Ever since I devoted dozens of hours to my brother’s hand-me-down copy of Winning Post for the Sega Saturn, I’ve had a soft spot for horse racing games. It’s a sports-sim subgenre that’s been huge in Japan for decades, but only managed to gain popularity with overseas audiences following the 2025 release of the hit mobile and PC game Umamusume: Pretty Derby. Now there’s a new contender champing at the bit — only this new racer doesn’t star glamorous horse girls, but smiling slabs of pixel-art sushi.
Developed by ITAMAE Studio and published by Kodansha Ltd., Wabisabi SushiDerby is a casual racing sim where you train sushi to win races. No, it doesn’t make any sense, but just go with it. These smiley little guys zip around conveyor-belt restaurants, fancy traditional eateries, and casual cafeterias. The detailed environments and cheerful character designs are a big part of the appeal here.
As racers navigate the course, all kinds of hazards pop up, from soy sauce spills that obscure the screen to bursting bubbles of salmon roe that bring a racer to a halt. Like in Umamusume, you can’t control every aspect of the race, but you can unlock skills and stat boosts between rounds to give yourself an advantage. For the most part, it’s the preparation you do before a race that determines your performance.
Read Full Article At Source
