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Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament,
Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files: Tournament Tactics covers the middle part of Yusuke’s adventure as the Spirit Detective. In this version, Sensory Sweep (developers who were involved with the creation of the last GBA game of the series,
Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files: Spirit Detective) have taken a different approach to the story than either of the two games mentioned above.
Tournament Tactics gives you control of Team Urameshi as you face off against Chu’s Team Rokuyukai, Team Uraotogi, Team Toguro, and many more villains that will keep you thinking several moves ahead in order to survive and advance your characters and team. As you progress through the game, several people will join you on your quest (besides the standard Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Masked Fighter that is). You will gain the help of Pinku (that kid with the Yo Yo), Chu, and even Kurama’s love interest/Hiei’s sister, Yukina. Before a battle, you must choose up to five of the available characters. You can give these characters items to use. These items do everything from healing health and spirit to attack enhancers.
While on the battlefield, you must maneuver your characters across the land in order to complete whatever task has been set before you. Most of the time, that is simply “Defeat all the enemies,” but there are a few other types of battles thrown in there to keeps things somewhat interesting.
While in a battle, you must manage your spirit energy and items in order to defeat the demons that stand in your way. You will be able to perform signature moves like the Spirit Gun, Spirit Sword, and Darkness Flame (once you have leveled up your characters, that is). At the end of each battle, experience points are distributed among the surviving members of your team. Whenever a character levels up, you can distribute a few points among four categories: Offense, Spirit Energy, Movement, and Power.
During a fight, you will move your characters, then fight or activate an item, and finally tell your character which direction you would like it to face. This is a crucial move because the amount of damage a character receives when attacked is partially determined by where the attack came from. If the attack came from behind, then your character is less likely to dodge the hit and take a lot of damage. The character will take less damage if it receives a blow on either side, and will typically be able to dodge out of the way of the attack if it is facing the opponent.
Yu Yu Hakusho: Tournament Tactics is a somewhat short game, but it does put out a good bit of fun in that time. Unfortunately, about halfway through the game, you start to feel like you keep going through the same fights over and over again. The only really interesting parts are when you reach a tournament battle and you get to face off with some of the bigger bad guys.