tag:dreamwidth.org,2010-09-14:630852Got to be birds flying higherin a sky more bluecalzephyr2020-06-01T20:24:59Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2010-09-14:630852:1017093Rival Stars2020-06-01T20:24:59Z2020-06-01T20:24:59Zpublic0LOL I'm such a sucker for horse games no matter the skill level and I stumbled across one that checks all the boxes. Horse racing? Check! Resource based? Check! Nice graphics? Check!<br /><br />I can't believe the quality of this freemium mobile game. You couldn't even get this kind of game on a PC years ago. We had <a href="http://www.paceadvantage.com/horseracingreview.htm">DRF Horseracing</a> and we had to like it!<br /><br />Naturally you start with a low grade horse and work your way up by buying and breeding. I ran out of room in my stable after two days. You can change the name of your horses, but there's something about the generated ones. Sometimes they work out! Here's a filly I raised and sold named Priceless Banter. Her parents are Control Sequel and Chain Coffin. I'm going to have to sell Chain Coffin too pretty soon...awww...but I'm so attached, sniff! She's the mother of my other mare, Silver Tulip, who's a speed demon. <br /><br /><center><br /><a target="_blank" href="https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/calzephyr77/1027708/101062/101062_original.png"><img src="https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/calzephyr77/1027708/101062/101062_300.png" alt="Rival Stars" title="Rival Stars"></a><br /></center><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=calzephyr&ditemid=1017093" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2010-09-14:630852:912681Spirit Riding Free (and DW cross-post test)2017-05-14T05:08:20Z2017-05-14T05:12:02Zpublic2I have been prepping for another craft show and it involved a lot of mundane stuff - labelling cards, packaging cards, sealing card envelopes, etc etc. One can only watch so much of <i>The Vampire Diaries</i> and 80s cartoons on Netflix before you just want something different and I was so intrigued to see <i>Spirit Riding Free</i> pop up. If you haven't watched it, <i>Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron</i> is a 2002 feature length animated movie starring Matt Damon as Spirit. I think it's one of the few movies to feature horses...there might be an animated Black Beauty somewhere, but if there is, I haven't watched it. There is very little connection to the movie other than it is set in the West, has a horse named Spirit and...yeah, that's about it. The reaction to the series has been quite passionate - my favourite was a FB comment that went something like "Young girls shouldn't fantasize about riding stallions" to folks posting long YT rants. It would be nice if they did make a sequel to Spirit, but I'm not sure how it could be done since movie Spirit's story is more or less complete. <br /><br />I whipped through all six available episodes. My first instinct was that the animation looked really bad and cheap, but Aunt Cora won me over with her line "Why is everybody hugging? I haven't finished yelling yet!" in the first few minutes. The series starts out with Fortuna - Lucky to her friends and family - returning to the town where her father and mother met. Lucky's mother died somehow and the only clue we get is that she was a circus performer or trick rider. Eventually the animation grew on me because there were moments where it came across as beautiful. I think the lighting might be inconsistent. <br /><br />Lucky soon makes friends with Pru and Abigail as she learns to ride a horse and adapt her city ways to country life. Although the stories aren't too in-depth, they are adventure packed and isn't just for girls. I laughed a lot, especially episode 6 where the girls plan a surprise party for Pru and it all goes sideways. I think it's exciting that there's a diverse cast too! Abigail is my favourite character because she's so sweet and innocent and tries to be a peacekeeper, but she's no doormat either. I'm looking forward to more of this series and <a href="http://www.breyerhorses.com/spirit-home">maybe will pick up a toy or two</a>.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=calzephyr&ditemid=912681" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments