''Stakes Winner 2'' is a

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 p ...

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by Saurus, with additional support from System Vision, and originally published by

SNK is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...

on September 24,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. It is the sequel to the original '' Stakes Winner'', which was released earlier in 1995 on multiple platforms. In the game, players compete with either AI-controlled opponents or against other human players across multiple races. Though it was initially launched for the

Neo Geo MVS The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

(arcade), the title was later released to

Neo Geo AES The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

(home), in addition of being

ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...

and re-released through download services for various

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

s. Like its predecessor, it was received with mixed reception from critics and reviewers since its initial release. A third entry, ''Stakes Winner 3'', was rumored to be in development but never released.

Gameplay

''Stakes Winner 2'' is a

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

game similar to its predecessor, where players take control of any of the available horses, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, to compete against either AI opponents or other human players across multiple races.''Stakes Winner 2'' user's manual (Neo Geo AES, JP) Players control their horse with the joystick while two action buttons are used; one controlling the reins for small accelerations that drains little portions of the horse's stamina and another for the whip for fast speed, which drastically consumes stamina from the horse and if the stamina is depleted completely, racing is given up for a short period. Two quick taps on the joystick at any direction allows the horse to push back an opponent in front of them, however two quick taps on the opposite side reduces speed.

Power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...

s also spawn on the race track for players to pick up. Failing to qualify for the next race results in a game over screen unless players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing.

Development and release

''Stakes Winner 2'' was developed by Saurus, with additional support from System Vision. The game was first released by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS on September 24, 1996, and was then published for Neo Geo AES on December 13 of the same year. The game was later ported by Saurus to the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

and

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

, both of which were released in May 1997. It has since received multiple re-releases in recent years on various

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content (media), content such as Sound recording and reproductio ...

platforms such as the

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

and

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an Internet, online multiplayer video game, multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox ...

Reception

''Stakes Winner 2'' was met with mixed reception from critics and reviewers since its release. In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed it on their November 1, 1996 issue as being the fourth most-successful arcade game of the month, outperforming titles such as ''

Dancing Eyes is a 1996 puzzle arcade video game developed and published in Japan by Namco. It features gameplay reminiscent of arcade games like '' Qix'' — players control a monkey named Urusu-San as he must complete each level by destroying all of the t ...

'', ''

Street Fighter Alpha 2 ''Street Fighter Alpha 2'', known as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 1996 in video gaming, 1996 fighting game originally released for the CP System II, CPS II arcade hardware by Capcom. The game is a Video game remake, remake to ...

'' and ''

The King of Fighters '96 ''(KOF '96)'' is a fighting game released by SNK Playmore, SNK for the Neo Geo (console), Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 1996. It is the third game in ''The King of Fighters'' series, following ''The King of Fighters '95''. Like its predeces ...

''.

Notes

References

External links

''Stakes Winner 2''
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...

''Stakes Winner 2''
at

Killer List of Videogames Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for pla ...

''Stakes Winner 2''
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stakes Winner 2 1996 video games ACA Neo Geo games Arcade video games D4 Enterprise games Head-to-head arcade video games Horse racing video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Neo Geo games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Network games PlayStation 4 games Racing video games Saurus games Sega Saturn games SNK games Virtual Console games Windows games Xbox One games Video games developed in Japan Hamster Corporation games System Vision games