I got the Megadrive working over Christmas, and like in 1993 when I unboxed this beaut, I got Mega Games 1. Imagine it… 3 games! SUCH WOW!
Arrrrgh Super Hang-on. Like World Cup Italia ’90, if you are over 25 I guarantee you will have played this game, however, I don’t know anybody with fond memories of it.
In fact, I can’t think of anybody I know who likes it…
The Game
Super Hang-on is a port of a decent 1987 arcade racing game with a tilting Bike cabinet, and is the sequel to Hang-on.
With arcade racing games, you get… Check point racing. I hate check point racing. There really is no joy in them.
You get a minute to do the first stage. Great, you can do the level in about 50 seconds. You then get about 45 seconds to do stage two… So if you’re good not terrible you’ll get to stage 3, where you will have about 25 seconds to do a 40-50 second section.
Check point racing games were unfair, they were hard, and only the biggest spod would ever get far in them.Super Hang-On does nothing to stray from the formula.
You do get easy/medium/hard/difficult settings.
- Africa is “easy, and has 6 stages
- Asia has 10 stages, and is very similar to the Hang-On game in style and length
- America is Hard, and has 14 tedious stages
- Europe is next to impossible and has 18 stages
The scenery is different in each setting, Africa is deserts, America is fields, deserts, and city scapes…
So as you progress the environs will change around you. This was a nice feature, but it is a feature many of you will never see .
Game Modes
Unlike the arcades, home consoles were treated to a fairly comprehensive “Original Mode” (terrible name), that RPG style allowed you to progress and race different people in best if 7 series.
This was where the fun was at. Ignore the shitty arcade version, and play Original Mode. Here you bought upgrades, new bikes and raced to victory…
Well, in theory anyway… The first level is next to impossible. Basically, you race against a different person each level, and then you’re rewarded cash for how you did. This is a little like snowballing. You start with nothing, lose the first race, get a tiny bit of money, upgrade, lose the next race (not as badly), upgrade, lose next race slightly better, upgrade. Now… You’re in a best of 7, you need to win the next race or it is over… And usually it was for me. But if you’re able to win this race, you pick up an unstoppable momentum, where you will destroy the competition.
This pattern repeats for level 2 and 3. But by level 4, you actually need to develop skill. If RPG racing is your bag, you might enjoy it. It isn’t my bag, and certainly isn’t as fun as Rock n’Roll Racing which had a similar (and much better) system.
Graphics
Super Hang-On actually looks pretty good. The 16bit graphics are fairly timeless, and still a joy to look at.
Depending on the version of the game you had, some of the billboards contained copyrighted material such as Marilyn Monroe, though I have never seen this, and am unable to verify. All I remember is that fucking Toucan. I am haunted by it, for reasons that involve me being unable to steer a sodding motorbike.
Also, I could never tell if this billboard is for KoK or NoK. Either way… I loved KoK…
Music
When you start a race you choose 1 of 4 songs that’ll play, this was similar to games such as Out Run, and fairly common at the time. But to be honest, I never really paid any attention. I sat and played for a couple of hours the other day, and frankly, could tell you what each track is. You can listen to it on youtube, but it isnt especially interesting…
Overall
I just didn’t like it… I remember not like it as a child, and I still don’t like it. It has improived with age, i’ll give it that. There is a lot of depth in Original Mode, and a lot of skill in the Arcade. It is just boring to play.
Pros: Not playing it
Cons: The game, checkpoint racing
45%
Well now you have met someone who did like this game. I had the Mega Games cartridge with my Mega Drive and I did enjoy it. I played it again recently for the first time in years and I was surprised how well it has held up (at least for me). You are right it is tough and I am not going to lie and say I was awesome at it but as someone who had done checkpoint racing games through the Master System era this felt like a breath of fresh air with better graphics and the ability to upgrade your bike.
Each to their own I suppose
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I always sucked at every checkpoint racer. Was never any good, they were certainly weaker when compared to racing games like Rock N Roll Racing, or Road Rash. God I loved road rash! Holding to play it this weekend.
The original mode is quite good, and maybe warranted a higher score. Might rerevisit this one.
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God I love my version of Road Rash on the SMS.
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I loved the policeman
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O’Rourke 😀
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So will there be a Columns review soon?
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To be honest, I’m avoiding it. It just gave me a head ache
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Lol, its just Roman Tetris
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