Starters Orders 6 Horse Racing

I read a large number of reviews before buying this game - positive and negative - and was disappointed once I bought it. Good things: It is very in depth and accurate with betting and racing in general. It doesn't take up much memory so downloads quickly. Several different modes of play so you can play from different perspectives. The bad: Overpriced for what it is. Had several issues with it crashing and seemed buggy. I can't say for sure this couldn't be rectified as I didn't spend enough time on it to find out. The typeface is ludicrously small. Like squint to see it small. The tutuorial/help manual skips over most of the things that you actually need to have explained. Way too brief for this complex of a game. More negatives than positives for this game.

Once you get your first decent horse the whole game changes, gets much more exciting trying to build up to group 1 winners etc if you're like me and play UK calender. Breeding is a much better way controlling the quality of the horses in your yard, especially once you've got yourself at least one solid Male and Female breeder. Brilliant game, would recommend to any racing lovers that know even a little about the sport as you'll quickly learn more once you get in to the game.

This really is a great game, and not just for horse racing enthusiasts. Yes it helps if you have some horse racing knowledge but not essential at all. Some horse racing terminology and racing types, classes etc can be picked up easily by playing the game, are self explanatory or picked up with just a small amount of reading/googling terms unsure of. Many dimensions to this game, the betting is fun but it's all about developing your stable, and horse breeding top winning horses, which may take some generations, or may not. Sell your old nags, keep the best and breed them (for a price) with the top stallions/mares you can afford. To do this, there's a range of statistics available. Manage your finances, level up facilities, breed horses... and you have the option to watch the races. If you are into other sports sims with lots of stats, where you develop a project and improve over time then I can highly recommend SO6. There's a lot of potential to develop this game further and add some polish. For example integrating some of the mods made by the community into the core game, improving the UI etc. In my opinion this game has huge potential, with a bit more TLC the player base could expand significantly! From what I gather SO7 wasn't a giant leap forward but hopefully forthcoming titles in the series will be..? I hope so!

Takes a little bit of patience to get established but is an addictive game once you are breeding your own horses and winning at the big festival meetings. Really nice graphics and playability. Just a couple of issues that do drive me mad; no option to pause during a race is a minor issue but seems obvious that this could be done. Biggest issue is the feedback from the jockeys which is next to useless and best ignored. For example, I have just had a horse running in the 7F Dewhurst who was pipped on the line. The feedback said he will be better over a shorter trip (bred to stay over 1 mile, though) and the 7F trip was testing his stamina. Fair enough. Then he says I should go for the 2,000 Guineas in my next race - over 1 mile! The feedback often bears no resemblance to the actual race. For example, a horse can fall away and run out of stamina whilst the feedback says "we were just beginning to pick up at the end". No, we weren't. The final issue is one I have encountered after playing for a good few months - namely, the saving facility is dodgy. Often, my game crashes and I have to resort to the backup option. This leads to me saving after every day of racing which is a bit of a nuisance. Overall, though, a game I would recommend and looking forward to version 7. After much more playing, I did buy version 7 which was not a good purchase and i have stopped playing it. The issue with the crashing has become terminal and even happens within races now which is infuriating and which is why I have changed my recommendation. Until this bug is fixed, I would not recommend this game.

This one has a steep learning curve, even for those familiar with the sport, but the payoff is worth the wait. The graphics are pretty simple but the meat of the game is in the stats, much like OOTP Baseball. If you're a fan of horseracing, you'll probably like this.

This game is incredible. Ever since I played a game called 'Stable Masters' on the Amiga I have longed for something like this. When you first play this game it takes a bit of getting used to, but once you know how to play it, it is fantastic. A must buy for any racing or sport simulation fan, I give it a solid 9.5/10, as there is always room for improvement, but this is near perfect for me.

This isn't a fast game. If you're looking for instant gratification and wins this isn't for you. This is a long term breeding and racing game. I love SO6 and can't wait to get SO7.

Not worth the price

It is a wonderful game. My only complaint is that it does not have "claim" races. I do not know if there are legal issues for not stating specific race tracks, e.g. Arlington Park instead of Chicago. Specific track names would add realism to the game. It is the best horse racing game I have experienced.

very good