Mach Rider (1985). Play online

Summary

Mach Rider (sometimes just called Mach Rider on the NES) drops you into the year 2112, a gritty, post‑invasion Earth where rogue vehicles called Quadrunners dominate the highways. You strap onto a high‑powered superbike and blaze through barren sectors, blasting obstacles and rescuing any survivors you can find.

Steering is handled with the left‑right pad, A pushes the throttle, and B fires a machine‑gun that can clear enemies or carve a path through debris. The up‑down buttons shift between four gears; snapping into fourth gear at top speed grants an instant burst, while lingering in a high gear while stopped makes acceleration sluggish.

Each destroyed enemy or obstacle adds to your score, and ramming foes into hazards not only racks up extra points but also refills your ammo. The game offers a Fighting Course with ten split‑screen tracks per sector, an Endurance race against the clock, a Solo time‑trial without foes, and a Design Mode where you can craft custom tracks.

Japan’s original cartridge used the Famicom Data Recorder to save creations, a feature omitted overseas until the 2007 Wii Virtual Console release, which restored track‑saving for modern players.

Storyline

Mach Rider takes place in the year 2112, when Earth has been overrun by hostile forces that field armored vehicles called Quadrunners. As the lone rider, you pilot a high‑powered superbike, moving from sector to sector across the devastated planet. Your mission is to locate any remaining survivors and eliminate the enemy machines wherever they appear.