The game’s story mode isn’t all that spectacular. Players simply assume the role of an upcoming jockey who’s just graduated and about to enter the world of horse racing. The story is told through conversations with 2D cardboard cut-outs, it doesn’t really hold your interest for long and in the end you’ll just be pressing the A button to skip the endless amounts of dribble. What it lacks in presentation however, it makes up for with in-depth gameplay.
If you’re familiar with the series, you’ll know straight away how complicated it can be for newcomers. Those who dive right into a race will be faced with an assortment of meters and flashing icons – it’s enough to completely throw you off and wish you had purchased Horsez: Ranch Rescue. Thankfully, the developers have included plenty of tutorials that carefully explain what’s what and give you the opportunity to go on a quick practice run. Perhaps the game’s greatest weakness however is the length of the tutorials. There’s quite a bit of reading involved, and most players will likely loose interest after a few minutes.
An epic story... Or not.
The game is about balancing your horse’s stamina, motivation, potential and preferred style. On screen, these areas are represented by three circles. The left and right circles represent stamina and potential respectively. Depending on how fast your horse is running its stamina will decrease, and once it’s completely empty it will rely on potential. Potential is used to maintain speed and is gained automatically while you race, though there are a few tricks you can do to maximise your horse’s output. Basically, each horse will have a preferred style of racing, which can range from getting ahead of the pack and maintain a constant speed, to staying with the main group and saving its strength until the last stretch. By taking advantage of this, your horse will react a lot better to your commands and won’t use up too much stamina. Also, it will notably gain potential more rapidly, which may prove to be the winning factor as you reach the finish line. The central meter is by far the most confusing. The outer ring displays your horse’s speed, while in the centre is the motivation ring. The ring displays different colours and sizes which denote the horse’s desire to race. If you’re thinking this all sounds complicated, you’re absolutely right. It’s something you’ll need to spend a few hours working on to fully grasp, but once that’s out the way you’ll find yourself immersed by G1 Jockey Wii 2008.
Despite racing being the main selling point of G1 Jockey, in the story mode players will also have to sit through managing-like elements. You won’t have immediate control over which horses you can ride. Instead, you’ll have to suck up to trainers, win a few races, and train mounts from weak little ponies into a galloping success. Well, maybe we exaggerated that a little, but you will have to negotiate with trainers which horses you can ride. It will greatly depend on your relationship with the stable they work for – if you’ve visited them on a number of occasions and won races without any hassles, chances are they’ll let you race whichever horse you want to. If you’re a complete stranger or haven’t performed well, then you’ll have limited influence.
Over time, you’ll also become what’s known as a ‘regular jockey’. To become a regular jockey for a horse, you need to ride them often, which can be based on trainers asking you to substitute a jockey who’s unavailable or you personally volunteering. Eventually, the horse will be added to your Stable Horses menu, and then you can change its equipment and suggest different races to take part in. There’s also the option to do some workouts, which curve bad habits such as losing motivation when changing lead legs, and improving the horse’s general performance. As a whole the managing system is implemented thoughtfully and provides a nice back drop to what would otherwise be constant racing, but at the same time it gets a little dull. Again, it comes down to how patient you are: if you want to dive straight into the action then you’ll miss out on opportunities such as riding stronger horses, but those who take the time and carefully plan out their routines will be rewarded.
Giddy up, ya ya!.
By now you’re probably asking yourself “what’s changed?” The most dominant new feature is support for the Wii Balance Board peripheral. Traditionally, players would use the control stick to steer the horse, while they would tilt the Nunchuck back and forth to ‘drive’ it and use the Wii remote to pull out the whip. With the balance board, players can manoeuvre the horse left and right by putting their weight on the respected foot, while jumping is controlled by straightening your knees. Meanwhile, shifting your weight backwards lets you pull on the horse to slow down, while bending your knees lets you perform a strong dive. All other functions remain linked to the Nunchuck and Wii remote. It’s certainly an interesting idea, but the fact is it doesn’t add much to the experience. The other new feature is that players can connect to the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection service and download new horses for the game. In addition, you’ll have the option to introduce them to the stable at the end of the year or right away. If you’re new to the series on Wii, these features are there and you will use them, but returning veterans will wonder why they paid out for what are essentially two minor additions. It’s more or less the same game as last year.
Visually, the game won’t impress you. As mentioned, conversations with fellow jockeys and trainers are represented by cardboard cut-outs and a block of text, it’s really unappealing and does little to keep you interested in the story. On the race course things aren’t much better. While you can clearly distinguish the environments and jockeys, everything is bland and clearly isn’t pushing the Wii’s graphical capabilities. The soundtrack is kept simple and unnoticeable, but for a horse racing game we wouldn’t expect much more anyway.
Like last year’s outing, G1 Jockey Wii 2008 is a solid game. The controls may be a little too complicated for some, but those who are patient will find themselves immersed in the world of simulated horse racing. Sadly, the most disappointing thing is that it’s nearly identical to 2007’s G1 Jockey Wii, which will leave returning veterans feeling let down.
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