While FEI governs a variety of equestrian events, My Horse & Me forgoes all but one: show jumping. So what is My Horse & Me? It is a crude horse-riding game supported by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Needless to say, brushing a traditional plastic pony with an actual brush is a far better and probably cheaper simulation. You will want to spend hours grooming your rigid, lifeless horse using a magically floating brush/hose Remote pointer icon-even though you (well, the model that represents you) remain stationary on screen, next to your horse. But customization is fairly pointless, as you'll see little more than the rears of you and your horse outside of the customization menu. In the same vein, you can change the color of your horse's coat, mane, and saddle. You can crudely customize how you look by selecting among five generic, blurry, character models and similarly uninteresting clothing (shirts, boots, hats, etc). In fact, you and your horse will not build any sort of relationship at all.
Hopefully potential buyers will avoid the bait: My Horse & Me is a simple, rushed, and wholly uninspired game that fails to follow through on its promise of capturing the bond between horse and rider.īased on the title and point-of-purchase box art, one might expect My Horse & Me to be a pet simulator in the style of Nintendogs. The game greets its victims with a squeaky-clean photo of a tween girl hugging her horse-clearly this game is targeted at unsuspecting parents and horse-obsessed little girls. My Horse & Me attempts to capitalize on the horse sense that many little girls (and probably some boys) are fond of, well, horses.
Game Vortex felt the game wouldn't appeal gamers or aspiring riders alike. Throughout the game, gamers are able to unlock mini games, new tack, and appearances for you and your horse. You can train with your horse and compete and become champions together. My Horse And Me simulates owning a real horse, as well as learning to ride and grooming your horse. The game was follow by two sequels: My Horse & Me 2 and My Horse & Me: Riding For Gold. The Nintendo DS version was developed by Mistic Software, released in the United States on Februand in Europe on November 23, 2007.
The Microsoft Windows version was released in the United States: on Februand in Europe on November 30, 2007. The Wii version was released in the United States on Februand in Europe on November 23, 2007. The Wii and Microsoft Windows versions were developed by W!Games. Ĭypel acknowledges that while the game was targeted towards girls, he felt that girls like boys would switch off if there wasn't good gameplay underneath the title, and so put a lot of effort into making the title appealing to young female players. In doing research on horses and discovering their different personalities, Cypel deemed it an "educational" experience. The team liked how horses were both graceful and powerful. Dane Cypel, the assistant producer, explained that the team was running out of ideas, and that horses seemed to be the most interesting project that they could create within the family-friendly animal-themed genre they were aiming to target.