Introduction

[Thanks to my good friend AbstractCactus for the banner image!]

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s is the third series in the long-running Yu-Gi-Oh! anime franchise born out of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game. Although series creator Kazuki Takahashi had promised himself that the previous series, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX would be the last Yu-Gi-Oh! series, he was approached about halfway through GX with the idea for 5D’s. Many of the people in the production staff and TV board pitching this were long time associates and friends, so Takahashi agreed to make 5D’s, under the condition that this would be the last Yu-Gi-Oh! series. Despite this, three new series have since been created.

Since Yu-Gi-Oh! GX had faced criticism for being very similar to the original series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Kazuki Takahashi decided to shake up the formula with a new, industrialized setting, a more mature tone, and a new dueling gimmick: The Duel Runner (D-Wheel in Japanese). The Duel Runner was a motorcycle that was also used to conduct Turbo Duels, where two people on Duel Runners would compete in a race-style Duel Monsters match, with the loser’s Duel Runner shutting down upon defeat. Thus was born the undying meme of “card games on motorcycles”.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Wheelie Breakers is a 2009 racing action game for the Nintendo Wii. Wheelie Breakers takes advantage of the new setting to create a distinct experience from the traditional card game conversion, coming elements from both racing games as well as Yu-Gi-Oh! proper to create something that certainly tries. It comes across as a proof of concept that would’ve been refined in a follow-up game, had Wheelie Breakers done well enough to warrant a sequel. The player must race against other Duel Runners while trying to handle a card deck of Mario Kart-style power-ups that can either help you or hinder your opponents. It has a Story Mode that maybe sorta kinda works in tandem with the story of the first season, as well as a Grand Prix Mode that works as your standard eight-person free-for-all racing mode.



Hello, I’m ChorpSaway, and I’ll be your guide on this roarin’ hog to the Shadow Realm! Riding in my sidecar will be fellow Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s aficionado JordanKai, and along the way I’ll have several other guests come along with me to talk about Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, racing, card games, class warfare, ancient magic, and whatever else comes up as we explore this unique game in a unique franchise.
This LP will cover the Story Mode in its entirety, including bonus races, as well as an overview of the Grand Prix Mode to show how the gameplay changes with more characters. I will try to show off several different decks and styles of play across the story mode, though there are some cards that are just plain Better and will show up more consistently.



I love Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s as much as anyone could, but I’d like to generally keep this thread on the topic of the game itself, as well as the first season of the anime, which Wheelie Breakers generally covers. If you want to connect things from the game to later material from the anime, I don’t mind too much, but I don’t want this to just be a greatest hits discussion about 5D’s where the thread just becomes pages and pages of discussion about the series as a whole.
Discussion of the card game in the 5D’s era and any archetype that appears in Wheelie Breakers is cool though. That’s called historical archival.
Oh, and no low-effort “CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES” posts. We get it.