The weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby see our interest in horse racing pick up. With the biggest racing event of the year taking place at Churchill Downs on May 7 this year, now is a good time to take a look at some of the best video games to get you in the mood.
If you want to learn more about the event and see how the odds are looking right now you can click here for more information: https://www.bovada.lv/kentucky-derby
Here are some video games to inspire you before the big Derby weekend.
Winning Post
You might be surprised to see that many of the top horse racing video games are based on the management of the horses rather than actually racing them. Winning Post by Koei is a good example of this genre and is part of a series of over ten games in the Winning Post brand.
This series began back in 1993 and the developers have gradually improved it since then. The basic gameplay sees you look after a stable, where you need to train your horses and look after the jockeys to boost your chances of success.
Choose your trainers and work out which horses you should spend more time on. If you haven’t seen any of these games before, that’s because most of them were only brought out for the Japanese market. However, North Americans can now get hold of this game for the Sega Saturn.
Horse Racing Manager 2
This is another horse management game and it’s got a lot of features that make it interesting and varied for players. For a start, there are over 6,000 horses that can take place in races on numerous racetracks located across the planet.
It’s part of the successful Horse Racing Manager series and the title we’re looking at is arguably the best of them. Released in 2006, it gives you different ways of playing, as a jockey, a stable owner or as a bettor.
You can try Horse Racing Manager 2 alone or else take part in the multi-player version. It’s easy on the eye and the different types of race such as flat and jump help to add to the feeling of variety.
Japan World Cup 3
If you want something that takes a less serious look at horse racing, the Japan World Cup 3 game is unlike anything you’ll have played before. It’s a million miles away from the atmosphere of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville but it gives racing fans a fun way to enjoy some action.
This is a very simple browser-based game, so you only need to pay for access and you can start playing with nothing to download before you get started. While it’s classed as a horse racing game, the competitors range from giraffes to elephants and other crazy creatures, so it’s not exactly a traditional look at the sport.
Even the horses that take part do it in interesting ways, with some of them dancing along the racetrack and others walking on their rear legs. It’s simple to play and a lot of fun, so it’s worth looking for if you want to get into the Derby mood early.
Starters Orders 6
Going back to horse racing management simulators again, this title is available for PCs and Macs, with support for the Oculus Rift headsets adding a VR option. It’s an immersive game that lets you really get down to the nitty-gritty of looking after your stable of horses.
You train the horses in your stable while breeding new horses and entering your best competitors into the races. When it comes to the racing part of the game, you can take part as the jockey if you want to control your horse all the way to the finishing line.
This makes it a neatly varied game where you can choose exactly how you want to play. There’s no doubt that the virtual reality option is the highlight of Starters Orders 6, but even if you don’t have a VR headset you can still get caught up in the emotion of the races very easily.
Phar Lap: Horse Racing Challenge
One of the most recent horse racing games to enter the market, this title from 2019 takes you behind the scenes of this industry for an in-depth look at how to breed winning horses. The genetic system that they use means that you can use science to create the best horses for your stable.
When the races begin, the motion-captured animation makes it look fantastic, and you’re sure to get caught up in the excitement of trying to win a race. Another element comes with the fact that you can bet on each of the races if you want to get in some practice for betting on the Kentucky Derby when it comes around.
All of these games give you different ways of feeling part of the horse racing world, with some of them serious and in-depth, while others take a lighter look at the sport. Whatever title you choose to try, they all offer great ways of getting ready to watch the action at Churchill Downs this year.
