Gallop Racer 2004

"Gallop Racer fans, this is your lucky 7!"

Overview:

Gallop Racer Lucky 7 is the 7th installment of Tecmo's Gallop Racer series of horse racing games. Fans of the series should be delighted to hear that Tecmo has revamped the entire game's graphic engine and body models, creating a horse racing game that is unlike anything fans have seen previously.

Storyline: 7/10

Well, just like its predecessor Gallop Racer 6 or Gallop Racer 2003 in the US, this latest installment share almost identical storyline mechanics from its older cousins. You start by selecting a character and then designing his/her outfits. From then on, you start participating in various races, earning points to purchase new horses and facilities. Sounds like a walk in the park? Well no. Your horses are just like humans. They can fall ill too. You as a jockey must know your horse's limits. Once your horses condition go bad, you have to let it rest.

If you are lucky enough, you can even breed horses. But that only happens when you meet a certain requirement. Not to mention a certain time of the year too.

Gameplay: 7/10

As any veteran Gallop Racer player might tell you, the gameplay in Gallop Racer Lucky 7 rarely differ from its predecessors. You take partial control of a horse, controlling its pace, lane and whip. You can also select the race distance, the surface type and the weather. New players might find the racing here very frustrating. Lose too much stamina on the start and you will find that you will not have enough speed to come in first during the final stretch. Knowing your horse is also a key to getting a good position. Some horses prefer to stay at the rear of the field, some at the middle while some, at the front. Some horses even have special abilities where meeting certain in-race requirements, releases that ability.

During racing, you can toggle between two camera views by pressing the select button. You will get a 3rd person view and a 1st person view. There is also a rear-view option not seen in Gallop Racer 6. Pressing both the L1 and the R1 buttons during racing gives you that view.

Another feature I noticed is that the character models are more fluid in this version. During a corner, you can see the rider standing lower and slightly tilted to correct his/her center of gravity.

When I am browsing through the Japanese menus, I also noticed a network option. It is possible that this game has online play.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics in Gallop Racer Lucky 7 is the best I have seen in any version of Gallop Racer. This year's game packs the sharpest graphics, fastest frame rates, and the most fluid character and horse models in any horse racing title yet.

Sound: 8/10

The sound and music in this game were excellent to say the least. Veterans of the Gallop Racer series of games will know what to expect here. Lots of country, jazz, piano and Italian style guitar riffs blend into one. One thing to take note. Tecmo did reuse two songs from Gallop Racer 6. They are ''Slow Speed'' and ''Natural High 1027''.

Replay value: 7/10

The actual replay value is subjective. If your a hard-core fan of the series, you will keep this horse going and going. Other than that, you will probably be bored in less than a week.

Overall: 9/10

I give this game a 9/10 because of the numerous improvements Tecmo did with this series.

Rent or buy?

Gallop Racer fans, this is your lucky 7! What are you waiting for?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/30/04