Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1009 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Empire
• Released on: 2007-06-01
• Platform: PlayStation2

Customer Reviews

Lovely horses
I hunted around for good reviews before I bought this game and couldn't find any. In fact it got a low rating on many game review sites. Maybe thats because the reviewers were mostly men, I don't know.

The Good Points:

The graphics are outstanding, if you love horses, simply being able to watch the horses move during the replay is enough to warrant buying the game, in my opinion the horses are gorgeous and I do love watching them. When your horse is in the paddock, if you leave the controller for a bit the camera will pan back and you can watch your horse wonder around the paddock which is kind of cute.
The gameplay is pretty fun, however, the easy level is REALLY easy and although its good to have it on an easy level to begin with, the hard level is much more challenging. Go into the 'office' to change the difficulty. My favourite is the cross country and I do love the show jumping although it is the easiest level on easy, it is actually the most difficult if you set the level at hard. The dressage is not as fun to play, and the music is absolutely terrible, BUT on the four star events the dressage is entertaining to watch during the replay, plus you get nicer replay music.

There are many unlockables throughout the game. These make looking after your horse a lot easier and give you smarter uniforms.

You can customize your horses and rider to look however you wish, plus you can change genders. If you dislike your horse you can retire it which deletes it from the game.

The Bad:
What this game lacks is replayability. Once you've got one horse to level 100 on each skill you have to do the same again with your other horses which is a little tedious, cheats would help but I have yet to find any. I would say a simple unlockable freeplay level of the game where you can ride your horse without pressure through the countryside doing jumps you feel like doing, maybe dismounting etc - if something like this was in the game it would deserve a 5 star rating. Unfortunately its lacking. There is a 2 play level, however it is a take turns, not split screen.
I also feel that there should be an extra unlockable item for getting horses to 100 and for getting an ALL gold awards.
There is also not enough animation. Seeing your character feed the horse, change its tackle, saddle and petting the horse would be an added bonus that would truly make this game better than any other. Although you do get to care for your horse its a floating hand thing that you control.

Other than that it is a good game. Don't expect a replayable game though, thats unless you adore horses like I do.

AMAZING
I thought this game was brilliant i had hours of fun with this game the graphics are brilliant, i just didnt get bored i love it!
=D

Wow, the horse LOOKS like a horse and MOVES like one too!
I think I own most of the horse Playstation 1/2 games around, and I have to say this one is quite possibly the best. I'd give this one 5 stars for graphics, (the image on the front cover pays no credit to the in-game graphics) the horse is well-proportioned and moves appropriately. The way you create your character reminded me of the Sims, and the way you create your horse of Wild Horse Rescue (but better). You can choose the breed, gender, height, mane and tail colour, face markings, leg markings, coat colour, (and even whether the horse is dappled or pinto, overo or tobiano), and of course, it's name.

Once you have created your horse, you can start to ride it. You must complete all 3 training disciplines (Dressage, Show Jumping, Cross Country) before you can compete in the events. The game features four famous horse events, Badminton, Adelaide, Kentucky and Burghley.
The dressage is similar in some ways to Pippa Funnel: Take the Reins, you have to press the correct buttons in the corresponding order, but is much harder. Show jumping was good, but not too different from the cross country.

You can feed, water and stroke the horse, as well as wash and brush it. It's a shame you can't properly groom it, like you can in Take the Reins, but It doesn't matter too much.

The best thing about it however, is the price! It is a reasonably new game yet it is selling for under half the normal price for new games (around £30). I guess the idea of horse games doesn't really appeal to the main target of the PS2 - boys.

Altogether, Lucinda Green's Equestrian Challenge is a pretty good game, certainly the best out of all the horse ones around, and I would highly recommend buying it for yourself or any horse-made relative.