Rating: 
Summary: Gets Steadily Worse...
Review: I'm not sure exactly were to begin with what's wrong with this game so instead I'll tell you what's good. The graphics have a few small flaws but overall they're not bad. The horses are supposed to have distinct personalities (different ai) but they don't, in fact, they all have the exact same gentle temperament. The only difference between them is their speed, which is either slow or really slow. Having run the practice courses for HOURS trying to get the fastest time, I've only had the horse refuse when I misjudged the distance or angle. If only it were that easy in real life'In a way that's a good thing because if they don't go slow you can't make the impossibly tight turns the show jumping requires. That of course raises another problem, you have to slow down to jump but you need the overall fastest time (without penalties) to win the event. Your in game rival has a catch-22 in show jumping (it's easy to beat the steeplechase and cross country). If you get 5 penalty points her time is 40 seconds. If you get 22 seconds (no penalties) she's got 19 secs. The actual competition is set up so you can take second or third in one event and still win first. For instance: I resigned myself to take second in show jumping then got first in steeplechase and cross country. Moral: I won the competition. Unfortunately, though I beat the in-game (in storyline) comp. I had to go back and take first in the PRACTICE area to get invited to the next events! Ten minutes into the endeavor you will be reduced to mumbling, or shouting, a string of violent profanities at the screen every time your computer hiccups causing a delay in the graphics that makes you knock down a rail or run into a jump.
WARNING: not recommended for those with anger management issues. Next, the stable chores are completely dull and VERY repetitive, the third time you've mucked out a stall you'll understand. In-game you only have one set of courses to practice on, this is fine at first because they duplicate the first competition, but for all the rest you have to practice by going back to the main menu and waiting five minutes to load ONE event ONE time! Also, there are only 15 courses. Total. After you've run all of them a dozen times and tried to see what the game would let you do, like jumping out of bounds or running down the cardboard cutout people in the crowd (your horse just stops when you hit them, by the way, and you can only go out of bounds in the show jumping areas) you'll find there's nothing left and you've wasted twenty bucks on a game you never want to touch again. The above refers to the "Legacy" portion of "Let's Ride RH", the "Competitions" portion is just plain lousy. The jumps are boring, the graphics are slow and bad, and the jumping distance varies and doesn't make a wit of sense to begin with. The "Mystery" part of the game is decent but nothing special, the clues in this one are either too easy or so abstract you don't have the slightest idea what you're supposed to do. The official site has a walkthrough and with a few hints from it I beat the mystery in about four hours (which includes a few game crashes). By the way, Alt + Tab causes an error in the game and it crashes so save before alternating windows. The dialog is usually amusing and occasionally downright funny but the plot is wafer thin. If you're looking for a good mystery try "The Longest Journey", possibly the best adventure/RPG ever made; nice general graphics, beautiful video sequences, phenomenal storyline, and lackluster ending (oh well, you can't have everything, but the body of the game makes up for it). In conclusion: The "Legacy" part is challenging (sometimes), tedious, and frustrating, the "Competitions" portion isn't worth installing, and the "Mystery" is not mysterious.
I should only have given this game one star but because it has a more realistic stable area than any other game I've played I threw it a bonus star. If I could rate all three... "Legacy" ... * *
"Competitions" ... * (I feel generous)
"Mystery" ... * * *
Average: * * Without the hassle of beating the Practice area I might have given "Legacy" 4 stars, but the sheer frustration or trying to beat your rival's time detracted too much from the story and enjoyment of the game. A word of advice, save immediately before a competition because if you lose you go back to the stables and your horses (accept the one you were riding) are gone. The events themselves take a number of tries to get first place, especially show jumping, which is usually the high point of these games. By the second competition I had stopped trying for first in that event and focused on taking second because the other two events were easy to win. My advice: if you're a horse game collector (like me), get it but don't expect too much. For the avid collector this is a mediocre addition, for a non-horse-fanatic it should probably be avoided. If you're looking for a game with jumping prowess try 'Equestriad 2001', for racing 'Gallop Racer' (original or 2001, they're pretty much identical), or for stable management 'Willowbrook Stables' (original or preferably 'Saddle Club' its sequel). If none of these sound good, you might try 'Riding Star' which is an easy, low stress, low frustration eventing game with dressage, cross country, and show jumping; the downside is relatively poor graphics and repetitive stable area, but overall it's fun. I hope my advice is of some use and that you enjoy whichever game you select.
