If you are into the Horse Racing Sim genre, then G1 Jockey is an excellent game. I've played both G1J and Gallop Racer 2003, and have to give G1J a better rating. While Gallop Racer 2K3 has the ability to breed horses and place bets, G1Jockey has slightly more realistic graphics/animation, more detailed manual, better tutorials, and more feeling of being involved in an actual storyline. G1J also has steeplechases (races with jumps) where GR2K3 does not. However, this isn't a racing game for everyone. It's a detailed simulation of horse racing, and has a steep learning curve. If you are willing to put in some hours in the basic training mode before you start the story mode, you will probably be more rewarded for your effort. You have to understand what style of horse you are running (Front-runner, drop-in, drop-out, hold-out), have to be able to pace your horse and learn when to drive and how to do bit adjustment at the right times (all these things are well explained in the tutorials) You can even get suspended and injured during races, so you have to be careful. I felt G1Jockey did a better job at explaining what everything on the screen meant (something that Gallop Racer 2003 is lacking in) and I feel like I had a little more control over the horse in G1J than in GR2K3. I also like the story mode of G1Jockey. With the ability to make friendships with various stables and have to earn respect and negotiate the privilege to ride better horses, G1Jockey does a great job of making you feel part of a story, rather than just running races for statistical purposes. Note - when you try to negotiate for a better horse, you better read up on the info for the horse, because the trainer will probably ask you specific questions about it, and if you can't answer them on the spot, they won't feel confident in letting you ride them! If you can do without the breeding and betting (both which were not that interesting to me) of GR2K3, then G1Jockey should be the obvious choice for you when looking for a horse racing simulation.
This game will bore you to tears.....if you don't love horse raing. You better by something else. However, if you're racing mad like me, this game is really quite good. The horses look realistic and the gameplay is addic... Read Full Review
