Mach Rider (Video Game Review)

Video Game Review
Mach Rider
NES
1985
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

Nintendo was smart to publish Mach Rider in time for the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. It’s fun and is a good looking game that shows off the graphical and gameplay possibilities on the 8-bit console. It’s not perfect and it won’t keep you hooked for days on end. However, it’s fun for the occasional gaming session and well worth a look.

The year is 2112 and the world has been overrun by space aliens. There is one man that can save the world; the Mach Rider. He rides around on his motorcycle, rescuing humans while taking out as many scummy aliens as he can along the way. Racing at high speeds on the open road, he must avoid traps and obstacles while fighting off enemies trying to prevent him from reaching the goal.

The controls are a little more complex than you would think. The d-pad turns the bike left and right while the A button acts as the accelerator and the B button is used to fire Mach Rider’s weapon. The game does not have automatic gear changing so the player is required to manually change gears. This is done by pressing up or down on the d-pad. It’s not that hard to get accustomed to but considering that most racing games on the NES have automatic gear shifting, it takes a little getting used to. It doesn’t take all that long though and you’ll be able to shift up and down between gears with ease after a couple of minutes.

The graphics look good all things considering. The game is presented from a third-person perspective. The system is able to handle the speed quite well with very few hiccups. That’s good because the game is fast. In fact, if you don’t have quick reflexes, it becomes very easy to crash into things due to how fast the action is going. Some might think the game suffers from pop-up but it’s only because things disappear as quickly as they appear due to the speed of the action.

The sound is fine but it’s doesn’t have any tunes that you’d call classic. The sound effects are fun and add to the action but they do have a generic feel to them. It could have been worse considering many of the early games from Nintendo had horrible music and sound effects. Mach Rider and a few other NES launch titles were spared this problem. In fact, after launch, Nintendo got their act together pretty quickly when it came to sound and later games became notable for their great soundtracks.

There are several game options. The main mode is the Fighting Course where you have to navigate through ten levels to reach the end. However, there is no real end as the game sort of resets and pits you against another ten levels. There is a twist in that, for each level, you have the choice between two courses of different design. In this mode, you have a limited number of lives; lose them all and it’s game over. Another mode is called Endurance. You have unlimited lives with the goal is to get as far as possible within a set amount of time. Solo mode is just like Endurance but without any enemies on the screen. The final option allows you to design your own track and play on it afterwards. Due to the game not having any battery backup or password system, tracks cannot be saved.

This was a game that helped create a bridge between arcade games and more fleshed-out experiences that you’d eventually expect on a home console. It offered intense arcade action but it had enough extra content that justified paying more than just a few quarters for the game. Things like the course maker really make the title interesting. Sure you can’t save your creations but it’s still fun to make a course and give it a go afterwards.

It stinks that there is no multiplayer which would have made this title worth much more. The gameplay begs for it to be played by two players. Another negative is that the game isn’t easy to get into. The game is set up in a way that memorization of a course gives you a great advantage. This also creates the problem that if a buddy is at my place and wants to try out the game based on my recommendation, they may feel a bit burned by the learning curve of the game.

Nintendo’s Mach Rider is simple fun. There are features missing that make it a must-own game for the system but it holds up well considering the age of the game and the limited graphical power of the NES compared to today’s systems. It looks good compared to other games of its era and is very enjoyable to play occasionally. It’s worth a look if you have the chance but don’t trip over yourself trying to find a copy.

☆☆☆