G1 Jockey 4 2008 review

We don’t get it. We realise that there are people out there who like horse racing, and we realise that there are even people out there who like the G1 Jockey series of games. The ironic thing is, even if you’re one of those few enthusiasts, this still may not be an essential purchase, since it’s basically a high-res version of the PS2 G1 Jockey 4 which came out a couple of years ago.

For those who haven’t played a G1 Jockey game before, you’re not really missing out. There’s a tactical element to it, but that seems to consist of looking at your horse’s characteristics at the start of the race, moving it into the right place in the pack, then sitting there (not touching the controls) and waiting for the final stretch when you get to actually do something. This is just moving both analogue sticks up in time with the horse’s gait to make it go a faster and hoping that you don’t make it too tired.

G1J4 is just dull. Racing is dull because you just sit there and make minor adjustments. The story mode is dull because you have to sit through rubbish conversations that were probably full of white-hot drama when they were in Japanese but now consist of a boring chat. The controls are dull because even when you do get to do something there’s no way of telling if you’re doing it right other than checking to see if the horse is running any faster. There’s a Sixaxis mode, but you can just ignore it. We’re just not impressed by G1 Jockey 4 08. It’s boring, has a crap story mode and has the same features as an old PS2 game. This one needs to be taken out into a field and shot.

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Oct 10, 2008