Rating: 
Summary: fun.....if u like crashing into walls
Review: My sister got this game for her birthday. I always "test out" her games before she plays them, and this one was the most disapointing one she has ever received. I viewed the tutorial. I red the manual all the way through. Did that help me? No! First of all, these people odviously can't count. It says on the package: "choose from 25 different horses", when you only get 1! The controls are awful. All I could ever do was get the character to crash into walls and punch people. (who didn't react, of course) Fun! Eventually I just said "Why am I wasting my time on this?" and put the game away. Don't buy this game. You have heard it from a real live kid. And if I'm dissapointed, so will you/ your child.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but not wonderful
Review: OK. I am a horsewoman. I take riding lessons and am trying to read every horse book available to man. I bought this game because I do not own a horse myself, and I wanted a reasonable game that I could do showjumping on.
This game is not great. For one thing, it's languistically incorrect. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 15.9 HAND HIGH HORSE! This was obviously made by someone who doesn't know horses. There really is no difference in personalities between these horses. You don't even have to get strides right to clear a jump. You don't give your horse any water.The stable jobs are VERY repetitive. GEEZE. I hope there are better ones on the market. I think I'll look for a racing game next, though.
The computer always gives little "hiccups" at crucial times. The game has frozen my computer numerous times.
But, on the bright side, the courses are (somewhat, interesting. The showjumping courses are nice, somewhat that is. BUT YOU ONLY GET THE SAME PRACTICE COURSE TO RIDE EVERY TIME. GEEZE. BORING. You go into every competetion but the first completely blind... Never knowing what to expect. But, it's okay. Not great. I'm sure there are much better games though.
Rating:
Summary: Decent game
Review: Okay, I'm a rider for starters. The game is most definately not made by people who know about horses. It is very unrealistic - you can dump food in the fodder box from across the stall, you can sweep stuff out of the aisle while amazingly far away from it, you can fill the food bucket without being near the food box, and it's generally just - as I said - not realistic. Despite this, the graphics are okay, and despite what other people have said, the character and horses are extremely easy to control. I also have never experienced trouble loading. Maybe their computers just don't work as well or something, but I know that on my typical Windows 98 computer, it loads like a charm and the characters move even better. The plot is somewhat lackluster, but it's a fun game, which would be great if it was just more realistic.
Rating: 
Summary: Overall better than similar horse games
Review: Overall, this game was better than other horse games, but it had some serious problems. As everyone else has mentioned, a horse can't be 17.5 hands because there are only four inches in a hand. The most irritating thing, however, is that often, the character, Annie, crashes through the wall and into another stall. Sometimes you get trapped this way.
The characters are anywhere from really stupid to downright brain dead. John won't say ANYTHING to me other than, "Horses like apples. There are apple trees in the orchard. You can pick apples for the horses, horses eat apples." (Yes, it's repetitive and has appalling grammar!) It's also irritating that you often aren't able to do things that are supposedly something the horses like, such as feeding them carrots (You can't even GET a carrot!) The horses don't have different personalities; they are only SLIGHTLY different speed-wise. As for the riding, it's all right, but it's definitely not realistic. (Three-day eventing is composed of dressage, cross-country, and showjumping, and steeplechasing is actually a race at the same time as other horses.) I tried to make my horse extend his stride because the distance was wrong, but it just went fast and then stopped and reared up. The good thing about this game is that it doesn't JUST let you ride; it also lets you do realistic stable chores. Contrary to what most people are writing, the horses are pretty easy to control. In conclusion, buy it if you're tired of games that won't let you satble work, but if you're interested in quality riding, buy something else.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Concept, Serious Issues
Review: The graphics aren't that bad, the video isn't bad either, but like what everyone said before, this game has stuff that makes no sense. Like the developers left out the little details.
