Super Night Riders - An imperfect but fun Sega Hang-On clone

[Loafmeister]

Hey folks,

I saw this game advertised on Steam at some point, think it came out about 18 months ago. Anyway, it's now on sale for $4.39CND so I figure, worth the risk.

The basic gameplay is akin to the Sega arcade racing games of old, where the goal is to reach the next checkpoint, with the other bikes on the road sharing a single purpose: to slow you down so you don't make it to the next checkpoint. There are 6 courses based on time of day and 6 stages that have a different graphical theme (forest, desert, etc) for a total of 36 checkpoints you have to get through.

The game uses a 3D engine and is pretty smooth but very much uses aesthetics that dates back to the early 90's (scaling road side objects but using a 3D engine, so not necessarily a bad thing).  For a different graphic look, there's a super and a classic mode with no difference in gameplay, the classic look has a "VirtuaRacing" type of look to the bike and character and road side objects are also different too.  The music is for me a bit hit and miss, some tunes I find get on my nerves after repeated play while a few others are actually pretty damn good and fit in well with the game/gameplay. 

Personally I'm a fan of the "checkpoint" type of gameplay so it works for me. The dev has thrown in a few variations so you can race by stages (so all tracks that are themed "Forest" run sequentially) and the standard mix & match default mode which starts you off at level 1 with city/morning, then forest/afternoon, the Japan/early evening, etc.  IE: gives you a bit more variety as you play.  For re-playability, there are global leaderboards if you are into that sort of thing. 

As stated, the game is fun.  It perhaps lacks in depth but seriously, a lot of those old arcade games aren't the deepest either.  I wouldn't go as far as saying it's as polished a gameplay experience as Sega's classics, but there's fun to be had here at what is IMHO a cheap price.

I'm not stating the game would please all you arcade fans but personally I felt with the current 50% sale, it was worth taking a chance on it and I'm glad I did.