Play Derby Stallion - Zenkoku Ban (Japan) Online

Start with a scrawny foal, train it up, and pray your breeding choices don’t backfire—those pixel horses either become champs or total duds. The menus are all Japanese, but you’ll get weirdly attached to your stable anyway.

Developer: ASCII Corporation

Genre: Sports

Released: 1987

File size: 256 bytes

Game Overview

Ever wanted to run your own horse racing empire on the NES? Derby Stallion - Zenkoku Ban is that weirdly specific dream come true. You start by picking your first horse—good luck choosing between speed and stamina stats—then dive into breeding, training, and racing across Japan. The genetics system is surprisingly deep for an 8-bit game; mess up your bloodlines, and you might end up with a slowpoke that can't win a race to save its life.

It's not just about races, though. Naming your foals feels oddly personal, and watching them grow from wobbly-legged babies into potential champions hooks you fast. The menus are all in Japanese, but if you’ve played enough retro games, you’ll figure it out (or keep a translation guide handy). This is the kind of game where you lose hours without realizing it—one more race turns into "okay, just need to breed this next generation."

If you’re into niche sims or just love horses way too much, this Japan-only classic is worth the hassle.