1986 video game
Enduro Racer
(
エンデュ?ロレ?サ?
)
is an
arcade racing
game from
Sega
. It was released
in 1986
with two
arcade cabinet
versions, a stand-up cabinet with handlebars and a full-sized
dirt bike
cabinet. It is often seen as a dirt racing version of
Hang-On
, as it uses a similar engine and PCB. The game was later released for the
Master System
in 1987, the
ZX Spectrum
and
Commodore 64
in 1988, and the
Amstrad CPC
and
Atari ST
in 1989.
Gameplay
[
edit
]
Enduro Racer
is a motorcycle racing game based on the sport of
Enduro
. The player rides a
dirt bike
through seven stages, which have elevation changes and turns, and must avoid other riders as well as logs and boulders. Controls for the game are based on a motorcycle's handlebars, with a throttle and brake control. Players can pull up the handlebars on the cabinet to perform a
wheelie
. Jumping over logs is also possible, but players have to land with the wheelie technique or risk crashing. During the race, players are competing against a timer. Though the timer stops when the player has crashed, restarting is slow and consumes time.
[4]
Development
[
edit
]
Prior to the development of
Enduro Racer
, Sega game developer
Yu Suzuki
created
Hang-On
, his second game with the company. After deciding to make a motorcycle racing game, he had to decide on a style of racing for the game. Suzuki himself was a fan of dirt bikes, along with
motocross
and
Enduro
.
[5]
However, Sega's market research concluded that road-based
GP 500 racing
was more popular worldwide, so it was selected for use for
Hang-On
.
[6]
Enduro Racer
became Suzuki's opportunity to develop a dirt bike game.
[7]
Enduro Racer
was
ported
to numerous systems, including the
Master System
,
[8]
Commodore 64
,
ZX Spectrum
,
Amstrad CPC
, and
Atari ST
;
Activision
handled the computer ports.
[9]
[10]
The Commodore 64 port possesses four levels, with the third and fourth being more difficult versions of the first and second,
[11]
while the ZX Spectrum version has five tracks and two-player multiplayer.
[10]
The Japanese version of the Master System release has ten unique levels, however other territories have half the unique levels as the cartridge size was only 128 KB instead of 256 KB.
[8]
Reception
[
edit
]
Reception
Award
Publication
| Award
|
---|
Crash
| Smash
[12]
|
In Japan,
Game Machine
listed
Enduro Racer
on their August 15, 1986 issue as being the most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month,
[13]
and it remained at the top of the charts through September
[14]
[15]
and October 1986.
[16]
It was Japan's second highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game during the latter half of 1986, just below Sega's
Space Harrier
.
[17]
It was Japan's sixth highest-grossing upright/cockpit
arcade game of 1986
.
[18]
[17]
In the United Kingdom, it was the eighth highest-grossing
arcade game of 1986
in
London
.
[19]
The ZX Spectrum version of the game went to number 2 on the UK sales charts in August 1987, below
BMX Simulator
.
[20]
Enduro Racer
later topped the UK budget sales chart in June 1988.
[21]
In January 1987, Clare Edgeley reviewed the arcade game in
Computer and Video Games
, praising it as "brilliant" and calling it a different game from
Hang-On
.
[22]
In 1993, the Spectrum port and was voted number 50 in the
Your Sinclair
Official Top 100 Games of All Time
.
[23]
A reviewer for
Computer and Video Games
praised the Spectrum port for being as close to an accurate arcade version as the Spectrum hardware can handle, with smooth graphics.
[10]
John Gilbert of
Sinclair User
also gave high praise to the Spectrum version, stating that the conversion "puts other top software houses to shame".
[24]
Writing for
Commodore User
, reviewer Ferdy Hamilton was disappointed in the Commodore 64's release, citing the "blob-like sprites", jerking controls, and that the conversion could have been better than that for the ZX Spectrum, which he called "unfaultable".
[9]
Three reviewers for
Zzap!64
were highly critical of the Commodore 64 port, slamming the game's poor features with one reviewer stating: "It doesn't look, sound, or play anything like the original - in fact, it doesn't play at all well full stop".
[11]
A reviewer for
ACE
wrote that the Atari ST version is a good conversion of the original but that the replacement of the bike noises with music might disappoint some.
