I beat Hang-On

Among my mechanic and bar owner friend group is a collection of arcade games that float around, and one of those is a stand up Hang-On arcade cabinet. This machine has motorcycle handlebars on it and a real motorcycle throttle on it, and after finding its way into Add A Ball a friend of mine fixed up the throttle cable linkage and put new grips on the bars, as well as fixing the sound and few of the lights in the fake dashboard. 

This is also the second game Yu Suzuki worked on and his first real success. You can tell Suzuki rides a motorcycle and that experience directly informed how the game feels to play, because despite the simplistic presentation it actually captures the feeling of being on a bike and doing sweeping turns pretty well. The first game I ever beat was also a Yu Sazuki joint - Outrun for the Megadrive. Both games require you to push how fast you can go and how deep you can go into turns while manuvering around traffic. 

I did pretty well at Hang-On at first. The first ever time I played I got to the 3rd or 4th stage and judging by the high scores that reset every day most people do not get past stage 2. Hang-On is unique in that steering and throttle are analog inputs, you have to release the throttle ever so slightly to slow down for turns and then get back on the throttle after a turn. Some turns require the brake, but there is only about 3 or so turns in the entire game. Sessions are short, about 5 minutes per. Traffic bikes are random and can absolutely ruin a run, so the savvy player has to hang back and wait for the right time to pass, and always pass on the outside during turns, unless you wanna get spicy.

The game does give you some pretty spicy moments, flipping the bike between traffic and turns you can sometimes pull moves that would normally send you careening to your demise. It's also possible to hit a bike randomly and have your run ruined. Target fixation is a thing and a successful Hang-On rider will be looking at gaps to run and not obstacles to avoid - just like real life. I cannot emphasize enough how riding a real life moped for 10 years has informed how I play a 40 year old arcade game. This really speaks to how well Yu Suzuku understood what it means to ride a bike and how that translated into a game, which is why Hang-On is a success. 

The feeling of finally beating the game is incredible - the last stage only has a few tight turns so you spend most of the stage at full speed. Unfortunately I have now beaten the game and know some secrets - on the night stage the words "Hang Ong" appear on the side of the road from the attract mode. and if you hit the G you get 20 extra seconds. With this knowledge I can probably beat the game every time and now it isn't thrilling anymore. My first win was without the cheat though, so I consider it "clean". Now I will have to find a Super Hang-On machine and conqour that.