The original Pocket Card Jockey for Nintendo 3DS is about to be canceled with the eShop closing, which is another reason to consider it Pocket Card Jockey review: Keep going!, as it could shed light on a title that is often overlooked in the West and is at risk of being lost completely. Congratulations, therefore, to Apple Arcade, which once again demonstrates its ability to make a very careful selection of the mobile offer, not only recovering a lesser-known game that game addict, but also promoting a general reworking that makes it a richer and more advanced game also from a technical point of view.
Pocket Card Jockey: Go! it's a Mixed between a solitaire game and a horse racing simulation., and this alone is enough to clearly frame the insanity of the situation. In perfect Japanese style, Game Freak does nothing to hide this strangeness, loading it with surreal humor even throughout the story, in which a young jockey fights against the metaphysical and vaguely blasphemous consequences of a disastrous first approach to this sport.
Between fatal accidents, divine encounters and threats of infernal damnation, ours is forced to run and win to save his soul, no less, but all told with an air between the bizarre and the undramatic nonsense. In essence, our hero is totally incompetent when it comes to horses, but he seems to have a great talent for solitaire, which is why the Lord himself (who curiously looks a lot like the director of the riding school) decides to combine the two things and allow him to run exploiting his particular ability. , thus creating the strange association between cards and horse racing.
Solitaire and horse racing.
Don't be fooled by the absurd presentation: Pocket Card Jockey is a fairly complex game, especially when it comes to strategic horse management, which requires dedication to fully understand and master. He game It revolves around the classic dynamics of solitaire, that is, the association of cards in scale until all those present on the table are eliminated, but this represents only a part of the compound structure of the race, which is quite deep and multifaceted as a kind of simulation. with strategic implications. In the center of the action, while the race is shown in a stylized and cartoonish way in the background, in the foreground we are faced with solitaire and various decisions to make about how to move the horse. The card phase occurs at least three times per race, to mark some fundamental sections of the race such as the start, the intermediate phase and the last corner before the final stretch: the solitaire game mainly serves to accumulate momentum and increase the relationship between jockey. and horse, all of which are fundamental elements for the success of the race because they increase speed, resistance and the possibility of final acceleration.
Modifiers can be applied to cards to be purchased in the store before the race or collected directly as bonuses on the track, which can simplify the action and multiply the advantages obtained by eliminating cards. However, all this is only part of the game mechanics, which also includes a series of tactical maneuvers directly related to the game. horse positioning and his control down the stretch, making the entire system pretty deep.
In the intermediate phases between those based on cards we can move the horse to different positions on the track, at the cost of some stamina points: positioning ourselves towards the center of the track allows us to consume less stamina but is easier to find. Getting stuck in opponent's traffic, while moving outward has opposite implications. Taking into account also the possibility of collecting bonus cards spread on different levels of the track, this positioning mechanic is strategic and requires a certain study in terms of advantages and energy investment, also because a good part of them must be reserved for the final sprint.
Another phase of the game occurs in the stretch before the finish line: in this case we can directly control the horse by making it move along different lanes to avoid and overtake its opponents (but with maneuvers that always require a certain amount of effort). of time and energy), in addition to being able to use the whip a limited number of times to make the horse perform temporary accelerations (but with the possibility of obtaining additional bonuses if this system is not used).
The Apple Arcade version
From the point of view of structure and content, Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! It's essentially the same game previously released on Nintendo 3DS, but Game Freak has made some technical improvements to make it look better on Apple Arcade devices as well. We are not facing a game in which it is necessary to put on a great show. graphics, but the characterization is excellent and charismatic, capable of immersing us in the particular atmosphere of horse racing with a particular humorous and typically Japanese cartoonish touch. The scenes and sections during the race, with horses and riders in what could be defined as a kind of "super deformed" style and colors shot to maximum, create a cheerful atmosphere that integrates well with the overall spirit of the game. On the other hand, the controls are also perfectly adapted to the touch screen, since they basically use the same system in the original version as well.
Among the new features of this version for iOS we highlight some new implementations on the management front, with a richer menu of options that also allow you to control and modify the ranch, change some aspects of the horses (which have their own specific progression), access to the store where you can purchase items that can provide bonuses and also a "battle pass" style system that unlocks progressive objectives and rewards day by day. In this aspect, however, there is no need to fear possible deviations in microtransactions, since Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! It is distributed within the catalog of Apple Arcade and it really is a great introduction. From a management point of view, the breeding and growth of horses represents another important aspect also to prolong the longevity of the game.
Conclusions
Tested version iPad 1.0.1 digital delivery App Store Holygamerz.com 7.5 Readers (1) 5.0 your voteThe crazy premise of a game based on solitaire and horse racing cannot go unnoticed, but the most incredible thing is that this strange mix works so well. The card mechanics obviously have a value in themselves and are not particularly original, but placed in this context they take on another meaning and in any case represent only part of the complex strategic structure underlying the development of the race. To enrich everything there is a stylized and humorous characterization capable of easily stimulating good humor. The risk is that it all gets a little monotonous in the long run, but Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! It's truly a brilliant, thoughtful and somewhat unexpected addition to the Apple Arcade catalogue, so downloading is highly recommended for all subscribers.
PRO
- The concept of a solitaire-based horse racing game is crazy and wonderful.
- There is a lot of strategic depth between the racing side and the management side.
- Some appreciated technical improvements of the Nintendo 3DS version
AGAINST
- In the long run it can be monotonous
- Not very fluid in some situations, rather inexplicably.
