 |
| How cool am I! |
Super Hang On
Released on: Arcade, Sega Megadrive, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga... Basically any non-Nintendo machine that existed at the time!
Played on: Sega Megadrive
Due to the random nature of choosing which game is next on this playthrough, my poor Megadrive has been much-ignored of late, a trait that I hope will be rectified soon. Because it's one of my favourite (non-Nintendo) consoles of all time. So it was with delight that I pulled out the console and spent five minutes locating the relevant cables for it, before plugging it in to enjoy it's horribly plasticky joypad once again.
As for the game itself? Well, Super Hang-On is a home conversion of the Arcade game that those of you who remember proper arcades will remember. It was the one with the silly fake plastic motorbike that you had to sit on and ride?
*Smiles as I hear people's memories click into place*
Also, it seems to be a running theme of these recent blogs about my love for arcade racers - so I had high hopes for Super Hang-On.
And my hopes were...mostly satisfied. The graphics are good - very retro, but I like that! The music's OK, and the fact that you can choose which piece of music is playing is a good thing (although the fact that there are only 4 different pieces can grate a little). All in all, my first couple of races were fun!
However, I did rapidly realise that the option for a difficulty level in arcade mode is a joke - it changes the length of the race, but doesn't increase the ridiculously tight timescales that you have to reach the next checkpoint - so I was discovering quite quickly that I could make it to checkpoint 1, but would then run out of time before checkpoint 2. (Except for one time, on Medium difficulty, where I nearly made it all the way to checkpoint 3!)
The appearance of other racers on the track are simply a minor distraction, as the point of the arcade mode isn't to beat anyone apart from the clock - and as it was designed for the arcade, it's bloody hard work! Anyone would think that this was designed to make you keep pumping in coins until the machine was so heavy that it would crash through the concrete floor and not stop until it reached the centre of the earth.
In fact, I would like to postulate a theory that the centre of the earth is full of arcade machines so full of cash that they have sunk through the earth's tectonic plates and are now the new core of the earth.
*Presents theory to scientists.*
*Waits*
*Is sectioned, tied into a straightjacket and locked in a room where the key is thrown away*
*Escapes with the help of the imaginary cartoon squirrel that exists on my shoulder*
*Time-travels back to two minutes before now and persuades myself not to submit such a stupid theory in the first place...*
Sorry, I appear to have got distracted by my strange side-quest. So where was I?
Ah yes - because Super Hang-On started as an arcade game it has an unforgiving difficulty - although it is a lot of fun.
But then, I discovered Original mode! Which has a rival you have to race! And elements where you can upgrade the bike! And hire a mechanic!
Except... This was a less exciting game than the arcade game. I don't really know why, it just didn't grip me as much, and the handling was a bit worse (probably because you have to upgrade the parts of the bike!). And then something happened which ruined it.
I crashed the bike once too many times, and was informed that I had broken the frame of the bike, so I was forced to retire. The problem? The cost of fixing the frame was $1200 in-game dollars... How much did I get for entering the race? $400.... Could I race again? No, because the frame was broken.
*Gets stuck in vicious circle. Gives up and turns off the Megadrive*
And that was where my Super Hang-On adventure ended. Arcade mode is fun, but I can't play it for more than 20 mins or so, and Original mode just didn't grip me.
Rating: 6/10
Time played: 30 minutes
Would I play it again? Yes I would - Arcade mode only though!
Next up - It's a music-based game! Which one? You'll have to wait and see...
No comments:
Post a Comment