is a hybrid

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing as ...

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an ar ...

developed and originally published by

SNK is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...

on July 24, 1990. It was the first title for both the

Neo Geo MVS The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system i ...

(arcade) and

Neo Geo AES The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

(home) platforms that featured "Multi Play" (Multi-Link) support, which allowed two systems to be connected via a phone jack port integrated into each cartridge for versus

LAN Lan or LAN may also refer to: Science and technology * Local asymptotic normality, a fundamental property of regular models in statistics * Longitude of the ascending node, one of the orbital elements used to specify the orbit of an object in sp ...

play. In the game, players have the choice to participate on a worldwide grand prix tour against AI-controlled opponents, assume the role of a

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

who embark on a quest to enter the

Suzuka 8 Hours The is a motorcycle endurance race held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan each year. The race runs for eight hours consecutively and entrants are composed of two or more riders who alternate during pitstops. History The race began in 1978 as ...

endurance race or compete in matches against other human players. ''Riding Hero'' was first launched for the Neo Geo MVS before being later released for both Neo Geo AES and

Neo Geo CD The is the second home video game console of SNK Corporation's Neo Geo family, released on September 9, 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent. This is the same platform, converted to the cheaper CD format retailing at per titl ...

in 1991 and 1995 respectively, in addition to being re-released through download services for various

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

s, among other ways to play it as of date. Since its initial launch, ''Riding Hero'' has been met with a mixed reception from both critics and reviewers alike who felt divided in regards to various aspects such as the visuals, sound design, controls and gameplay, though some regarded the single-player role-playing game mode as a novel concept and the multiplayer offering was noted to be one of the game's positive points. Its multiplayer LAN support would later be re-used in other titles for

Neo Geo Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. On the market from 1990 to 2004, the brand originated with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES. The Neo Geo MVS was ...

Gameplay

''Riding Hero'' is a racing game that uses a behind-the-motorcycle perspective similar to ''

Super Hang-On is a motorcycle racing arcade video game released by Sega as the sequel to '' Hang-On''. It uses a simulated motorcycle arcade cabinet, like the original game. An updated version was released in arcades 1991 as ''Limited Edition Hang-On''. Ga ...

'' and ''

'' featuring a Grand Prix mode, a role-playing single-player campaign mode reminiscent of '' Final Lap Twin'', as well as a multiplayer mode like most other racing titles released in the era.''Riding Hero'' user's manual (Neo Geo AES, US) In the grand prix mode, players compete against AI-controlled racers on a worldwide Grand Prix tour in order to become the champion, while up to two human players can compete on versus matches in the multiplayer mode by connecting two Neo Geo systems via LAN. Every race in the game is timed and if the players fails regain time by completing a lap, the game is over unless the player inserts more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. If a

memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a soc ...

is present, players are allowed to save their progress during the single-player campaign at the protagonist's home and resume the last point the game was saved at. In the role-playing single-player mode, players assume the role of an aspiring

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruisin ...

racer on a quest to enter the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race. Players travel over the map, meeting locals and facing small-time racers in order to earn money that can be spent on purchasing new bikes and upgrade their current bike, until enough money is collected to enter the endurance race and face the champion Diamond Dave. Both the grand prix and role-playing modes give a set number of turbo boosts to the players before each race that can be used to gain higher speeds and outrun opponents.

Development and release

''Riding Hero'' was initially first launched for arcades on July 24, 1990, becoming the first title in the Neo Geo library that featured "Multi Play" (Multi-Link) support that allowed two systems to be connected via a phone jack port integrated into each cartridge for LAN play. The game was then released for Neo Geo AES on July 1, 1991 and retained the LAN support for versus play. The title was later re-released for the Neo Geo CD on May 26, 1995, with minimal changes compared to the original MVS and AES versions minus the multiplayer mode. It has received a re-release in recent years on various

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and othe ...

platforms such as the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smar ...

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

and

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. An u ...

HAMSTER Corporation is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999. On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 200 titles are distribu ...

Reception

In North America, it was the top-grossing new video game on the ''RePlay'' arcade charts in November 1990. ''RePlay'' later reported ''Riding Hero'' to be the fifteenth most-popular arcade game in January 1991. The game had some notable issues'','' the most common being how easy it was for the AI to put the player in a spin often times unrecoverable. The vehicle movement was too predictable and bike itself ran choppy and the braking was very weak. ''Riding Hero'' was received with a mostly mixed reception from critics and reviewers since its original release.

Legacy

Although ''Riding Hero'' never received a sequel or a

spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product l ...

of sorts, its LAN play feature would be re-used in SNK's own '' League Bowling'' and

Alpha Denshi , formerly known as , was a Japanese video game developer founded in 1980. ADK began as a developer of arcade games and is best known for their library of SNK Neo Geo titles, including for its home consoles, produced in partnership with SNK. Mos ...

's ''

Thrash Rally is a top-down perspective rally racing video game developed by ADK and released by SNK Corporation for the Neo Geo system. It was released by SNK on December 20, 1991 and would be followed by an spiritual successor in 1996, '' Over Top''. Gamep ...

'', the first of which allowed up to four or eight people for multiplayer.

Notes

References

External links

''Riding Hero''
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databas ...

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Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time'' ma ...

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Killer List of Videogames Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for pl ...

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MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...