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Intro
In the You-Have-To-See-It-To-Believe-It-Department we present G1
Jockey 3, an effort from Koei that defines the meaning of "niche
game" as well as anything that's been released domestically
over the last five years. Clearly inspired by the more, er, "horse
racing game friendly" Japanese market, this title was directly
ported from its Japanese namesake. In Japan you have multiple horse
racing sims from companies such as Konami, Microsoft, Tecmo, Koei,
and others. In the instant gratification public known as the U.S.,
however, these titles are far less common and for good reason: they
require practice, patience, and trial and error. Something that
we (the U.S.) aren't very well known for, wouldn't you agree?
Gameplay: 8/10
There are a lot of technical elements involved with each race and
horse. If you want to, you can spend hours analyzing particular
horses and their strengths and weaknesses as well as the length
of the tracks they'll be running on and if they are best suited
for that particular race. You'll have to negotiate with particular
stables to ride their better horses and you'll be turned down on
many occasions. As your Rider Points improve (RP) you'll be able
to negotiate for horses with improved statistics and, naturally,
a better chance of winning. Getting a grasp of this, as well as
the considerable learning curve when racing, is the single biggest
detraction about G1 Jockey 3. It takes hours and hours to
get the hang of which horses to choose and why. As you begin to
place better in races your relationships with the stables that you're
riding for will improve as will the selection of horses - there
are about 4000 of them sprinkled throughout the game. Of course,
you'll find yourself leading a race around the final turn and the
next thing you know you're in last place because your horse ran
out of gas and the competition passed you by. This involves more
than just choosing the wrong horse!
Before the race begins and after you
choose your horse, you have the option of working that horse out
once and once only. As the game progresses you may be given more
than one choice of which aspect of the horse's abilities to begin
to strengthen. Whether it be the start, the drive, jumping, the
stretch run, or a myriad of other abilities you have to keep in
mind that if you don't do well in the workout that your horse will
actually get worse than when you started. The workouts aren't mandatory,
so it's a risk you don't have to take. However, you can get new
abilities further down the road in the game through the workout
only, so you will have to do it at some point to remain competitive.
There are elements of the race, particularly
the horse, that are directly in your control. You have to time your
start correctly when the gate opens or you'll be left behind. Obviously,
you control whether your horse goes left and right and whether you
"bump" a competing horse which will also slow you down
(there will be Steward's Inquiries for this in either Normal or
Hard mode). You can raise and lower the bit, which either can slow
you down or speed you up. There are commands for when you're riding
the horse to "drive" it faster down the stretch. Of course,
there's also the whip, which you're supposed to use on the home
stretch to get every last bit you have out of your horse. You have
to be careful with any of these and their timing. The faster you
go, the more stamina that you consume, the quicker you're going
to tire your horse. Timing is everything in this title and it will
take many races to get to a point where you're somewhat comfortable
with where you should make your move and how strong it should be.
Graphics: 8/10
The overall appearance of G1 is serviceable and, for anyone
that has played Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, the text menus
are very "Koei-ish". The game really doesn't call for
tour de force mind blowing graphics and it doesn't deliver them.
There are a host of unique characters that you're going to meet
and they are rendered well enough for the purpose they serve. The
in game horse racing graphics are quite good and really deliver
the feel of the race. The photo finishes that are replayed during
a close race are particularly well done. Bottom line here is that
the game's graphics are done well enough to accompany the game and
aren't out to change the world.
Sound: 7/10
Given the amount of interaction with other characters and stables,
it's somewhat of a disappointment that they don't speak and you
have to read text boxes to interact with them. Although, given the
market that this title is being developed for, I suppose we should
be thankful that we have it at all. The in game racing sounds are
well done. The background music gets to the point that you barely
notice it all - and that's a good thing.
Control: 8/10
For the most part, the control of this game is spot on. Steering
is relatively easy and driving towards the finish is also easily
achieved. The positioning of the left and right whip buttons are
also easily controlled. The most curious thing is the placement
of the "bit control" as the D-pad directionals up and
down. It's difficult to maintain your steering of the horse and
raising and lowering the bit at the same time. These controls might
have been better placed at the R1 and L1 shoulder buttons. These
cannot be modified. Otherwise, control is excellent.
Overall: 7/10
G1 Jockey 3 is the type of title that if you pick it up and
play it for less than 2 hours, you're going to dismiss it altogether
too quickly and place it on your trade pile. However, if you stick
with it and actually learn it, you'll find that it grows on you
at a maddening pace the longer that you stick with it. It'll make
you all warm and fuzzy when someone asks you to be a stable jockey
for a particular horse because you've rode it so well. Still, it's
a fringe title for a fringe audience and it certainly won't work
for a great many people. And that's too bad, there's really a lot
here to get interested in and excited about. There are worse careers
(and games) than horse racing.
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