For example, for the tasks, one person will ask you to clean out
"Comet's stall" but the person never says which of the, what, maybe 10 stall stable is Comet's. Same with being asked to take someone else's horse to pasture.. I later noticed his horse looked the same as the horse I chose on the second level. So many gliches as well. For example, it won't let me let go of the horse, or let me put the horse in its stall, drives me nuts! Its ashamed because the game has so much potential. It just needs to be more user friendly and logical.
Rating:
Summary: Rosemond Hill: Home to the stars....not!
Review: THE LEGACY OK, I'll start with the bad points:
-Has obviously been made by someone who knows little or nothing about horses; 15.7 hands? I don't think so buddy. There are only FOUR inches in a hand for goodness sakes!
-The horses are supposed to be different, with different temperaments, speeds, riding difficulty and so on. but you know what? Apart from colour, they're all exactly the same, maybe some slightly slower than others, but that's it.
-You are given different details on what to feed the horse. But it's always the same flat, grainy stuff you tip into the manger from 3 feet away.
-You can only practise one of the five courses in-game, the others you have to exit to the menu.
-You get the horses geneological table. One horse has an ancestor called 'Happy Cloud'. Whah?
-The stable chores get VERY repetitive.
-You get tasks set, you can either agree to do them or decline. Even if you agree, you don't actually have to do them to advance.
-Contins quotes such as 'I hope you haven't forgotten to feed your horse?' DUH!
-Refusals only come about if you misjudge distance or angle hugely. No problem with speed, or jumping it about a foot from the jump, or whatever. Sigh.... Sometimes you can get over doubles in one jump.
Good points: -For a while it is quite fun and great if you don't own a horse, because you have to do all the chores and responsibilities.
-Er....... COMPETITIONS Frankly , it is dull and boring. The graphics are bad, horses jump ten feet high and twice as long, though differing just when you don't want it to. All you do is gallop around blotchy countryside, or build a repetitive course in blotchy countryside. DIAMOND MYSTERY This is quite good, but I found I neede the website walkthrough to get some of the abstract and random clues. Nothing to do with horses, which somewhat annoyed me. Annie, your sister and the character played in the 2 other games, and formerly training to be an eventer and swedish american, now has a different voice, works in a diner and constantly says 'Tell me!'
The mystery is neatly worked out though and the people are more convincing than in the LEGACY. The network of streets and buildings is quite complex and fun to look around and not all-american, which is pleasing. CONCLUSION: If you are gonna play this every day, don't waste your money, because you are just going to get bored. If you are only going to check in once in a few days or so you could consider it, but all in all I'd stay away and save your money for a better game.
Rating:
Summary: NOT SO GREAT
Review: This game got so boring because I can't get into Western Championship.I've practiced all of the things I needed to practice
on and I still can't get to it.John doesn't help.I'm not going to
play this game any more if I can't get any help. The other reviews don't help.I'f you write a letter to the people that made this game thay won't help you.I hate this game but I would like it if I had help on it. The way thay say the horses act thay don't act that way.You can't give them any water.Thay said it is the best riding game when it's not.When Annie canters on the horse she leans forword and your not suppose to because that will only make the horse go faster and I should know that because I take horse lessons. So don't waste your money on this game because it's dumb.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun.
Review: This game is a lot of fun. I've replayed it about 3 times but now I'm playing The Saddle Club Willowbrook Stables game. (which I'm stuck in email me kyohorse@aol.com if you know it). Anyway, the Legacy of Rosemond Hill is really awesome. If you know and ride horses, as I do, it can be a bit silly and annoying sometimes. For instance, they say some heights of horses which are impossible, they let you turn out your horse with its bridle on, the bridle never has reins, your saddle goes on without a blanket. Also the other characters just walk around and talk really repeditively, you can never use the ointment you get, and the other characters don't ever even ride there horses. Some of the characters horses don't even show up in the stable. There really should be more horses there. And the horses you get (max. of 3) are already named with stupid names, and they say they have personalities, but once you get those horses, they don't. But otherwise, if you can go without these things bothering you, which I did... its pretty fun. I recomend it.
Rating:
Summary: I love this game
Review: This game is cool because it's almost like having a real horse and the graphics are cool too.You can train your horse by practicing on the jumping course, Steeplechase, and Cross country course. After you go to competion you can choose another horse.You can talk to the other people that give you helpful tips. You can brush,feed, tack and groom your horse.
|
