Stakes Winner 2

It was re-released through download services for various consoles. Like its predecessor, it was received with mixed reception from critics and reviewers since its initial release. A third entry, Stakes Winner 3, was rumored to be in development but never released.

• Title — Stakes Winner 2 • Developer — Saurus • Publisher — SNK • Producer — Nobuyuki Tanaka Takahiro Shima • Designer — Hajime Yasuhara • Programmer — Takuya Kawamura • Artist — Chigusa Yokoyama Hiroaki Fujimoto Miso Suzuki • Composer — Hiromu Sasaki Hiroyuki Takei Shuichi Kurosawa • Series — Stakes Winner • Platforms — Arcade, Neo Geo AES, Saturn, PlayStation • Released — ArcadeSeptember 24, 1996Neo GeoDecember 13, 1996Saturn'PlayStation • Genre — Racing, sports • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Arcade System — Neo Geo MVS

• Illustration — Arcade version screenshot Stakes Winner 2 is a thoroughbred horse racing game similar to its predecessor, where players take control of any of the available horses, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, to compete against either AI opponents or other human players across multiple races. Players control their horse with the joystick while two action buttons are used; one controlling the reins for small accelerations that drains little portions of the horse's stamina and another for the whip for fast speed, which drastically consumes stamina from the horse and if the stamina is depleted completely, racing is given up for a short period. Two quick taps on the joystick at any direction allows the horse to push back an opponent in front of them, but two quick taps on the opposite side reduces speed. Power-ups also spawn on the race track for players to pick up. Failing to qualify for the next race results in a game over screen unless players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing.

Stakes Winner 2 was developed by Saurus, with additional support from System Vision. The game was first released by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS on September 24, 1996, and was then published for Neo Geo AES on December 13 of the same year. The game was later ported by Saurus to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, both of which were released in May 1997. It was released on the Wii Virtual Console. Hamster Corporation re-released the game as part of their ACA Neo Geo series for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Android and iOS.