The heart of Gallop Racer 2003 is the on-track horse racing, and so the game developers were kind enough to put together a fairly complete tutorial on the subject. If you're going to play this game in Season mode, you'll be forced to complete the tutorial before racing, and it is well worth it, especially if you're starting the game with no knowledge of the sport. Your teacher, an animated (and rather chubby) horse will lead you through several lessons ranging from getting a proper start to wrapping it all up in the home stretch. Little tests along the way ensure that you've absorbed the material, and practice rounds help you, well, practice. And practice you must, because the level of realism in the racing is going to require every bit of jockey spirit you can muster.

While the tutorial does a grand job of introducing the racing aspect of the game, it lacks any coverage of the off-track aspects of the game, which can be confusing to non-racers and fans alike. There's no discussion, for example, of the various ways to bet on a horse, which is a bit trickier than just putting $2 down on the underdog. Along with the lack of coverage of the fundamentals of betting, you're also on your own to learn how to buy and breed horses, which is a major component of the Season mode. If you buy a bad horse, you're out of luck until your jockey earns enough cash and bargaining credibility to pick up a new horse.

There are two main game modes to concern yourself with, Single Race and Season. The Single Race mode allows you to grab whatever horse you want and hit the track. This is a good way to enjoy the game when you're just in a "pick up and play" mood, though it's not a good idea to rely on it for practice, since in season mode, you're not going to get your pick of horses. The Season mode is basically a single player campaign, allowing you to build up your own racing dynasty. You can buy new horses, breed the ones you have, and of course, race them all. The great thing about playing in Season mode is the incredible depth of simulation available. Race a horse too hard, and he'll be sick for weeks. Keep winning, and your jockey and horse will improve, earning you more bargaining points (and cash) to buy new horses.

Racing, the heart and soul of Gallop Racer 2003, is a really tight simulation of the actual sport. When you start out at the gates, you have a three-second countdown before the gates open. Within that time, your "start" meter (much like a swing meter in most golf games) is bouncing back and forth. You have to hit the X button at the right time to nail the best launching moment for the horse. Miss a good start, and the race is pretty much lost. An outstanding detail of this race start system is that the horse's temperament determines how fast the start meter bounces around. A calm horse will have a nice slow meter, while a younger racer will have one that bounces around like a superball. Once you're in the race, you'll need to maintain the best position for your horse while keeping it moving fast enough to hold its place while not tiring it out. Some horses like the lead position, others the middle and some the back, and if you run a horse in the wrong position, you'll actually frustrate it, losing speed, stamina and of course position. A HUD-type display ensures you know what your position is versus the horse's preferred position, along with showing your current speed and the horse's stamina. I have to say that for the first few hours, Expect a lot of frustration when trying to learn how to handle the horse in the three key segments of the race (start, stretch, finish). Fortunately, frustration gives way to fun as you discover how to position the horse while pushing it to just the right speed for each leg of the race. After awhile, you'll be racing like a pro.

After some time, you'll have built up enough money and credibility to purchase newer, better horses and start betting. As I mentioned before, the betting system is somewhat arcane, and really could have used a sound tutorial. The same goes for the breeding system, which allows you to take your retired horses and breed them to create fresh new racers with the best traits of your retired horses. The breeding system really kicks the game up several notches as it keeps the roster of horses fresh.

Tecmo really chose an interesting mix of graphical styles for this game, giving it a unique graphical flair. When you're not actually racing, the graphics are very cartoony, with exaggerated features and somewhat goofy looks on characters' faces. Once you jump into a race, the game goes into realism overdrive, with very polished graphics of horses, jockeys and tracks. The horses and riders look great, but I wish they had put some more detail into texturing the tracks, which look like flat sheets of green rolling beneath you. The areas surrounding the tracks, however, look good, and are rounded out with some excellent weather effects such as rain and snow. While the weather effects look nice, it's too bad they seem to have no effect on the gameplay; they are purely there for aesthetics sake.

Sound effects are pretty sparse in Gallop Racer 2003, and rightly so, since horse racing by nature isn't exactly a sound-rich sport. There's very little commentary during races, which is unfortunate, since in a real horse race, a lot of important position info is given by the announcers. This lack of commentary forces you to constantly switch views to see where you and your opposition are located in relation to one another. Commentary would have been especially helpful towards the end of each race, because many times, just as you think you're about to win, a horse comes out of nowhere to take it all. It would've been nice to hear "Jingle Joe is making a break from the rear of the pack, he's overtaking everyone..." so that I'd know it was time to really crack the whip and ensure I didn't get passed at the last second.

Lastly, there's the music, which pretty much goes with the cartoony theme of the off track elements of the game. It's all very mellow and somewhat cheesy. Then again, you don't exactly expect to hear Nu-Metal at the track, do you?

With the array of horses available to you, and the ability to breed new horses, there's tons of replay in Gallop Racer 2003. The game could have used some variety in track locations, but that's a minor point since every real world track has the same basic layout anyhow. There's so much to learn about horse racing and so many horses available to race with, rest assured you'll be playing this game for a good long time.

Gallop Racer 2003 takes consoles someplace they've rarely been, the racetrack, and it does it quite well. If you're one who thinks horse racing couldn't possibly be any fun as a videogame, this game might just change your mind. This is a really well done sports sim, and deserves at least a rent by everyone, and is a most definite buy for horse racing fans.