Rival Stars Horse Racing from PikPok is a new horse ranch sim experience on PlayStation 5. Learn more about it in our Rival Stars Horse Racing review!
Rival Stars Horse Racing from PikPok is a new horse ranch sim experience on PlayStation 5. You’ll begin your adventure with a tale set in Kildare, Ireland, back in 1967. That’s when your grandfather won a very important race alongside his horse, making a name for himself and the whole family. He, unfortunately, had a nasty accident during one competition. The medical bills started to pile up, and there was not much to do. It’s been years since this incident, and you’ve been called in by Francis Kwan to work on rebuilding Black Creek and taking over the family’s legacy.
The ranch is now yours, so you’ll be able to make any changes that you feel better reflect your personality. You can choose your ranch name and logo from the 30+ logo options. Change the sign’s color and overall shape as well, and you’ll be sure to find a combination that suits you. And if you’re having trouble deciding, you can simply click on the dice icon and have the game generate a combo for you.
The next step will be to pick your name and jockey silks. There are different patterns and colors to choose from, so be sure to check them out and mix and match them so that you can find the right look. You should also decide which helmet design and color to wear. Do know that you can always change this later in the homestead if you want to.
You can go to the homestead to manage items and income and change the settings. Go to the stables to breed horses and customize them. You can also pick the race and ride option to compete in races. Francis will let you know that it’s time to basically create a horse for the ranch. You’ll get to pick its coat color and dilution color, pick any potential markings on its head, front left leg, front right leg, back left leg, and back right leg, and then pick a gene group and one of the dozens of patterns. After you’re ready, click on the Get Horse button and give it a name, and you’ll be ready to take on this new chapter of your life!
Each horse will have a star with a number in it, which shows your current legacy horse. This will let you know what the bond is between you and your horse. Your horses will start at level 1 and will be able to improve and upgrade their stat values. The stats to consider are speed, sprint, acceleration, agility, and jump – more on these in a bit.
Your first challenge as a new owner will be to take on a race, with the available one taking place in Three Oaks. This is the same place where your father had his first race many years ago. Before a race, you should check out your horse’s preferences. For example, your new horse will have a middle pack position preference, which means she likes to be among the pack during a race. There’s also a distance preference to consider – ranging from 800m to 3200m – as well as a track surface preference – very soft, soft, medium, firm, hard, and very hard. Once you cover the fee, you’ll be ready to jump into a race.
The game will automatically draw your starting gate, and will then show you a preview of the track that you’ll be racing on and the horses and jockeys that you’ll be going up against. As the race starts, you’ll need to pay attention and press the X button as the indicator moves over the bar, so that you can hopefully stop it with the X button at the right spot to get a perfect start. When riding, you’ll steer your horse by using the left analog stick as you press the X button to use up a sprint to try and reach your horse’s preferred position.
Wait for the flash, and then press the X button to sprint again in order to gain perfect rhythm. The sprint meter will fill up at a faster pace if you remain on the pack position line. You can glance backward by pressing the L2 button as needed. If, for some reason, you have to slow down, you can do this by pressing the X button.
The higher you place during a race, the bigger the reward you’ll receive. More gold means being able to buy more stuff. A better position will also reward your horse with more experience points, which will help to level up. When this happens, you’ll be able to train your horse to improve its stat values up to level 2, level 3, and so on. You can press the Square button from the menu to check out your goals. The first set includes naming your range, choosing jockey skills, and continuing with your legacy… which you’ve already taken care of! You’ll be able to collect your rewards for completing these goals, which include basic grain, basic acceleration feed, and basic tack.
Training horses will require that you use items as well as spend some of the gold coins that you’ve collected. You’ll get your first taste of this thanks to the items you’ll receive from your first official race. Every time you train a horse, it will grow stronger. You can train its speed, sprint energy, acceleration, agility, and jump. The more horses you have, the better your prestige will be. This is why it’s important that you work on breading horses.
You’ll need to get foal stalls to be able to breed new horses. And if you’re going to breed more horses, you might as well upgrade the ranch and add some extra horse stalls so that you can own more horses! To breed horses, you’ll need to review the available studs so that you can find the best pairing for your mare. Parents will affect the grade chance, so be sure to pay attention! A horse’s appearance will be determined by the game’s genetics system. Their stats are ranked based on quality, starting from a D for an ordinary stat value and going all the way up to A+ for an excellent stat value.
There are also 10 grades for each horse to reach, and you’ll be able to breed horses of higher grades as you make a name for yourself in the world of horse racing. A horse’s grade is important, since it will determine the highest level it can be trained to! Increase your prestige and upgrade your foaling stalls to improve your odds of breeding horses of a higher grade. Specific breeds will have bonuses to keep in mind. For example, a Thoroughbred will have a stat boost to speed and acceleration. An Arabian breed will have a bonus to sprint and agility. A French Chaser breed will get a stat boost to sprint and jump.
You can get some extra money by renting out parts of the ranch for some activities. This will help you cover some of the upgrade costs that you’ll run into, as well as be able to visit the market! Once there, you can spend your hard-earned gold to purchase upgrade items, items needed for improving your ranch, as well as new horses!
As for the trophies, this release features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to work on adding to your collection. The list is a long one, and it’s split into 15 Bronze trophies, 20 Silver trophies, and 2 Gold trophies for you to work on. What will you need to do for that shiny Platinum trophy? Some of the objectives to complete include reaching player prestige 2, 10, and 20, breeding a mare, breeding 50 horses, training horses 250 times, owning 12 horses, winning 50 races, winning 3 races in a row in Story Mode, completing a set of 3 races in Online Racing Mode, and completing a set of 3 races in Quick Race Mode, to name some examples.
Rival Stars Horse Racing is a new horse ranch sim experience on PlayStation 5. You’ll begin your adventure with a tale set in Kildare, Ireland, back in 1967. That’s when your grandfather won a very important race alongside his horse, making a name for himself and the whole family. He, unfortunately, had a nasty accident during one competition. The medical bills started to pile up, and there was not much to do. It’s been years since this incident, and you’ve been called in by Francis Kwan to work on rebuilding Black Creek and taking over the family’s legacy. Do you have what it takes to bring the ranch to all of its former glory? Rival Stars Horse Racing launches today on PlayStation 5.
Disclaimer
This Rival Stars Horse Racing review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by PikPok.
