A team of four working together to get the win, competing in games that are mostly related to their skill set, and the team with the most points at the end wins it all. It might be a general description of a school’s telematch, but that’s basically the premise of the first official console game for the Uma Musume series.
Party Dash is not really a great introduction to this megahit title about horsegirls in a racing school, but it does offer some nice beats for those surface-level fans who want to delve into the series more.
So how is it?
Presentation
The presentation of the first console game for this series is quite an interesting predicament. As mentioned, it’s not the best way to be introduced into the series, because it doesn’t really introduce the main cast of characters you’ll be playing as, barring a few character traits that have been fleshed out from both the original mobile game and even in the anime, now present in the game as well for the fans. 
It’s a unique position for the game to have. It does gloss over some interesting points of the Uma Musume-verse (like the intro is a one-to-one recreation of the anime show’s intro as well), which might be considered as an easter egg for the diehard fans and an interesting hook for the newcomers to check out this series.
So unlike their hit mobile game, this game’s main cast gets more into the pixel art versions of themselves as the likes of the more famous girls like Gold Ship and Vodka look quite unique even with this design. And most of the emotions are still conveyed quite well, with their expressions pop-out in this form as well. Like, you can tell Aston Machan is smiling just by looking at her pixel-self, which is a pretty good indication that the art design team nailed it well.
Audio-side, it’s quite impressive with most, if not all, of the main roaster of voice cast from the series returning to voice their respective characters and it doe adds to the charm of the game being quite like a side piece, with them being as cheery and even disappointed if the game doesn’t go there way, just like how they would react in the feature game as well.
And that’s a pretty good thing since the whole thing makes it feel like an actual Derby, with the presence of the series’ color commentator and splash screens for each of the four events, making it feel like it’s an actual competition when really, you’re in a competitive eating contest with four other teams.
In short, the presentation and story itself are rather campy in nature, with some sprinkle of cute and emotional moments for the likes of our favorite horse girls.
Gameplay
The gameplay is split between a visual novel that tells the story of our many heroines in their trials to be the best team in this Derby and the actual game where it’s four different mini-games that test the skills of the player in making split-second moves for the win. The games themselves are quite unique where it’s a variation of dodgeball and basketball, with a hint of parkouring and Diner Dash for good measure.
However one of the leading complaints is that the mini-games should have a better tutorial for first-time playing because they don’t really explain them quite as well as say, a Mario Party would. With the “hows” and “where” of what you should be pressing the buttons for and so on. The button prompts on the bottom of the screen also periodically switch from face buttons to keyboard letters, which might even confuse some players during gameplay too.
I feel the dev team should have stuck to a more “if connect, then show this” approach that some other games have done. Perhaps that would have helped a bit on that tutorial point as well.
In any case, the mini-games themselves are quite enjoyable to play, chaotic when you consider that it has power-ups to mess up for the opponents, which they can also do to you as well, and it lends to the more fun aspect as you see your favorite Uma trying their hardest to win it for their team.
Plus, you have to pair the mini-game with the Uma who has the better stat for that event as well. So if it’s the eating contest, for example, both Vodka and her frenemy, Daiwa Scarlet, are the perfect pair as you need the Speed and Wit to power through. Which does lead to some interesting banter between them.
And one last neat addition to the gameplay is a side-scrolling rogue-lite that starts the fan-favorite Gold Ship, where you have to fight out waves of robotumas in stages using a water gun that you can also upgrade along the way as the going gets tougher.
It’s quite an interesting side game that could see you chew through time quite well, I know I did. It has that Vampire Survivor thing where there are level-specific obstacles that make playing them one-after-another quite engaging and it honestly is quite a refreshing break after horsing around for the coveted Party Derby.
Content
For a party game, there is some pretty good stuff to be done, with four stories within the campaign mode (and more, when the DLCs for more uma-girls come in later along the line), and the fact that you can also play them locally or online (with leaderboards too), makes it quite of a fun thing to periodically come back to with friends.
It’s still not really the way to learn about Uma Musume the series, however. Because the content that’s here still needs some references from the show to get at least, so some stuff might get lost for those who are jumping into the franchise here before the upcoming global mobile version that’s coming.
I would also suggest coming back to this title AFTER the release of the mobile gacha though, then you would enjoy some of the references scattered across the game.
Personal Enjoyment
To be fair, this is a solid party game for the fans. And for someone whose only knowledge is surface level at best, it’s okay. And while I do like how all four mini-games feel distinct from one another with how they are presented, adding more mini-games couldn’t hurt because it does feel quite short from the base.
But just seeing my favorite horse girl Aston Machan being happy to be included in the Party Derby, and then being able to steer her (so to speak) towards victory does feel sweet. So this title is alright.
Verdict
Uma Musume Pretty Derby – Party Dash is a party game for the fans of the series. It could do better in the gameplay department in terms of tutorials and such but as long as you’re having fun, it’s alright. Should the global mobile version explode in popularity like in Japan (Spoiler: it will), then this side game will be the perfect companion for when that happens.
Played on PC, Review code provided by the publisher.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby - Party Dash
A party game for the fans of the series that could do better in the gameplay department in terms of tutorials and such but as long as you’re having fun, it's alright.
- Presentation 8
- Gameplay 6
- Content 7
- Personal Enjoyment 7