This wasn't on my short list to review but with the tragic passing of Kazuki Takahashi today, I feel we should look at the work that made him a household name.

Ignoring a portion of Yu-Gi-Oh zero, the anime starts with the card game Duel Monsters, Yugi is the resident expert, able to transform into a more confident, taller and cooler persona when actually playing the game curtesy of his necklace, the Millennium Puzzle, this draws attention from many different villains including rich business mogul Seto Kaiba, Duel Monsters creator Pegasus, the thief Bakura and the rare hunters led by Marik Ishtar, Yugi quickly gets drawn into a card game thousands of years in the making as his confident persona reveals himself as the great Egyptian Pharoah Atemu.
Everything from god cards, millennium artifacts and the very souls of everyone involved, Yugi and friends embark on a card game adventure you'll never forget. It's time to duel!
Adventure is the right word for this behemoth of an anime, I don't think any other toy anime went this far into the lore that Yu-Gi-Oh did. The early episodes didn't quite gather the rule set for the card game until Battle City which was the anime at it's strongest, it was weakest when it had to think of filler arcs such as the Orichalcos and virtual world arcs.
Very much like Beyblade, it embraces the absurdity of it's cheese and creates an experience you won't forget.
4kids did dub this but it's actually their best dub especially Dan Green as Atemu and Eric Stuart as Kaiba, although Pegasus is wonderfully camp, Bakura incredibly sinister and Joey oddly Brooklyn; it's any wonder the franchise has become so meme worthy in recent years.
Final Verdict: What started as a violent manga about an ancient Egyptian gambler became one of the best loved card game franchises of all time and it wouldn't have been possible without the genius of Kazuki Takahashi the true King of Games.
Rest in Peace.