"Bad graphics + bad gameplay = bad game"

First of all, let me start by saying that Super Hang-On is a very early Sega Genesis title. In fact, I think that it was a pack in for the system’s release, but I may be wrong. It was made in 1989, so you know that everything will be dated. Let’s get on with the review, shall we?

GRAPHICS 3/10

Even for an early Genesis title, Super Hang-On’s graphics are just plain ugly. Everything is ugly. The backgrounds are awful, and they never change. The road is just gray with white lines down the middle. On the sides of the roads are sometimes trees and signs, and when you do see trees and signs, there are like 15 in a row. Pathetic. The bikers & bikes aren’t too bad except for the fact that your enemies have the exact same bike as you, just with different colors. This is just plain bad.

GAMEPLAY 2/10

Super Hang-On features two modes - arcade mode and original mode. That’s it. Arcade mode is just a simple race where you pick what track to race on. A track may have anywhere from 6 to 18 stages (checkpoints). I don’t know why anyone would want to do an 18 stage game; the game is incredibly boring. Original mode is the peanut butter and jelly of the game. In original mode, you can customize your bike & stuff. You can buy parts for your bike, get a mechanic, and then race to win some more money. I found this mode boring, but more fun than arcade because you can customize your bike.

Ok, now it’s time to talk about perhaps the worst part of Super Hang-On - the control. It is absolutely horrible, atleast at the beginning. Just like another reviewer said, you push the left or right button, and your bike doesn’t move. Jam the button down and you go skidding off the road. It’s pathetic. However, once you go through the original mode and build up your bike, the control does become a little bit better. Overall, the control is just plain bad.

SOUND 5/10

Super Hang-On’s sound is one of the few things that is actually decent in the game. Before each race, you can pick from one of four musical tunes to listen to while you race. Each tune is decent, but I prefer rock music while I’m racing instead of the common jazz music featured in this game. It’s okay, and I think most gamers will like it.

FUN FACTOR 2/10

The only thing fun about Super Hang-On would be customizing your bike, and that’s only remotely fun. Playing a race is incredibly boring as the graphics and gameplay are awful. Overall, Super Hang-On is not much fun.

REPLAY VALUE 2/10

Ugh. I don’t know why you would want to play this game more than once. It is that bad. If you can spend the time going through the “original” mode, and you fix up your bike, then you might want to play this a little bit more, but I doubt it. I mean, there is only two modes! Boo. Plus the fact that when you save your game, and want to load it up again, you have to put in the EXACT SAME password that you received or else you’ll have to start the game all over again. The passwords are very long, and it is easy to mess the letters up.

CHALLENGE 10/10

I challenge you to play this game for a long time. You won’t be able to because you will be tired of it - FAST. Besides the fact that it is challenging to even like the game, there is some challenge in playing it. The “original” mode takes a long time to go through in order for you to have the perfect bike. I doubt that you would even want to play through the original mode that long, though.

WHAT’S HOT

- The music is okay, but not the greatest
- That’s all I can think of that’s any good!

WHAT’S NOT

- The horrible graphics and gameplay
- Only two game modes
- No two player
- Horrible backgrounds
- Long passwords
- Boring racing

FINAL ANALYSIS:

Super Hang-On is an old game, and it shows when you play it. The question is, do you really want to play it? I would stay away from this game unless you are looking for some nostalgia. Other than that, I can think of no other reason to even bother with this game. Overall, Super Hang-On gets a 3 out of 10 from me, Shady. Booyah.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/26/00, Updated 06/26/00