Robot
04-23-2010, 07:45 AM
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3805396&type=lgTop Rider was a Famicom game released by Varie in 1986. Who is Varie, you ask? Exactly. The publisher made a couple of handfuls of dinky, unremarkable racing games before vanishing from the market. Top Rider was in that handful, and it was a bog-standard motorcycle racing game akin to Mach Rider (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3131180), Hang-On (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3132134), and whatever else you can come up with.
At least, that's what the game itself was like. In a clear attempt to make Top Rider stand out and encourage kids to encourage their parents to spend the extra cash for it, Varie packed it in a giant box that included a handlebar controller that attached to an also-included inflatable motorcycle. As you can see below, the player just has to sit on it and lean to control the bike in the game. Awesome!
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3805397&type=lg
OK, so it was more like a punching bag with a picture of a bike printed on it. The handlebar controller was what really made the thing, as it was what plugged into the system, and had somewhat realistic control (well, okay, it had the twisting accelerator), but regardless if you used one part of the setup, all of it, or none of it, the game was still pretty lame.
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3805404&type=lg
Like the rest of Varie's products, Top Rider quickly dipped into obscurity, buried in a pile of other junky Famicom accesories and games. In recent years, it reappeared, held up by collectors and other fans of retro game kitsch in Japan, quickly gaining infamy (and high mark-ups) faster than it did when it first came out in 1988. But of course, Varie went away soon after Top Rider, leaving novelty motorcycle games a staple of arcades. But hey, with the display floors of Best Buys crowded with fake instruments and skateboards, Top Rider's home-based MotoGP concept may find a place yet. Lord, let's hope not.
More... (http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9027629)
At least, that's what the game itself was like. In a clear attempt to make Top Rider stand out and encourage kids to encourage their parents to spend the extra cash for it, Varie packed it in a giant box that included a handlebar controller that attached to an also-included inflatable motorcycle. As you can see below, the player just has to sit on it and lean to control the bike in the game. Awesome!
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3805397&type=lg
OK, so it was more like a punching bag with a picture of a bike printed on it. The handlebar controller was what really made the thing, as it was what plugged into the system, and had somewhat realistic control (well, okay, it had the twisting accelerator), but regardless if you used one part of the setup, all of it, or none of it, the game was still pretty lame.
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3805404&type=lg
Like the rest of Varie's products, Top Rider quickly dipped into obscurity, buried in a pile of other junky Famicom accesories and games. In recent years, it reappeared, held up by collectors and other fans of retro game kitsch in Japan, quickly gaining infamy (and high mark-ups) faster than it did when it first came out in 1988. But of course, Varie went away soon after Top Rider, leaving novelty motorcycle games a staple of arcades. But hey, with the display floors of Best Buys crowded with fake instruments and skateboards, Top Rider's home-based MotoGP concept may find a place yet. Lord, let's hope not.
More... (http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9027629)