G1 Jockey – Review

Horse racing on a console title holds an odd fascination for many and G1 Jockey on the PS2 was no exception. Now that the game has been ported over to the Wii, Nintendo fans can rejoice and suit up in their brightly colored satin outfits to take their horse out onto the course. Has it been worthwhile porting the game over however or are Koei simply adding to the slowing stable (no pun intended) of Nintendo Wii releases?

One aspect of horse racing games that always seems to lose fans in the console market is the overly intricate knowledge of the actual game that you must have in order to play. To a certain extent, G1 Jockey is not much different. There is a lot to this game, a lot that could perhaps have been better ignored or left to the AI. The main purpose of the story section of the game is to start your career as a jockey and ultimately win as many trophies and prizes as you possibly can. You do this through racing, chatting to NPCs, networking, training and tending to your horses and all the while building your reputation. At the beginning of the game, you’re able to customize your jockey by choosing name, sex, colors and even stable affiliation. What this ultimately means is that you pick one of the horse owners you want to align yourself with and you are in essence working for them to win races.

The early part of the career mode is really just a tutorial that attempts to familiarize you with the use of controls in the game and the baffling statistics and figures that you’re constantly bombarded with. If you have no clue about horse-racing, this is unlikely to inspire you to learn much more about it to be honest. It can be completely distracting at times during the game and takes away from the enjoyment of just playing the game and having fun with it. Thankfully there are plenty of achievements to aim for and this may keep you playing on even when you’re confused as to how you’re actually improving at times.

The controls on G1 Jockey were slightly clunky and irritating throughout. The navigation of the main menu wasn’t your usual Wii point and click affair, but was rather directly taken from the PS2 menu. Actually controlling the horse became easier the more you played, but had some interesting nuances that didn’t quite seem to work now and again. In order to get your horse to accelerate, you sort of bob your nunchuck up and down in time to the rhythm of the horse. If you want to jump you flick the nunchuck backwards and to steer you tilt left and right. It should have been a good example of how fantastic the Wiimote is, but sadly it just didn’t feel responsive enough and became slightly frustrating at times. During the game you’re also required to use the whip on your horse, but only so you don’t demotivate it, thus having to get the perfect balance of whipping power as you tear around the track. The horse will run according to a few variations such as whether it likes to lead, whether it likes to jostle, it’s motivation, stamina and potential. These can all be tricky to keep an eye on when you’re focused so much on getting the right rhythm and balance for the Wiimote.

The graphics and sound in G1 Jockey aren’t exactly outstanding, but they’re adequate for what the game offers. The music can be annoying after a while and is quite similar to irritating elevator or ‘hold’ music. There’s no commentary throughout the game which is possibly a blessing in disguise and any deaf gamers out there won’t be at a disadvantage during play. The graphics work best through the race sequences when they look pretty decent and some of the background sequences are alright as well, although not spectacular.

One of the saving graces of G1 Jockey is that it has included female characters throughout the game. Hurray! You can decide whether to play as a female jockey and have a choice of some rather cool chicks there to race with. Not only that, but you can choose to affiliate yourself with a female run stable, effectively being an all girl team which makes a nice change. Kudos to Koei for thinking of the female gamer in what is definitely a male dominated sport.

Overall, G1 Jockey has a few good ideas and areas of gameplay that is completely encased in a confusing and overly convoluted menu system. The difficulties of the statistics and system of play throughout sadly takes away from what could be a fun game with plenty to keep you coming back. Try to stick with it for as long as your patience will hold out and you may find this game slightly enjoyable… maybe.

Review by Tracy