RadioSEGA Review: Super Hang-On (Mega Drive)

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RadioSEGA Review: Super Hang-On (Mega Drive)

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Back in 1985 SEGA began changing the way we interacted with games. Hang-On was not just a game, it was an interactive experience. You rode the game like a real motorcycle, leaning into the turns and twisting the throttle to push the bike past the limit, all the while trying to avoid other racers as the countdown moved closer to zero. How could they possibly improve on that? Well in 1987 they made Super Hang-On, added selectable music and best of all a turbo button.

Unfortunately I don’t have the arcade machine in my house. If I did then I would not be writing this review or even eating, I would be playing it. This is probably going to give the impression that it will be a biased review, but as I am reviewing the Megadrive/Genesis version there will be a few negatives I'm sure.

Released in January 1991 Super Hang-On was among a number of arcade title to be written a number of different home platforms. Back then, when people actually went to arcades to play videogames rather than try in vain to grab a cheap stuffed toy with the worlds weakest crane, we wanted to play these games back at home. The trouble was the arcade technology was light years ahead of anything we could have plugged into our TV. What made it worse were the cabinets themselves, they often had beautiful and enticing artwork, lights and excellent sound. Add to that movement and force feedbacked control systems and your average gamer has to have a bit of imagination to relive the experience he got down his local arcade. There were some very awful attempts at making games like this but luckily for Megadrive/Genesis owners, SEGA were pretty good at it.

This is a racing game. You race your futuristic looking bike over a number of stages, each one getting more twisty and crowded than the last one. Your task is simple, get to the finish before the timer hits zero.
When you begin, there is an option to start a new game or enter a password. The password system is for use with the 'Original mode' which I will come to in a minute. If you start a new game,you are asked which mode you would like to play. Arcade mode is just what it implies, it mimics the original arcade machine game. You select your difficulty, this is represented by choosing one of the four continents Africa (Beginner, 6 stages) Asia (Junior, 10 stages) America (Senior, 14 stages) and Europe (Expert, 16 stages). Once chosen you can then select the music that will accompany you as you race to the finish, they fit the game very well, have a look around RadioSEGA's playlist and see for yourself. Once you have selected your soundtrack, you will be ready to race.

The lights count down and you are off, dont be disheartened as the other riders zoom off ahead, you will soon catch up. The bike handles terribly at low speed the digital controls are not really suited to the 'lean' of the bike, you have three angles of lean and nothing in between so at first you will find yourself bobbing up and down until you get up to speed. As the bike hits that first corner at full power you will find that even at its maximum lean the bike will not make it round. The tyres squeal and smoke as they fight for grip and only careful dabbing on the brakes can keep you on the track, mix in a few rivals riding shoulder to shoulder with you, one touch could mean disaster as you are nudged off of the track and into a tree, boulder or road sign that have been thoughtfully left right on the edge of all the corners, waiting to kill you.

Things step up a gear once you hit maximum speed, the numbers flash red and the turbo becomes available. Flames flash from the rear of the bike and speed increases to over 300kmh and you still have that corner coming up that could get tighter half way round. This is where the game shines, the feeling of being right on the ragged edge is quite astonishing, the feeling of speed and claustrophobia is just superb, you know you only have a timy bit of space to manoeuvre, put a tyre wrong and its all over, the clock counts down and you know you might not make it to that vital checkpoint.
And your reward for all this sweating and heart pounding? Well, each difficulty has its own little cut scene when you get past the last stage. There is no way I will spoil it, but its worth the 16 stages of expert, just for the smiles.

Original mode could also be called 'Career mode'. You begin with a slow bike and very little money. Winning races awards prize money and allows you to improve and repair you bike. Repairs are a nice addition, but can get expensive and this builds on the excitement of the arcade game. Crash too much and you will break the frame, brakes, engine or exhaust. Even if you finish the race and have no mishaps the bikes parts will be worn and you will have to decide whether to risk it for the next race of spend some hard earned cash and fix it. On the track, the faceless riders of the Arcade game take on personalities and become your rivals, tossing in the odd quip and comment between races, and of course there are the sponsors to keep happy.

The strongpoint of this game is without doubt the gameplay, its fast, exciting and has a large dollop of 'one more go' something sadly lacking from a lot of games these days. Competing with your friends to see how far or how high you can get your score makes up for the lack of multiplayer, passing the controller is sometimes way better than split screening.

Graphically the game is very good, there are hardly any glitches, or colour clashes, although now and again there are some collision detection problems but when you are playing the expert track you will be thankful that you miraculously missed the tree.

The sound is perfectly acceptable, the music and sound effects neither grate on you or get in the way of things. And the choice of tracks keep things fresh.

As this is a retro title, I am going to give it an overall score instead of scoring it on individual graphics, sound etc as normal. At 4/5 it really is worth a look, and as there are a lot of ways to get hold of it (look out for the bundled multigame cartridges) it wont break the bank. Good game, good value, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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Post by Killer French Bread »

This is the only Mega Drive game I own now. Kept it after my console died because I wanted to draw the cover. Always felt a bit slow to me, but the extra stuff is alright. My brother's got it on some compilation for the gameboy with weird blocky graphics.

Also, I heard from someone who works in an arcade recently that those crane game things are timed. They go really limp for ages if someone wins so they don't lose money.
Tic Tac, sir?
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Post by Wrath Oskvro »

Very cool game. I liked seeing it in Shenmue too.
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