Hooves of Thunder

Sport 1996 Windows Action Games Other sports

Horse racing and betting game simulator

In Hooves of Thunder not only will you be able to bet on horses, but you will also be able to manage and race your own stable of horses. As you'd imagine, while the first activity, that of betting is more of a recreational thing, incidental to the game, the management and racing portion is where the meat of the game lies. In terms of how the game is designed and put in front of you, I'd say it's got the making of a regular management game/tycoon. Racing horses is simulated on a yearly in game basis, with 125 races per season, and you will manage, buy horses, buy jockeys, manage training programs, nutrition and more. It's pretty enticing when you begin to win, and the game sure puts a lot of effort on your decision making, but while on a winning streak, it sure is a fascinating experience. Less so when you're losing, but, yeah, that will happen too! Anyway, graphically it's not the most modern of games, it's got the looks of a 2D sidescrolling DOS game during races and the other management bits are set over static screens where you'll fiddle with numerical values and such. Well presented though, maybe better than Quarterpole, to which this game is a sequel to.

A solid horse racing game

Hooves of Thunder is a pretty interesting and rather complicated simulation of a horse racing game. Place bets, win enough money and build your own stable with the best horses, and then engage in the horse racing business yourself. You get to buy and sell horses, employ jockeys and horse trainers and decide when and where will your horse compete. If you're good enough, you can make a fortune out of this business. You have a lot of freedom in choosing your gameplay - you can concentrate solely on betting and winning money, or you can bypass all that and just concentrate on training your horses and competing in the races. The game is good for that freedom you have and for the realism it provides from the real horse racing. The graphics are really good and pretty advanced for that time, but the same cannot be said of the music and sound system, for there almost isn't any. A shame, because it would make a good game even better. If you're into horse sports, give the game a try, or try a similar game Sport of Kings.

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