I used to watch it when I was younger. The first episode I saw was when Yugi versed Joey prior to the Pegasus duel. Now that I look back on it, there was something about the season one episodes that I don't like. Maybe the Japanese ones were better, I don't know. First of all, the duels aren't played by the rules. Field power bonuses?, 2000 lifepoints!?, no tributes required.
Okay, maybe having limited life points is okay to save screen time. However, they should've followed the other official card game rules There was even one episode where Kaiba used this computer to decrease the power of a blue-eyes. I also think there are too many friendship speeches. -.- I was really bothered by them. I don't understand why they couldn't just leave them out entirely. I thought season two was alright. They followed the rules somewhat more than they did in season one.
The Yugioh GX ones were vastly improved from the previous episodes. They were great when I used to watch them. The main character Jaden Yuki didn't win every card game unlike Yugi and it kind of had humor with it. Very little sappiness compared to the previous ones and the card games are played by the exact rules. Lifepoints may be 4000, but that doesn't matter, it was a good series. I actually like dueling with my own cards . I'm not very good, but it is really fun. I just haven't bought any new cards for a long time. Right now, I only watch Yugioh abridged. The episodes are very entertaining. It's funny when they call duels a "children's card game."