Mary King's Riding School 2 (Wii)

This is a really great game. It is by far the best so far with controls. Don't get me wrong to begin with they are really frustrating but be patient you just need to practice. This game is a more serious riding game than any of the others Ive had so far. You pick a career mode (showjumping, dressage or eventing)and a horse and make a training schedule to build up its stats and there are tons of competitions. Showjumping is much more complicated than in other games - you have to control the gait and the stride and control the rider's balance over the jumps. And the dressage well...that took me ages to get right (and its still tough) but it is definately the best and most addictive dressage set up of any game ive played on the wii and ds. Normally the dressage is a drag but in this game its actually fun.I took the 1 star off the "fun" rating of the game because of the amount of time i spent being frustrated by the training you must pass before being allowed to play the game. (Still get frustrated at times but it just makes me more determined). The advice you get on what you are doing wrong isn't very helpful. And being told the same thing a million times because you keep screwing up is so annoying. (Just put the tv on mute until you pass the level which is bugging you). Also the game lacks a care element which i usually enjoy but to be honest i haven't missed it much.I wouldn't recommend this game to younger players - its too complicated, there is no background story to follow or care element. But for older horsey people this is a seriously addictive game which can be played a million times over. You might need to, to ever get comfortably good at it - unlike other games which get boring after the hour or so it takes to master the controls and complete the simple story.

After looking forward to getting this (and it being delayed being released for a year) I must say I was very disappointed.The controls are not what I would have chosen to get a semblance or feel of riding, which is kinda the point of Wii. In the show jumping you push buttons more than move. The show jumping is more like driving.The dressage I think is the worst aspect. You have to look at some arrows on the screen as they drop down and (to my mind) do odd control movements which don't work half the time, so you don't actually look at the horse animation (which seems to be irrelevant to the process) and it doesn't feel like riding or being on a horse, because you don't even look at the horse animation.I'm not into 'taking care of the horse' aspect of horse games (which can be a tad boring if you are over 12yrs). So I like the fact that it isn't included in this.Personally, for the horse riding experience, I like G1 Jockey Wii 2008 much better than this game (I love the use of the balance board - why horse riding games don't have a balance board option beats me... you look stupid, but it's much more fun).I also think that Ellen Whitaker's Horse Life is a far more enjoyable experience than Mary King's Riding School 2, as the controls are much more logical and the 'feel' is better (even though load times on Ellen Whitaker's Horse Life are painfully slow).All in all.... I guess you can tell I'm not giving it the thumbs up.

I really should have paid attention to the other reviews before buying this product.The training levels for SJ and XC are absolutely fine, the dressage training is a nightmare and being told the same thing over and over by Mary for one slip up and having to go back to the beginning of the exercise is incredibly frustrating. I spent a lot of time with it on mute!I was determined to get through it and once I started the competitions the dressage it is much easier than the training and nicer. The controls for XC are fine for the training, but as soon as you get to the competitions it is useless, the controls are useless and suddenly without warning the wii controller switches and left becomes right and you cant do anything as you plunge into a fence or run off the course.After 3 days still haven't reached a SJ competition!The graphics are not great when you consider what they can do with things like COD.A very unsatisfying game overall though I am going to persevere. I would definitely not recommend this game to anyone under 12. In fact I would probably not recommend this game at all. Such a shame when you consider how far they could have come. Very disappointed.

Amazing fun. If you own a Wii this is the most fun horse game that you will EVER PLAY!!! At the beginning it is a bit confusing but once you played it a couple of time it get easier.

I got this game today and it has been absolutely brilliant! It is quite difficult and i am yet to reach the most difficult stages, but you are taken through it the whole way with lots of useful guidance, (although the talking gets a bit annoying).It will keep you busy for hours and is very realitic with great graphics, my only trouble is that there is no horse caring, but you do not miss it once started. I would reccomend this game to everyone, cannnot praise it enough!

Very Happy with this

Quite expensive but an excellent game, very enjoyable.

Game requires concentration but players seem to enjoy.