Dateline : 7th February 2012

 

Get your motors running, it’s Super Hang On on the Sega Mega Drive…….

 

Big bikes, big graphics, big ride

Super Hang On started life in arcades and was one of the very first hydraulic based games. It had a motorbike to sit on which you could lean as you would if riding a bike and control your player left and right by doing so. This is what really made Super Hang On stand out from the other racing games of it’s times, you can maybe guess that playing on the stand up arcade cabinet with the mounted handle bars was simply not the same experience. It’s a time-attack based racer where you are competing against the clock rather than in an actual race. Keep hitting the checkpoints to extend the time and keep playing.

 

Although the grid is full it is the clock you are racing against rather than other riders

 

The great thing about the Mega Drive conversion is just how sweet the whole thing looks. You do lose a lot of the engine noise and the music in the game isn’t all that special but the graphics are MASSIVE. Big, bold sprites dominate the screen and they are well animated and move quickly. Hitting roadside objects or other drivers will cause your driver to either skid off the bike or, worse, flip up into the air in spectacular fashion. The biggest problem it has is in trying to replace the hydraulic bike, and Super Hang On’s gameplay and time-attack mode are sufficient to do that. After a while you forget it isn’t there. There is even another mode, other than the arcade game, which has you tweaking the set up and talking to pit engineers to get advice.

 

Its a very good racer for it's age and provides enough of a challenge to recommend it

 

The whole thing looks a little dated now and the time-attack genre isn’t actually one of my favourite game types but when done well, like Super Hang On, it means that the overall gaming experience is a good one. Another game which has it’s place in history confirmed and worth a quick peek if you get the chance to.