G1 Jockey’s release is a byproduct of you and seven million other Wii owners reaching out for new games with your fourteen million clasping game-hands.
G1 Jockey comes recommended because of its neat career mode structure. You get to choose from a list of horses for each race, make decisions based on characteristics - which are presented as an intuitive list of light-up tabs and then see first-hand if you made the right choice as you straddle your decision while it pounds around a racetrack.
Of course, the actual racing is the part everyone laughs at. You cocktail-shake the nunchuk to push forward, being careful not to overdo it or your beast will run out of horse-petrol (or whatever horses run on). Then it’s all out for the final-furlong sprint - which, mortifyingly, actually has you whipping the Wii remote to slap your steed’s leathery ass. Hilarious, yes. But the short-and-sweet races never get dull; the golf-meter-timed jumps are genuinely a bit thrilling; and the tumultuous thunderstorm of hooves during the last few strides is quite the shiver-maker. And, thankfully, you can switch the controls to a setup that won’t make onlookers’ eyes pop onto the floor with laughter.
There aren’t many strategically-minded sports sims like this on Wii and you honestly don’t need to appreciate the feel of a big mane to find it oddly compelling. All those stats, abilities and different creatures give it a satisfying depth similar to Pokémon, of all things. And any game that comes with a “Create a Horse” feature gets the thumbs up from us.
