Derby Stallion

This article is about a series of horse-racing and business-simulation video games. For The 2007 film starring Zac Efron, see The Derby Stallion.

Derby Stallion
Derby Stallion II Cover art of the second game in the series (released in 1994)
Genres	Horse racing Business simulation
Developers	ASCII Entertainment
Publishers	Nintendo
Creators	Hiroyuki Sonobe
Original release	21 December 1991

The Derby Stallion (ダービースタリオン) - also known in Japan by the portmanteau abbreviation DerbyStal (ダビスタ) - video games are a series of genre-merging horse-racing and business simulation games originally created by ASCII Entertainment, and released by Nintendo. The series comprises 21 games, spans more than 10 console platforms, and is the best-selling horse racing series of all time with total sales topping more than 4 million in Japan.

Gameplay

The ultimate goal of the player in the Derby Stallion games is to win the title of GI (Group I) 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 and place racing bets, manage the working of a stables and/or ranch, select different studs and broodmares for breeding, learn to break and train 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 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 exchange (via 8MB memory packs and slotted application cartridge), and RANDnetDD service. Other methods of data exchange that have been developed include various Game Boy-Link connections and telephone satellite connections (for players using DoCoMo phones).

Series

Name	Release Date	Systems
Derby Stallion: Best Race (ベスト競馬・ダービースタリオン)	December 21, 1991	Famicom
Derby Stallion: National Edition (ダービースタリオン 全国版)	August 29, 1992	Famicom
Derby Stallion PC-9800 Series Edition (ダービースタリオンPC-9800シリーズ版)	May 28, 1993	PC
Derby Stallion DOS/V Edition (ダービースタリオンDOS/V版)	September 28, 1993	PC
Derby Stallion II (ダービースタリオンII)	February 18, 1994	Super Famicom
Derby Stallion FM-TOWNS Edition (ダービースタリオンFM-TOWNS版)	February 18, 1994	PC
Derby Stallion EX (ダービースタリオンEX)	September 30, 1994	PC
Derby Stallion Macintosh Edition (ダービースタリオンMacintosh版)	November 26, 1994	PC
Derby Stallion III (ダービースタリオンIII)	January 20, 1995	Super Famicom
Derby Stallion '96 (ダービースタリオン96)	March 15, 1996	Super Famicom-Satellaview
Derby Stallion (ダービースタリオン)	July 17, 1997	PS1
Derby Stallion '98 (ダービースタリオン98)	September 1, 1998	Super Famicom-Nintendo Power
Derby Stallion (ダービースタリオン)	March 25, 1999	Sega Saturn
Derby Stallion '99 (ダービースタリオン99)	September 30, 1999	PS1
Derby Stallion for Windows (ダービースタリオン for Win)	May 26, 2000	PC
Derby Stallion 64 (ダービースタリオン64)	August 10, 2001	N64
Derby Stallion Advance (ダービースタリオンアドバンス)	December 6, 2002	GBA
Derby Stallion '04 (ダービースタリオン04)	April 22, 2004	PS2
Derby Stallion for DoCoMo (ダービースタリオン for DoCoMo)	Winter 2005	DoCoMo
Derby Stallion P (ダービースタリオンP)	July 27, 2006	PSP
Derby Stallion DS (ダービースタリオンDS)	June 26, 2008	NDS
Derby Stallion (ダービースタリオン)	Cancelled	PS3
Derby Stallion GOLD (ダービースタリオン GOLD)	December 4, 2014	3DS

Individual games

Derby Stallion II

Derby Stallion II
Developer(s)	ASCII Entertainment
Publisher(s)	ASCII Entertainment
Platforms	Super Famicom
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Business simulation
Mode(s)	Single-player

Derby Stallion II is a complex horse farm business simulation game that was released in 1994 exclusively for a Japanese market. It was created for the Super Famicom. In the game, the play must breed horses that can be trained to become horse racing champion thoroughbreds. However, the player starts out with a limited amount of money and must sell horses at a profit once they are too old to race anymore.

Derby Stallion 64

Derby Stallion 64
Derby Stallion 64 Cover art
Developer(s)	Parity Bit
Publisher(s)	Media Factory
Platforms	Nintendo 64
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Racing Business simulation
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Derby Stallion 64 (ダービースタリオン64 Dābī Sutarion 64) is a horse racing Nintendo 64 game that is also a business simulation game. It released in 2001 exclusively for the Japanese market.