also known in Japan by the portmanteau abbreviation is a series of genre-merging

horse-racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

and

business simulation game Business simulation games, also known as economic simulation games

s originally created by ASCII. The series sold 6 million copies in Japan by 1999.

Gameplay

The ultimate goal of the player in the ''Derby Stallion'' games is to win the title of GI (

Group I Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N * Group ...

) Racer. To do this, the player must attempt to develop the greatest stock of horses that he can in order to have the greatest chance at each of the weekday and holiday races that compose the 1-year racing schedule of the fictitious "SRA" (an abbreviation of Sonobe Racing Association) group. Between races, the player engages in numerous business simulation, farm simulation, and role-playing activities. ''Derby Stallion'' games have evolved as newer members of the series have been added, allowing players greater and greater control over every aspect of the horse-raising business. As such, the player must now

race horses Race Horses were a Welsh band based in Cardiff, Wales and originally from Aberystwyth. Formed in 2005 as Radio Luxembourg, they changed their name in 2009 due to possible legal problems with the radio station of the same name. Initially the m ...

and place racing bets, manage the working of a

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

s and/or

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

, select different studs and broodmares for

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and ra ...

, learn to

break Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning res ...

and

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

horses, and set up advantageous horse trades or sales, among other duties. Players must also make critical decisions about appropriate ages to race horses,

breeds A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...

to pursue, and the timing of events to coincide with race dates. As the player improves the stock of his horses, his racing statistics, and his position in the world of the horse business, his Group Ranking increases until he reaches the goal of Group I at which point he has won the game. The games also allow the player to continue playing after the top goal has been met. ''Derby Stallion'' games all feature a single-player mode, however much effort has been put into making the games as versatile as possible for multiplayer capabilities. Multiplayer functions allow players to trade or complete sales between themselves, to set up breeders' agreements, and to race against opponents. To accomplish this, various methods have been used to exchange data from the earliest password code exchange to online connectivity with PCs,

Satellaview The is a satellite modem peripheral produced by Nintendo for the Super Famicom in 1995. Containing 1 megabyte of ROM space and an additional 512 kB of RAM, Satellaview allowed players to download games, magazines, and other media through sate ...

exchange (via 8MB memory packs and slotted application cartridge), and

Randnet The is a magnetic floppy disk drive peripheral for the Nintendo 64 game console developed by Nintendo. It was announced in 1995, prior to the Nintendo 64's 1996 launch, and after numerous delays was released in Japan on December 13, 1999. The "6 ...

service. Other methods of data exchange that have been developed include telephone satellite connections for players using DoCoMo phones.

Series

Reception

''Derby Stallion: Best Race'' topped the Japanese ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' sales chart in June 1992. ''Derby Stallion III'' sold 1.2 million copies and ''Derby Stallion '96'' sold 1.1 million copies. According to ''Weekly Famitsu'', the 1997 ''Derby Stallion'' for the PlayStation was Japan's third-best-selling game of 1997, with sales of 1.58 million units. ''Derby Stallion '99'' sold 1.1 million copies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derby Stallion (Series) ASCII Corporation games Kadokawa Dwango franchises Business simulation games DOS games FM Towns games Game Boy Advance games Japan-exclusive video games Horse-related video games NEC PC-9801 games Nintendo 64 games Nintendo 3DS games Nintendo DS games Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Portable Racing video games Sega Saturn games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games scored by Koichi Sugiyama Video games scored by Manami Matsumae Video games developed in Japan Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1991