Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Released: 1986 Genre: Action
Mach Rider is a game that I have not thought about in decades. As one of the first NES releases in the US I vaguely remember liking it but as the years went by and games became more advanced it became forgotten within the system’s library. Revisiting Mach Rider I was surprised to find a game that is robust next to its contemporaries in terms of features. But at the same time the core gameplay is repetitive and does not hold up very well.
In the year 2112 Earth has been invaded by, uh, motor cycle riding aliens known as Quadrunners. As the Mach Rider you travel from sector to sector destroying enemies to liberate the people. Even though the between level dialogue builds up to an eventual battle to defeat the aliens once and for all there is no final confrontation. Considering Mach Rider’s origins as a toy along the line of Hot Wheels I guess we should not have expected anything deep.
For its time Mach Rider was pretty advanced in terms of gameplay. For the most part the controls are similar to racing games of the day. Left and right steer while the A button accelerates. Rather than breaking the B button shoots bullets. Up and down will shift gears from 1-4. Shifting gears plays a big role in a number of ways. When you crash and reform you begin in first gear. At low speeds collisions with quadrunners equals instant death. Shifting gears is also the only way to slow down which is necessary on the later sectors.
Mach Rider has four modes although the first three are variations of each other. Fighting mode is the main game. In it you ride through ten sectors destroying quadrunners, oil barrels, and bomber balls for points on the way to the goal. Shots are limited at first but can be replenished by ramming quadrunners into obstacles, giving further incentive to engage with enemies. Each sector has two different routes which you can select prior to starting. Each route varies in terms of complexity which gives the game some replay value.
While the ultimate goal of each level is to reach the end it is more a battle of survival. Outside of rival quadrunners at full speed collisions is instant death. Although you respawn immediately it is easy to end up in a spiral and use up all of your lives. By the midpoint obstacles fly by so fast it almost feels like luck if you last longer than a few seconds. There is no time limit so you can technically slow down to make the pace manageable. But that seems at odds with Mach Rider’s design. The game does not quite strike the balance between speed and mechanics that it needs to be enjoyable for extended periods. So while the game is fun in short bursts the repetition and frustration do set in fast.
Aside from fighting mode there is also Endurance and Solo Mode. Endurance challenges you to ride a certain distance within a strict time limit. You have infinite lives but each death costs precious time. The difficulty ramps up pretty quickly in this mode as the distance you need to travel increases each time. Just as in fighting mode you receive points based on set criteria. Solo Mode is the same but there are no enemies. Honestly these modes were not terribly interesting in my opinion. They have the same problem as fighting mode in that the basic gameplay is not engaging enough for long play sessions. These modes are tutorials at best for the game’s mechanics.
Design Mode is the most interesting. Here you can design your own tracks and race them in any of the three modes. The controls are a little strange but once you get the hang of it the editor is pretty smart. Once you lay down a piece it removes the options that are not viable based on its direction. The only option you have no control over is obstacles as the game randomly assigns those. It’s a fun feature but is worthless because you cannot save your tracks. The option to save and load is there but they freeze the game. Apparently the Famicom Data saver was planned to release overseas but was cancelled. Unfortunately without the option to save design mode is a novelty at best.
In Closing
Of the early NES lineup Mach Rider fares better than most. But even with that in mind it is still a novelty at best. Mach Rider is fun in short bursts but is not enticing enough to return to it more than once.
