Uma Musume is a massive franchise in Japan, though it’s not as well-known internationally, so it’s interesting to see Cygames release Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Party Dash in English worldwide.
If you follow anime or the gacha gaming scene, chances are that you’ve at least seen or heard of Uma Musume. For those who haven’t, Uma Musume is a franchise that features a hit gacha game (at least in Japan) and a TV anime series, both of which follow the stories of horse girls.
Yes, as if cat girls aren’t enough, Uma Musume features horse girls, but with some interesting twists. Specifically, these horse girls are reincarnated forms of great racehorses from the past, meaning the characters are based on real-life horses that have gained renown for their racing prowess in Japan. In their reincarnated horse-girl forms, they continue to participate in races; they’re also idols for some reason.
While I’m a fan of many Japanese franchises that are just as bizarre, I’m not exactly a fan of the Uma Musume series. Thankfully, you don’t need to be one to enjoy Party Dash’s collection of mini-games.
Four Mini-Games (Plus One)
As its title implies, Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Party Dash is a party game, though it’s not a board game-style title. Instead, it’s effectively a collection of 2D pixel art mini-games that can be played both locally and online with up to four players. These mini-games can also be played in the game’s story mode.
The first of Party Dash’s mini-game collection is Hurtling Hurdles. This is essentially a horse race (or a horse-girl race) through a creative stage where players must avoid hazards and execute timely boosts to win. Adding a wrinkle to the side-scrolling racing is the array of items that can be used to slow down other players (kind of like the items in Mario Kart), as well as the unique abilities that each player has.
It’s a straightforward mini-game, but the various elements do add up to make each race quite fun. There’s also skill involved here as boosts consume stamina which is a resource that should be managed properly, especially if you’re up against actual players.
Next, there’s Gourmet Gauntlet. While I thought it was a cooking game at first, it’s actually an eating contest. Here, players pick two characters from their team, with one serving as the eater and the other as the server. Players control the server which entails picking up plates of food for the eater to devour. The team with the most plates eaten wins.
Feeding the eater isn’t as easy as it seems though. Players must try their best to pick up plates of the same color as doing so will give a combo bonus, enabling the eater to devour the food faster. There’s also the boosting mechanic which helps players reach more plates, along with unique skills that can either help with food collection or hamper opponents.
While I thought this mini-game would be dull, I was surprised by how engaging it is, especially if you’re playing with someone else in local multiplayer. This mini-game’s pace makes rounds chaotic in a fun way.
If the eating contest is chaotic, Dodgeball Demolition is a more traditional mini-game. This dodgeball mini-game plays exactly as you’d expect. The goal here is to grab balls and hit other players with them until their “health bar” reaches zero.
This is probably the most straightforward of the mini-games, though the different kinds of balls, boosts, and unique player abilities do add wrinkles to each round.
Then, there’s Blazing Baskets. This is another simple mini-game, and it’s inspired by basketball. Inspired because this plays far from something like NBA 2K as it consists of each player trying to score as many baskets as they can, all while dealing with various environmental hazards and moving hoops.
Much like the dodgeball mini-game, this is fairly simple to play, though it’s still fun to play, especially if you’re in a round against other players whether through local play or online.
Players can also unlock Golshi’s Grand Adventure 2, a bonus game that’s a bit different from the other mini-games. That’s because this is a sidescrolling action game made for solo players.
What makes this interesting is that it’s reminiscent of titles like Vampire Survivors. Here, players take control of the character Gold Shop who continuously fires against opponents. The goal here is to avoid obstacles and defeat enemies, all while picking up new weapons and upgrades.
Each of these mini-games offer a fun time individually, though the issue of Party Dash lies in the fact that these are the only mini-games available.
Just a Bit Too Small of a Package
As I mentioned earlier, Party Dash features a story mode that’s divided into four teams. Each team’s story features a story presented in a visual novel style. As for gameplay, it’s simply Party Dash’s mini-games one after another.
Each story isn’t particularly exciting, and they’re not the best introductions to the Uma Musume franchise either. Still, big fans of this horse girl IP might enjoy the stories, especially considering that the gacha game and anime’s cast are here in Party Dash.
For gameplay, the fact that the story mode chapters are basically just the four mini-games can make for a repetitive experience. Thankfully, the story mode is fairly short. As a bonus, playing story chapters nets players rewards that they can use to unlock characters and cosmetic items for their room.
Note that most of the characters are playable anyway via the pre-made teams, it’s just that unlocking them will let players create custom teams. As such, it’s likely that only dedicated fans will be willing to unlock all the characters.
Multiplayer also suffers the same problem as the Story Mode. Sure, each mini-game is fun, but the fact that there are only four of them means sessions can get old fast. To be fair, the mini-games are engaging, and coupled with the fact that it features a cutesy pixel art style, I can see this being the perfect party game for a group of Uma Musume fans.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Party Dash Final Verdict – 6.5.10
Individually, the Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Party Dash mini-games are enjoyable, and it has an art style and a story mode that should delight long-time series fans. Plus, it has a bonus Vampire Survivors-inspired mini-game that’s quite engaging to play.
The biggest knock on this game is its scale as it only has four mini-games. Given this, the game isn’t the best party game given the lack of variety, though it does enough things well that it can be worth checking out for Uma Musume fans.
[This review was made via a game code provided by Cygames]