Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! Review - Screenshot 1 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

When the 3DS eShop closed back in March 2023, we were sad for a number of reasons. We were sad at the thought of losing the wonderful Virtual Console library. Sad at the prospect of never seeing the little orange bag mascot again. Sad at the understanding that we'd soon be returning to the silent eShop of the Switch without a background jingle in earshot. But most of all, we were sad that a whole swathe of gamers would miss out on the opportunity to play Pocket Card Jockey — a solitaire-based horse riding sim which several of us at Nintendo Life have described (without a hint of irony) as Game Freak's best game.

To be clear, not all of us were in the same boat. We awarded the original a 'Good' 7/10 back in 2016, but what was a stubborn mule for some was a prize pony for others.

A few months before the eShop closure, the Pokémon developer remade this 3DS gem for mobile. Apple Arcade's Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! launched in January 2023 with fresh three-dimensional visuals and a new control scheme to account for the drop from two screens to one, but apart from these nips and tucks, it was the same old weird, charming, and dangerously addictive game that we had adored back in the 3DS' hay-day. This was wonderful, of course, but it needed to come to Switch and after a year's mobile exclusivity, come to Switch it has.

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! Review - Screenshot 2 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

We'll be clear right out of the gate: Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! is a joy. Those who played the mobile version will find few changes here, but for those who haven't played since the 3DS days or who haven't played at all, this strange mix of solitaire and horse racing is a blast. It's a surefire way to put a smile on your face and we can see this one being a go-to method to while away the hours as the Switch begins to show its age.

For new riders (or if it's just been a while since you last saddled up), let's trot through the basics. Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! is, at its heart, a horse racing game. You pick a horse, give it a comical name, and then put it through its paces in a series of races to improve its stats and pull in the trophies.

Where it gets weird is how you control your pony pal: games of solitaire. If you want to race well, you'll need to clear stacks of cards within the time limit. Get them all gone and your horse will gain energy, listen to your guidance, and experience a mood boost; leave some on the table and things will quickly get ugly.

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! Review - Screenshot 3 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

It's a combination that sounds strange on paper, but in practice, it just works. The rules of solitaire are slightly tweaked to ensure more rounds are won under the time pressure — just move up or down in numerical order without any consideration for card colour — and the act of riding the horse is simplified down to a series of 'Comfort Zones' which boost your horse's mood and energy accordingly.

Both elements of the gameplay are streamlined, to a certain extent, but that's not to say that there's no challenge here. Different racing divisions will come with a different level of competition, riding in a higher Comfort Zone ups the reward but also increases the risk with a tougher game of solitaire to complete, taking a wider line during corners avoids any unwanted collisions but also drains your horse's stamina for the home straight. It's a simple concept, but the gameplay loop hides depth aplenty.

The main objective (if you can say that a game like this really has an 'objective') is to win every race out there. Trophies are locked behind certain conditions (the horse's age, sex, etc.) and the process of getting back around to races and trophies that you missed is somewhat arduous, requiring either turning to a new horse or breeding one to meet the set conditions from your retired mounts. Trophy hunters may struggle to achieve 100% completion, but the promise of improving your horse's abilities and unlocking new skills in every race keeps things firmly on the 'just one more run' side of addictive gameplay.

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! Review - Screenshot 4 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

So far, so 3DS. But Ride On! has a couple of new features that will be notable if you haven't played since the dual-screen days. At the forefront of the changes is a new control scheme which moves everything into one field of view. Much like the mobile version, track positioning, solitaire, energy storage, and the racing 'cutscenes' all take place on a single screen, whereas the 3DS original put the latter two on the top display.

Ride On! on Switch can be played fully with touch controls, if you're a fan of handheld play, with the inputs allowing for snappy card selection and pin-point precision with your horse's track positioning. Game Freak has also introduced a new Joy-Con / Pro Controller scheme to account for the console's hybridity.

This method relies on you jumping between cards with the left stick and selecting them with whatever face button you'd like before flipping from your reserve pile with the right stick. It's a little clunky and the on-screen arrow which designates your current position lacks the touch controls' fluidity when removing consecutive cards, but such is the struggle of translating touch inputs to the big screen.

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! Review - Screenshot 5 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Speed might not be the biggest hurdle in the first couple of races, but we found ourselves heavily favouring the touch controls for faster inputs in the more competitive derbies or racing in the game's online play — a mode that offers a surprisingly stable competition against a global component, albeit with a couple of extra buffering wheels to ensure both jockeys are at the same point in the race.

These buffers are dropped in the single-player mode, which runs pretty smoothly. We noticed the odd frame drop during animations when a large deck of cards is dealt, but this never intruded on the gameplay itself, fortunately.

The mobile game's visuals also make the jump over to Switch here, with new 3D horse and jockey models replacing the 2D original. It's not going to gallop onto anyone's list of best-looking Switch games in a hurry and we'd be lying if we said that we didn't miss the charming cutout approach of the OG visuals, but it is by no means harsh on the eye. The original stylings can still be found in the menus and post-race cutscenes, which helps soften the blow.

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! Review - Screenshot 6 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Balancing also tips in a more player-favourable direction compared to the 3DS version. Those with memories of unfairly lost races and stupidly overpriced items need not fear, the Switch has taken the same tweaks as its mobile counterpart to keep things on the right track.

Bar these nips and tucks, Ride On! is the same charmer that we saw on 3DS. The writing is still top-tier stuff and had us once again chuckling at its universe of wacky horse owners and jockeys despite it being the third time that we had seen the dialogue in action. Oh, and the music (the music!!) is still packed with more bangers than a hot dog stand — the backing track to G1 division races remains a highlight of intensity.

Conclusion

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! does not come to Switch with a swathe of bells and whistles or make a host of changes to Game Freak's weirdest mash-up. It's a simple port of the Apple Arcade version — which, in itself, made very few changes to the 3DS original — but with a game this great, that's no bad thing. Sure, not much has changed since 2016 (even less since 2023), but this charming hybrid card-racer is absolutely worth taking for a ride wherever you can. Giddyap.