FORTY YEARS AGO YU SUZUKI CHANGED THE ARCADE LANDSCAPE WITH HITS MOTORCYCLE RACING GAME HANG ON THE FIRST OF SEGA'S PHYSICAL EXPERINCE MACHINE JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE ITS ANNIVARSATY BY LEATHERING UP AND GOING FOR A QUICK BLAST AROUND AND TRACK

WORDS BY MARTYN CARROLL

» [Arcade] You should always stick to the racing line. The problem is, that’s what your rivals are doing.

» [Arcade] The iconic start line screen. Your destination: that vanishing point on the horizon.

If you want to witness Yu Suzuki’s arcade ambitions when he joined Sega as a 24-year-old, you only have to look at the difference between his first two coin-ops. His debut, Champion Boxing , was a direct port of his SG-1000 home-console game, and he achieved this by simply sticking an actual SG-1000 inside an arcade cab. For his second, Hang-On, he planned to stick an actual 50cc motorbike engine inside a bike-shaped cab – to emulate the sounds, vibrations and presumably smells of riding a real 500cc performance bike. Can you imagine? He also wanted to include mechanics that would lift the nose of the bike as you accelerated, and an onboard fan to simulate the feel of wind in your face.

Suzuki’s vision was ultimately compromised on the grounds of cost and practicality, but the ride-on version of Hang-On remained a showstopper when it arrived in arcades in July 1985. Players straddled the stylised red bike and manoeuvred it using their body weight, leaning left and right to take the corners. It also featured a realistic handlebar complete with brake lever and twist throttle, and there were even switches inside the footpegs that increased your grip on the road when pressed.

The planned engine was substituted for two large stereo speakers in the centre of the bike that outputted low/medium frequencies, rumbling away as you played. There were two additional speakers located upfront, beneath the handlebars. The game itself was displayed on an 18-inch monitor, integrated into the bike’s body where the windshield would be.

THE SENSE OF SPEED WAS AMAZING THE GAME NAME WAS TRULY API

» Hang-Onwas inspired by designer Yu Suzuki’s love for all things two-wheeled.

CONVERSION CAPERS

WHICH OF THE HOME VERSIONS WENT THE DISTANCE?

MASTER SYSTEM

◼︎ As console pack-ins go, this is one of the best, delivering a decent version of the coin-op. The track effect and sense of speed are admirable, with the only negative being the lack of music – token jingles on the title screen and when you complete a course are not enough.

SG-1000

◼︎ Titled Hang-On II, this was presented as a follow-up to the earlier Master System release, which is odd because it’s a shadow of that version. Your bike moves left and right, rather than the viewpoint, and visually it’s a little rough. On the plus side it does feature in-game music.

MSX

◼︎This ROM car tridge release is almost a carbon copy of the SG-1000 version, only it’s slower and choppier. It’s also weirdly easy – you can complete the first five-stage course without even using top gear! Unlike most MSX capers, at least it’s not a nasty Spectrum port.

PC-88

◼︎ Skidding in from left field is this conversion for the Japanese home-computer range. It mostly resembles the Master System version, but it’s a step too far for the ageing micro. Its default speed setting is pedestrian and the music sounds like the speaker has been dropped in a fish tank.