aqua beats Fire

also:

Shadow beats Light

Light beats Fiend

Fiend beats Dreams

Dreams beats Shadow

Extra information: No other type of card or alignment has an advantage over a card that has a Divine (misspelled in-game as Devine) type and alignment. In addition, cards that fall into one alignment list do not have an advantage over cards in the other.

Passwords
In the game, players can go to the Password Mode option. There they can input an 8-digit password found at the bottom of each trading card (sold separately), saving the card into their chest. Players can add saved cards from their chest to their Deck, depending on how many points they have. The more points, the more stronger cards. You get points for winning battles, but you don't lose points for losing.

Téa Gardner also gives you 1 card for every duel that you win. If you type in a special password, Yugi's Grandpa will appear and he will also give you a card besides Téa. Téa and Grandpa will also give the player one card part for each win as well. (see "Card Creation" for part information)

There are also hidden passwords that unlock the hidden bosses in STAGE 5 and the Credits. Since STAGE 5 can only have one duelist, once the player inputs a password for a STAGE 5 hidden boss (Yami Yugi, Yami Bakura, Nitemare, Marik, and Shadi), the previous boss in that stage is deleted. But, when you re-enter the password for deleted box, the records are the same (meaning deleted duelist just doesn't appear while there's another duelist in stage 5, but when you re-enter them: their old scores reappear. So the data of your previous battles with them are saved and are not erased).

Note: Some cards will not be able to be added with the Password Option. Normally an incorrect password will simply not work, but entering certain card codes, like that of Graceful Charity, will have the game give the alternate message "Can't Record Password! Try a different password." The cards corresponding to these codes were released in the Trading Card Game at the time this video game was made, but were not actually included in Dark Duel Stories itself.

Card creation
It has a unique feature: Players can "create" cards using different card parts, one for the upper half, and one for the lower half. You cannot make a card unless you have at least one top and one bottom half of a card. The player can also preview the created card before using up his/her parts. The only real catch is that the attack and defense can only go as high as 2000.

Fusion
Since Polymerization is not included in this game, Fusions occur differently; selecting one card and placing it on top of another compatible card could result in a fusion for an entirely different monster.

These Fusions are Alignment-based and are reflected as such in the combination they create. For instance, fusing Thunder Kid with Yamatano Dragon Scroll would result in Thunder Dragon. Similarly, combining it with any number of Aqua monsters would normally result in Bolt Escargot. Also, combining Time Wizard with Baby Dragon would result in Thousand Dragon.

Promotional cards

 * GameBoy Duel Monsters Promos: Series 3
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories Promotional Cards

Game guides

 * Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 3: Tri-Holy God Advent Game Guide 1
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 3: Tri-Holy God Advent Game Guide 2