Welcome to my creative outlet. Here you will find stories, poems, plays, reviews, and other things written by me, as well as some of my artwork. Please remember that everything found here is created entirely by myself (unless otherwise mentioned) and is not available for you to take.
Horsez (DS Version)
I was both excited and skeptical when I heard that a riding game was coming to Nintendo DS. I used to spend hours playing horse related games on my Mac and my friend's PS2 when I was a bit younger, but both those platforms were more powerful then my puny DS, and I was closer to the target age for those games. However, as both an avid gamer and horse fanatic, I knew I would have to have Horsez when it came out.
Unlike the games I played as a kid, Horsez has a a story mode (and nothing else). This is neither good or bad. I would have liked to see a practice mode or something, where you could practice your jumping, cross country, and dressage riding without venturing into story mode, but then again, the game is so easy who needs to practice? However, the story, which took me the better have of a weekend to complete, is not the kind of thing you feel like completing more than once and thus the replay value of this game is very low.
You play as Ginger, a teenaged girl at a riding academy. At the beginning of the game you get to pick a horse to ride throughout the game. Although there is a variety of horses to choose from, the only thing different about each one is the appearance. I would have like to see different breeds, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. However, for most, this won't be an issue. You also get to name your horse, soemthing that seems totally unnecessary later on seeing as the horse's name is never mentioned.
The game takes place over a series of six weeks. For each week you have to plan your weekdays with a calender. You decide whether you want to groom your horse that day, practice cross country or dressage, study in the library, chat with friends, etc. You will notice very quickly that things start to get repetitive. If you practice every "subject" enough and pass with good grades, you will get to ride in the weekend competition. I put the word subject in quotes because most of these things aren't subjects. What kind of school grades you on your popularity?
Both cross country and stadium jumping are the games strong points, in my opinion. They are the only actually entertaining thing to do in the game. However, they are anything but challenging. Your horse has a stamina bar, and unless you walk, trot, or "collected gallop" (known to everyone else in the world as a canter or lope) through the courses, it constistantly drops. However, you can easily get a good time in these courses by rising only the "collected gallop" so the stamina bar is nothing to worry about. As the game progresses, you know, where most games get harder, Horsez gets easier by giving you more stamina to start with. By the sixth week your stamina bar is full up. You jump by pressing the 'b' button twice. This part could have been more challenging if it didn't tell you exactly when to jump. It's almost as if the game creators assumed those of us playing the game wouldn't be able to think for ourselves. I may be a few years over the target age, but I'm sure the 10 year olds I know could easily beat this game, as well.
Dressage, something I never loved doing in real life, is even more of a pain in this game. When the game was first advertised as allowing you to "draw dressage figures on your screen" I was pretty excited. I pictured you being able to create your own dressage tests. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, you don't even get to ride through the test yourself, the horse is controlled for you. Instead, a little icon appears randomly on your screen every few seconds. It took me a few tries to realize I'm supposed to tap it. Then, when a change of gait or a new dressage move comes up, you have to perfectly draw the proper symbol on your screen. For example, I believe when your horse moves into a trot you have to draw a perfect, or near perfect circle. Fail to do so and your horse will still move into a trot, you'll just get a fault. Sure, that sounds pretty annoying, as well as boring, right? It gets worse. These dressage tests last for about as long as a real training dressage test. Expect to be sitting in front of your DS randmly tapping and drawing perfect circles for 3 - 6 minutes a test. You also need to complete about 3 dressage tests a week (in game) in order to pass, as well as one in the show.
Oh yes, the show. The show is very similar to your practice sessions. You need to complete one dressage test, one cross country course, and one stadium jumping course, and not in that order. Anyone with a little 3 day even sense will know that dressage always comes first, and stadium jumping always comes last. However, that is not the case in the game. Not a big deal there, though. However, the show couldn't be more pointless. Not only do you not win anything if you win, you don't even get any recognition. I've done nothing but win and all I get is a "Congratulations, you've placed in the top 5". Damn you! I won! Where's my medal, or at least my ribbon?
There's also a bit of a story when it comes to chatting with your friends. At some points during the game you may be asked to do a mission for your friends, which could involve going to the library and getting their book, or getting a teacher a sandwich. However, controlling Ginger is done only by the touch screen, which I could live with if she wasn't so damn slow. It makes controlling her feel awkward. Although it may sound like I'm picking out minor details now, if you played the game you would understand what I mean. The missions are also very easy after you've completed them already, which comes back to that whole lack of replay value I mentioned earlier.
Probably the only thing that makes the game worth replaying is the foal. You get to buy up to two foals to train and take care of. Again, there is an assortment of colours to choose from, but there is nothing special about certain ones, which makes me wonder why is a skewbald paint only $200, when the piebald paint is $450? You can also save up and buy improved shelters and feeders for your foals, but it doesn't take long before you can afford them, and there's very little assortment. It won't be long before there's nothing left to buy. Training the foal is also slightly annoying, as it returns back to clicking that damn little icon and drawing perfect circles again. Howeverm this time it's only for a matter of seconds, and not nearly as boring. Although the foal mode of the game is also fairly boring and repetitive, it's perfect for those who like to pick up the game for a few minutes to pass a commercial break.
The game's graphics are okay. For the most part I would call them average, however, the foal mode's graphics are quite a bit more immpressive then the story mode's. The foals look almost real.
In general, I won't be passing off recommendations for this game. However, it might appeal to some preteen, or possibly younger, girls with little to no knowledge about horses. Trust me, the more you know about horses, the more annoying errors you'll spot.