The player rides a dirt bike through five stages, which have elevation changes and turns, and must avoid other riders as well as logs and boulders.

Suzuki himself was a fan of dirt bikes, along with motocross and Enduro,[8] but Sega's market research concluded that road-based GP 500 racing was more popular worldwide, so it was selected for use for Hang-On.

[11] In Japan, Game Machine listed Enduro Racer on their August 15, 1986 issue as being the most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month,[16] and it remained at the top of the charts through September[17][18] and October 1986.

[22] The ZX Spectrum version of the game went to number 2 on the UK sales charts in August 1987, below BMX Simulator.

[13] John Gilbert of Sinclair User also gave high praise to the Spectrum version, stating that the conversion "puts other top software houses to shame".

[14] A reviewer for ACE wrote that the Atari ST version is a good conversion of the original but that the replacement of the bike noises with music might disappoint some.