Play SM Choukyoushi Hitomi (Japan) (Unl) Online

SM Choukyoushi Hitomi is one of those weirdly addictive SNES games that never made it outside Japan—which is a shame, because it’s basically Harvest Moon but with racehorses. You play as Hitomi, a determined trainer trying to raise the next champion, and there’s something weirdly satisfying about brushing your pixelated horse, tweaking its diet, and watching its stats creep up.

The races are tense little sprints where all your training decisions actually matter—push too hard, and your horse burns out before the finish line. The graphics are pure '90s charm, all bright colors and chunky sprites, and the music’s got that SNES synth cheeriness that just sticks in your head. It’s not a flashy game, but if you like slow-burn sims where you actually feel attached to your virtual animal, this one’s a hidden winner.

Fair warning: the menus are in Japanese, but after a few minutes, you’ll figure out which button feeds the horse and which one scolds it for slacking. By the third race, you’ll be yelling at your TV like a real jockey.