Mach Rider Strategy Guide

Revision A

What is Revision A?

There are two versions of Mach Rider for the NES. The original release, and a later Revision A. The revision appears to have had a small North American run, but was the standard version released in PAL regions in 1987. All reissues of Mach Rider have used the original release.

The most obvious difference in the revision is that courses appear in different colours to those in the original release. The background and sky also change colour from course to course, while in the original release every level background shared the same palette.

There appear to have been some other minor tweaks to the game. If you try and run an input recording from one version in the other, they play identically for a while but will eventually fall out of sync. These changes are not well recorded. If you are able to dig any deeper and find the differences between versions, contact NinDB and let us know what you find!

Version Timeline

  1. VS. Fighting Course was released in Japan in August of 1985.
  2. The NES original followed shortly after: September 1985 in North America and October 1985 in Japan.
  3. The North American release of VS. Mach Rider arrived in January 1986. It's not known which version this was.
  4. NES Revision A was available before September 1987, in time for the PAL release.

If the 1986 VS. release was released internationally as the Endurance Course version, then Revision A was likely updated to appear more like the second arcade version. We can't be sure this is the exact timeline without an official source, but it would make sense.

Course Colour Comparison

The original NES course colours are similar to the VS. Fighting Course version, while the colours for the first 10 courses in Revision A are closer to the VS. Endurance Course version (which only has 10 palettes repeated).


Course 1

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 1

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 1

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 1

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 1

NES (Revision A)


Course 2

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 2

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 2

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 2

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 2

NES (Revision A)


Course 3

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 3

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 3

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 3

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 3

NES (Revision A)


Course 4

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 4

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 4

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 4

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 4

NES (Revision A)


Course 5

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 5

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 5

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 5

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 5

NES (Revision A)


Course 6

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 6

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 6

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 6

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 6

NES (Revision A)


Course 7

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 7

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 7

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 7

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 7

NES (Revision A)


Course 8

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 8

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 8

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 8

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 8

NES (Revision A)


Course 9

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 9

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 9

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 9

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 9

NES (Revision A)


Course 10

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 10

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 10

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 10

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 10

NES (Revision A)


Course 11

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 11

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 11

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 11

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 11

NES (Revision A)


Course 12

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 12

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 12

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 12

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 12

NES (Revision A)


Course 13

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 13

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 13

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 13

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 13

NES (Revision A)


Course 14

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 14

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 14

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 14

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 14

NES (Revision A)


Course 15

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 15

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 15

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 15

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 15

NES (Revision A)


Course 16

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 16

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 16

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 16

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 16

NES (Revision A)


Course 17

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 17

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 17

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 17

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 17

NES (Revision A)


Course 18

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 18

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 18

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 18

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 18

NES (Revision A)


Course 19

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 19

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 19

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 19

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 19

NES (Revision A)


Course 20

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Fighting Course) Course 20

VS. Arcade Fighting Course

Mach Rider (NES) Course 20

NES (Original)

VS. Mach Rider (Arcade Endurance Course) Course 20

VS. Arcade Endurance Course

Mach Rider (NES Revision A) Course 20

NES (Revision A)