So you might recognize me from my previous review of Gallop Racer: 2001. I must say I have never played any of the other Gallop Racer games in the series (Gallop Racer, Gallop Racer 2003: A New Breed and Gallop Racer 2006) but after playing 2001 for so long, I decided to kick-up some dust and try something new. I read all the reviews for the other games and found 2004 the most reliable chance for fun.If you have played any of the previous Gallop Racer gems, you know the drill. You are a jockey in a Horse Racing World. You enter horses in races and race them to earn points/money. Things start out really rough, you are the lowest jockey with the cheapest claimers. Once you win, you move up to being a "bug-boy," and start riding more classier thoroughbreds. With 2004 you finally have that "realistic feel."But let me tell you, if you like games that within a days time you can be the best (like those silly car racing games that are popular now) than any Gallop Racer game is not for you! This is a type of game that takes years of frustration and practice to master, and requires you to think very quickly, to study and know the horses you are riding and intelligence! If you want something easy, go play you're Barbie Horsey Games, leave Gallop Racer be... But anyway, on with this review!Gallop Racer 2004 you will most likely start out in Season Mode (which is the only thing worth playing for hours on end), where you choose you're jockey, you're racing silks (which you can change at ANY time during the game) and the level you are playing at. Afterward, you choose the trainer you race for.Than you start riding and let me tell you, you won't win any races for a while. But after a couple of weeks of continuously riding, weeks of not being able to ride at all, you finally get you're chance to ride a great horse and win you're first race! Suddenly many doors are opened, more opportunities are at hand, and the trainer loves you!The thing I love about Gallop Racer 2004 is not only is the game realistic in being a jockey, but riding the actual horses is vastly improved and made more challenging! Besides just holding down the D-Pad and moving you're horse left to right, you tap the D-Pad instead to move. Tap the D-Pad too much, and you end up moving too much to the side, which could end up with you jostling another rider. You also have a new system to follow, besides watching the mood of the horse with the simple half circle and it changing colors, you actually have a cute little horse called Lucky 7 that gives you facial expressions to let you know how the horse is feeling. There is also the matter of leaving the gate at the start, instead of pressing Up to leave it when the time is right, you now have to watch two arrows that swish over the Lucky 7 icon. If you press X when the two arrows are overlapping each other, you leave the gate beautiful.Also in 2004 you can not only own you're own horses, but you can update you're facilities which are a Stable, An Office, the Academy, and Pastures. You can also own, and breed horses (once you get good enough).So if you love horse racing and had played previous Gallop Racer games and want to try something different, Gallop Racer 2004 is probably you're best bet.