Hang-On is a motorcycle racing game developed by Studio 128 and published by Sega.  Initially developed and released for arcades the game places players in control of a motorcycle in a race against time and other computer-controlled motorcycles.  The game was later ported to the Sega Master System and was one of the major launch titles for the system.

The concept for the game originated when Yu Suzuki was asked by a colleague to design an arcade game that would utilize a torsion bar, a bar that resists twisting and has a strong tendency to return to its original position when twisted.  Suzuki was a fan of motorbike racing and believed that a racing game would be a good fit to implement a torsion bar.  Suzuki was a fan of off-road racing such as Motocross and Enduro however Sega’s market research concluded that road-based Grand Prix racing was more popular worldwide.

The results of Sega’s market research influenced the design style of the game and Suzuki began researching Grand Prix motorcycle racing.  Admiring the riding style of Freddie Spencer, Suzuki designed Hang-On as a homage to his riding style and how he loved the way he hung on to his bike while taking corners.  The title of the game was based on the racing technique were racers have to “hang on” to their motorcycle while leaning into sharp turns.  Suzuki read about the technique in a Japanese bike magazine and later found out that the maneuver was actually called “hang off” in North America however still chose to use the term hang on for the game.