Mach Rider Strategy Guide

[Fryguy64]

So this is the project I'm next working on for NinDB. I wrote a chunk of the Strategy Wiki for this game, but I figured I should finish it on NinDB!

Over the years, I've picked up a few questions about Mach Rider:

• A long time ago, I read a cheat about how to change Mach Rider's colour. What was that about?
• How many courses are there?
• How on Earth is anybody supposed to actually beat this?
• How high do Endurance Course and Solo Course go?

I got answers to some of these questions.

There are three helpful power-ups in the game that are unlocked by meeting certain conditions:

• Immunity to road obstacles (rocks, black oil drums) and slipping (water, oil, tacks, ice)
• Infinite ammo
• "Super Shot" to take out all enemies in one shot

The power-up lasts until Mach Rider explodes or gets a Game Over. You can power-up in any mode (although the first one is not available in Solo Course, as you need enemies to appear). And you can combine them, with Mach Rider turning a different colour for every combination. That's not in the manual!

You get extra lives for beating some levels. And there's a Continue Code that's effective once you reach Course 6! That's not in the manual!

There are 10 Courses to get to the end of Fighting Course mode, with a choice of two routes each. THEN there's an additional 10 Courses after that. (After that it loops).

I could only find YouTube videos of Endurance/Solo Courses going up to Course 11. After looking into it myself, there are 20 courses, but the qualification requirements stop getting harder after Course 11. Completion of these modes is also to clear 20 levels in a row. (After that it loops).

All this Mach Rider is making me hungry... But I'm not done yet! Because there's TWO arcade versions!

VS. Mach Rider (Fighting Course) appears to be Japan-only. This is the one where you unlock a picture of Mach Rider out of the suit: a leotard-wearing 80s anime lady! You get the whole picture for clearing courses 1 to 10, but if you keep going through courses 11 to 20 you unlock a picture of her in a blue outfit.

I haven't been able to get a power-up technique to work in this game, although I do think there may well be one. The picture of Mach Rider on the attract mode is blue and red, while the one on the Game Over screen is his default colours of yellowy-cream and blue. I can find no record of this anywhere, so if we can figure it out, it might be time for a NinDB-exclusive!

VS. Mach Rider (Endurance Course) appears to be a worldwide release. The bike is much more sensitive to slipping in this version, but it is nice that you don't have to keep racing after you hit the target (unlike the NES game). I've not yet reached the end of this one, but I'm guessing we're in for another 20 courses.

That's what I'm working on at the moment anyway. After this, I might either flesh out the Donkey Kong guides, or take a look at Wrecking Crew: another game with lots of poorly-recorded hidden depths, but that is significantly more fun to play than Mach Rider. Seriously: I love Wrecking Crew now.

[nocturnal YL]

I've heard of the bits about Mach Rider without suit and having two versions of VS. Mach Rider, but most of the other information is new to me. This is very informative.

[Fryguy64]

Hoo boy, Solo Mode is rough. You can't earn the "Immunity to Road Obstacles" power-up as the requirements to unlock it include pushing at least 7 enemies into obstacles to earn over 180 bullets.

No enemies, no power-up!

And Course 5 (I think) is all an icy slip zone. You can avoid slipping by driving in 3rd gear, but then you can't finish the course in time. This is a tough game!

[Nester the Lark]

I've been playing it a bit on NSO the last couple of days, and I kept wondering if I was missing something. I keep crashing every five seconds, and if I slow down, some guy comes up and hits me from behind. Was I not playing the game properly?

I take it this is normal?

[Fryguy64]

Perfectly normal. You basically have to stay in 4th gear or enemies will smash you from behind. But then road obstacles pose a problem.

You have to constantly shift between 4th and 3rd gear. Or grab the first power up so road obstacles pose no threat and then the game becomes MUCH easier!

[Fryguy64]

I'm back on this game, and I'm increasingly convinced that clearing all 20 courses in Solo Mode isn't actually possible.

