Horse racing is popular in the United States about three times a year. The Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes, capture the attention of Americans for the month or so that the Triple Crown races take to run. The rest of the year, theres little to no media coverage, and only gamblers and die-hard racing enthusiasts see the races. This isnt the case in Japan, where horse racing is quite popular, and if somethings popular in Japan, chances are somebodys going to make a simulation about it. That someone is Tecmo, and in a rather surprising move, theyve brought Gallop Racer 2001 to the US Playstation2. The games not for everybody, as is evident by its limited production run, but it will strike a chord with people who know the sport and are willing to spend some time with it.

Graphics arent too important in making Gallop Racer an enjoyable game, but Tecmo has done a nice job on them regardless. The most striking visual aspect of the game is the incredible look of the horses. According to Tecmo, each of the 1,500 available horses are composed of over 40,000 polygons, which is no small feat when there are over ten other horses on the track in addition to yours. Each horse is superbly animated whether its grazing, in a trot, or galloping down the final stretch. The transition animation is a bit lacking, but its not horrible.

While the horses are easily the most impressive visual aspect of the game, there are some other things worth mentioning. The tracks are nicely designed, with detailed looking stands, and crowds cheering on the action. They arent up to the level of detailed seen in the upper echelon sports titles, but they are plenty adequate when it comes to a horse racing game. There are weather effects to make things interesting as well, including rain and snow. I didnt notice a whole lot of difference when there was bad weather, perhaps some slower races, but I was too focused on not finishing last to be concerned.

Like the graphics, good sound isnt necessary to make this an enjoyable game. Its a good thing that this is the case, because the audio sounds very average. Its sort of clich to say this, but the menu music is very Japanese. Its a light, smooth jazz (think Pilotwings, but not as good) that is similar to what is found in many, many titles over there. Its not necessarily bad, its just not very interesting. Fortunately its soft enough not to grate the nerves, but if youre playing for any extended amount of time (which you will be if you want to be successful) youll likely want to listen to something else. Once its time to race, the ambient sounds of the track are the only things audible. Strangely, theres no announcer outside of a guy shouting Go! and Finish!, so all there is to hear during the race is the sound of hooves pounding on the dirt and the crowd.

Navigating through the game is done via a large number of poorly translated menu screens. Navigator Cindy ( I swear thats her name) guides you through the ins and outs of buying your first horse and entering your first race, but after that you are on your own. This is where the amount of detail makes the game very difficult if you dont know much about horse racing. You can buy horses with varying attributes, strengths, and weaknesses, and its up to you to race them in the proper fields where you can utilize their talents best. This is key, because winning races has more to do with the skill of the horse, than the skill of you, the jockey. Thats not to say all you do is watch, because it isnt, and an unskilled jockey can easily lose a race for a horse that is favored to win.

When you get to a race, the controls are simple, but the racing is anything but. The up arrow accelerates, left and right move the horse, and the square and O buttons whip the horse. There are also various meters showing the condition of your horse, track position, and your speed. A gauge that represents your horses preferred running position is also present, and keeping your horse comfortable in its favorite track position is an important key to winning the race. Winning a race is all about timing your final spurt and not using up too much energy at the beginning of the race. Its all too easy to jump off to an early lead, and then falter during the last leg. Trial and error and knowing your horse are the best ways to place high, but it takes a lot of effort to do this.

Once you earn more money, and better horses, you can get better horses by breeding. This is done by retiring a colt and a philly and breeding them together. This produces strong breeds that cant be bought in the store. This is a very interesting concept to say the least, and one that, like the rest of the game, requires much patience to learn.

A gambling mode that wasnt included in the Japanese version has been added to the domestic release due to popular demand. The gambling mode isnt very deep, and not particularly interesting since you arent even betting money, just points. To make this even more fruitless, you cant spend your gambling winnings as an owner. I suppose this is a realistic touch, but it just serves to make the betting more pointless.

I didnt particularly like this game, and I was horrible at it, but that doesnt mean its a bad game. Any fan of the original Gallop Racers will certainly enjoy what Tecmo has created this time around. But make no mistake about it, the fact that I dont like the game, and I wasnt good at it, exemplify the games biggest flaws. The title should have been more accessible to casual gamers and people that are curious to try something new. I understand that its a niche title, and it doesnt have the biggest budget, but better directions, better translation, and a serious training mode would have made this game far more enjoyable. As it stands now, if you dont know anything about the ponies, stay away, but if you love em, youll like this one.