[25]
It was re-released for the
Wii
's
Virtual Console
in North America on December 15, 2008
[26]
and in Europe on January 9, 2009.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006).
ア?ケ?ドTVゲ?ムリスト???海外編(1971-2005)
[
Arcade TV Game List: Domestic ? Overseas Edition (1971-2005)
] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 131.
ISBN
978-4990251215
.
- ^
"Sega Arcade History: 1986"
.
Mega Drive Fan
(in Japanese). No. 25 (February 1992). 8 January 1992. pp. 82?84 (83).
- ^
"Video Game Flyers: Enduro Racer, Sega (EU)"
.
The Arcade Flyer Archive
. Retrieved
8 April
2021
.
- ^
Edgeley, Clare (February 1987). "Arcade Action".
Computer and Video Games
. No. 64. p. 116.
- ^
Horowitz, Ken (2018).
The Sega Arcade Revolution: A History in 62 Games
.
McFarland & Company
. pp. 92?97.
ISBN
9781476631967
.
- ^
Robinson, Martin (March 22, 2015).
"Out Ran: Meeting Yu Suzuki, Sega's original outsider"
.
Eurogamer
. Gamer Network.
Archived
from the original on December 20, 2015
. Retrieved
December 24,
2015
.
- ^
Kalata, Kurt.
"Hardcore Gaming 101: Enduro Racer"
.
Hardcore Gaming 101
.
Archived
from the original on June 17, 2015
. Retrieved
June 3,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"Hardcore Gaming 101: Enduro Racer"
.
Hardcore Gaming 101
.
Archived
from the original on 17 June 2015
. Retrieved
3 June
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Hamilton, Ferdy (June 1987). "Enduro Racer".
Commodore User
. No. 45. p. 17.
- ^
a
b
c
"C+VG Reviews: Enduro Racer".
Computer and Video Games
. No. 67. May 1987. pp. 14?15.
- ^
a
b
"Enduro Racer".
Zzap!64
. No. 27. July 1987. p. 86.
- ^
Game review, Crash magazine,
Newsfield Publications
, issue 40, May 1987
- ^
"Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - アップライト, コックピット型TVゲ?ム機 (Upright/Cockpit Videos)"
(PDF)
.
Game Machine
(in Japanese). No. 290.
Amusement Press, Inc.
15 August 1986. p. 21.
- ^
"Best Hit Games 25"
(PDF)
.
Game Machine
(in Japanese). No. 290. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 September 1986. p. 23.
- ^
"Best Hit Games 25"
(PDF)
.
Game Machine
(in Japanese). No. 291. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 September 1986. p. 21.
- ^
"Best Hit Games 25"
(PDF)
.
Game Machine
(in Japanese). No. 292.
Amusement Press, Inc.
1 October 1986. p. 21.
- ^
a
b
"Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: '86 下半期"
[Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: Second Half '86]
(PDF)
.
Game Machine
(in Japanese). No. 300. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 January 1987. p. 16.
- ^
"Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: '86 上半期"
[Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: First Half '86]
(PDF)
.
Game Machine
(in Japanese). No. 288.
Amusement Press, Inc.
15 July 1986. p. 28.
- ^
"1986 Top Ten Coin-Ops"
.
Sinclair User
. No. 59 (February 1987). 18 January 1987. p. 96.
- ^
"Top Ten Games"
.
Your Sinclair
. No. 20. August 1987. Archived from
the original
on 2014-06-17
. Retrieved
2014-06-15
.
- ^
"Top Ten Budget Games"
.
New Computer Express
. No. 33 (24 June 1989). 22 June 1989. p. 5.
- ^
Edgeley, Clare (January 1987).
"Enduro Racer"
.
Computer and Video Games
. No. 64 (February 1987). p. 113.
- ^
"Top 100 Games of All Time".
Your Sinclair
. September 1993.
- ^
Gilbert, John (March 1987). "Enduro Racer".
Sinclair User
. No. 60. pp. 24?25.
- ^
"Screen Test Updates".
ACE
. No. 6. March 1988. p. 60.
- ^
"Two WiiWare Games and One Virtual Console Game Added to Wii Shop Channel"
. Nintendo of America. 2008-12-15.
Archived
from the original on 2008-12-17
. Retrieved
2008-12-15
.
External links
[
edit
]