Spend a pony at the old airs and graces
Hamster has brought another lost SNK title kicking and screaming into the modern era this week, as horse-racing title Stakes Winner 2 is now available on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Stakes Winner 2 hit the Neo Geo MVS market in 1996, a sequel, obviously, to the previous year’s Stakes Winner, which was apparently so hot that it needed a sequel less than 12 months later. In Stakes Winner 2 players can pick from one of 12 nags and compete in a series of high-intensity races, where timing, pacing, and clever pack negotiation is the key to passing the winner’s post first.
In an amusing blend of horse racing and cutesy anime tropes, would-be jockeys can spend their hard-won bucks on various upgrades for their horse, increasing stamina, speed or acceleration. There is no option to use those super-genetics that Christopher Walken was manufacturing in A View to a Kill.
Stakes Winner 2 is now available for download on PS4 in Japan, and Xbox One and Nintendo Switch worldwide, priced at around $8.