By the time you reach Course 11, you have to go 95 Km in 700 seconds. If you hit 4th gear and stay there without crashing or significantly slowing down, you can do this with about 35 "seconds" to spare. A crash costs 8 "seconds", plus the time it takes to get back up to top speed. Basically, there is very little wiggle room.

On Course 13, you get about 12 Km in before an icy slip zone appears and then never goes away. To avoid sliding out of control on the corners, you must downshift to 2nd or 3rd gear. And this course is loaded with sharp corners and nasty obstacle placements.

There is a power-up that nullifies the effect of the icy slip zones, but it's not available in Solo Mode. You need to push at least 7 enemies into obstacles to end the course with 180 bullets. But Solo Mode has no enemies and so you can never get more bullets. No bullets, no power-up.

I feel like this is one of those occasions where someone can do it, but even abusing the game speed and save states isn't helping. The idea of doing this without the non-slip power-up seems impossible.

[Fryguy64]

I used a Game Genie code to give me the forbidden power-up for that one impossible course, then removed it. I was at least able to confirm that the rest of the levels are actually possible to beat without being powered up, even if some of them require almost perfect play.

I've confirmed that Endurance Course mode uses all the Fighting Course "B" routes, and Solo Course mode uses all the Fighting Course "A" routes. VS. Mach Rider seems to use the same maps as well.

I want to try and get this into a publishable state right before I completely burn out on Mach Rider. It's not the kind of game that stands up to this much scrutiny. My main takeaway has been that I should have a couple of different games on the go at the same time so I don't go mad.

[Fryguy64]

There are two versions of Mach Rider on NES: The original release and a later revision.

After playing about with them both a bit, the most obvious difference is the level palettes have all been completely changed. I thought that might be it, but it does appear that some enemies have been rearranged. If you record inputs in one version then try to play it in the other, they match up for a while, but fall out of sync on the 4th course when the enemy types no longer match.

I wonder why changes were made to the appearance of this game, of all things.

[nocturnal YL]

I love how you're essentially making TASes (or at least LOTADs) to aid your research.

[Fryguy64]

Aug 15, 2024 7:01:19 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

I love how you're essentially making TASes (or at least LOTADs) to aid your research.

[Fryguy64]

Another mystery in progress...

There are two versions of Mach Rider on the NES. The original release, and Revision A. There is remarkably little information about Revision A out there. Which is weird, because it has a completely different colour palette for every course. You'd think even TCRF would have picked up on that one!

For example, Course 1 is sandy yellow in the original release, and verdant green in the Revision A release. The skies are all purple in the original release, while they change from blue to other colours in Revision A. I've already confirmed (above) that there are changes to the enemy formations in certain levels. Now I want to know if the impossible Solo Course level has changed at all.

Anyway, the game is listed as Mach Rider (JU) (Rev A) - but then I remembered that I hadn't actually checked my own copy of the game. It's a PAL UK "Mattel" label (GBR), which means it's one of the original black box releases from 1987. And it's running Revision A! So is this Revision actually a PAL localisation? So now I want to know if it was released in the USA at all.

If you have a legit NES copy, please could you check?

Progress report:

• Fighting Course: all recorded, 25 courses written up, need to confirm if you are awarded an extra life on particular levels (4, 7, 10, etc.), or after clearing any 3 courses (skipping the first course)
• Endurance Course: all recorded, still to write up
• Solo Course: all recorded and written up to Course 13 - checking Rev A to see if Course 13 can be beaten
• Design Mode: still to write up
• VS. Arcade Fighting Course: all recorded, still to write up - check if power-ups are possible
• VS. Arcade Endurance Course: recording in progress - check if power-ups are possible

I've also confirmed that the poorly documented Continue Code works in all three modes of the game, and not just in Fighting Course mode. Which is nice

[Fryguy64]

OK, so Revision A Solo Course is still unbeatable. They didn't fix that particular issue. I can't fathom why this revision even exists. Colour changes, some enemy variables... it's so weird.

I've also confirmed (and rewritten) the section on Extra Lives in Fighting Course. You get them after clearing 3 levels (not including the first 'Energy Bar' course), and the level you get them on will change if you use the Continue Code.