Not worth the money, the first Yu-Gi-Oh wii game did not really have enough about cards to have the title.
The game started promising. The opening cut scene seemed nice, okay visuals. I was not expecting any amazing graphics, but the anime styled visuals fit the game.
Next you had to create your own profile, 'customizing' your own character. This was one of the downfalls of the game. You can only play as this one character that you create now, not any from the anime. Seeing as the game had multiplayer I thought you may have been able to play as one of the characters from the anime, but only the computer is able to control those which is slightly annoying. This character you create also does not have the widest selection of customizable features, you get to choose a colour and style of outfit. Apart from that you are guy in helmet. Not even an option to be a girl for all the female fans out there. Something the franchise has been doing for a while, except in the DS world championship series where they get it right.
The game play was something awful. Lets start with the positives. Again, I did like the visuals. Racing through the locations was graphically a treat, with both bright and darker courses all beautifully done. The courses themselves were generally nice too, with twists and bends in all the right places, challenging enough but at the same time not enough to really slow down the speed. The small pieces of story then race format fitted well, as it seemed to be in the style of the anime. The inclusion of a title for each story being in the form of episode openings were again a nice addition.
Sadly, the negatives far outweigh the positives. I just could not bring myself to enjoy the game play at all, it seemed very mismatched. Yes, the controls worked, but I would find myself pressing the wrong button by accident which was an easy mistake to make. The game was all racing, with cards as an addition. I knew this before buying, but still I expected the cards to make more involvement. They were there to speed you up, slow someone else down, or summon a monster. These monsters were to attack the other players, but the attacks were generally rubbish. It was almost impossible to aim with them, and whatever their attack was often did not seem to do much good. Even your life point counter only briefly slowed you down instead of eliminating you from the race. I found myself getting more and more bored with the game, as it was quick, easy and not that enjoyable. The music was also annoying, the generic tunes for each track did not really add much atmosphere.
To conclude, you would probably have to be a fan of Yu Gi Oh 5ds to pick up this game, and even then a dedicated fan to play it for more than a couple of hours. If you like racing, especially multiplayer Mario kart is a much better buy. If you like Yu Gi Oh better to get one of the handheld ones as they are generally of good quality unlike this.