Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia Review for Nintendo DS

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia box art

System: DS	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Konami	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Konami	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Feb. 23, 2010	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-2	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Everyone	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

As far as the card roster is concerned, World Championship 2010 includes the biggest card roster yet, with more than 3000 playable cards. Of course, handling all these cards can be a challenge, but the deck creator is robust enough that finding and adding your favorite cards is very simple. In addition to the cards on the cart, fans can also download bonus cards by participating in weekly events that are displayed on the top screen when you log in to the online mode. This community aspect is a great way to keep players coming back to world Championship 2010 and dueling opponents from around the world.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia screenshot

Visually, world Championship 2010 is on par with its predecessors in regards to the story mode. When you are running around in the game's overworld, you'll see some nicely rendered 3D elements, but much of the background is bland. Although the background is plain, the characters sport a fair amount of detail.

Though the overworld just looks so-so, the card battle interface looks great. Cards are reproduced perfectly in the game, and monster animations are snappy and very detailed. The guided elements of the battle system are also nicely implemented in the battle landscape and do not look jarring at all. Most of the guide elements take the form of tiny little icons on top of each card that you can draw on to identify which cards you can use during a given phase. These tiny elements combined with the great art design and animations make the card battles a joy to look at.

It has never been a better time to be a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan. With a great new series on TV and new cards coming out all the time, this series shows no sign of slowing down. The World Championship franchise on the Nintendo DS started slowly several years ago, but I can confidently say that World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia is the best title in the series yet. With a well-rounded story mode, robust online capabilities, and over 3000 cards, this game is a no-brainer if you are a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Even if it has been awhile since you have played a Yu-Gi-Oh! game, the guided card system makes it easy to get back into the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Just make sure you pick your cards carefully!

By Amanda L. Kondolojy
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.8

Graphics
The backgrounds in the story mode are quite bland but the character models sport a fair amount of detail and animations are solid throughout.

3.8

Control
Touch-screen controls are simple and effective for card play, but don't work as well in some of the puzzle levels.

3.0

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Background music is unremarkable, but lack of a voiceover is regrettable.

3.9

Play Value
The online mode is easy to use and can be replayed endlessly. The story mode is a nice bonus, but is only really good for a single playthrough.

3.8

Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

The latest iteration of Yu-Gi-Oh! for the Nintendo DS expands on gameplay features to make this the biggest Yu-Gi-Oh! game with the most robust feature set ever! Players now have 3,200 cards, including cards from the Absolute Powerforce series, to compete against friends or players worldwide via Wi-Fi connection.

New features allow players to battle for the ultimate bragging rights by viewing leaderboards including their last 20 battles or using the new Wi-Fi ranking system to track win percentages against other duelists worldwide by elevating and decreasing their ranking based on the strength of opponents.

With 3,200 cards, players can utilize the new Duelist Calculator to help quickly and accurately calculate attack and defense points while battling opponents! In addition, the Turbo Dueling, race mechanics have been enhanced to include obstacles, puzzles, hidden pathways and increased collection points. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia includes three exclusive trading cards in package.