| The NES booklet sets the game in the year 2112: Earth has been invaded by the forces of evil, and Mach Rider races from sector to sector searching for survivors and fighting the invaders. | PDF p. 2, Object of the Game/Game Description | Manual |
| A is the accelerator: held, the bike speeds up, and let go, the engine slows it. B fires the machine gun. The control pad shifts to a higher or a lower gear and steers left and right. The game uses controller 1 only. | PDF p. 3, Names of Controller Parts and Operating InstructionsPDF p. 3, Names of Controller Parts and Operating InstructionsPDF p. 3, Names of Controller Parts and Operating InstructionsPDF p. 3, Names of Controller Parts and Operating InstructionsPDF p. 3, Names of Controller Parts and Operating InstructionsPDF p. 3, Names of Controller Parts and Operating InstructionsPDF p. 3, Names of Controller Parts and Operating InstructionsPDF p. 3, Names of Controller Parts and Operating InstructionsPDF p. 5, Driving TechniquePDF p. 5, Technique | Manual |
| The game menu offers four choices: the Fighting Course, the Endurance Course, the Solo Course, and Design. On the Fighting Course the player races through the course while his energy lasts, and running slow or crashing drains it faster; the energy left decides how many Mach Riders he gets on the second course, and every 3 courses cleared add one. The Endurance Course is a race through the course within a set time, and the Solo Course is the Endurance Course without enemies. | PDF p. 3, Select buttonPDF p. 4, How to Play, Fighting CoursePDF p. 4, How to Play, Fighting CoursePDF p. 4, How to Play, Fighting CoursePDF p. 4, How to Play, Fighting CoursePDF p. 4, How to Play, Endurance CoursePDF p. 4, How to Play, Solo Course | Manual |
| Enemies come in 6 types, from a pink one that one shot destroys to a black one that takes 6. The machine gun holds 80 shots, 2 to a press of B, so 40 bursts; an enemy destroyed by being "BLOCKED" into a hazard refills bullets, to no more than 254. Hitting an enemy at low speed crashes the bike. | PDF p. 5, TechniquePDF p. 5, TechniquePDF p. 5, TechniquePDF p. 5, Technique | Manual |
| Obstacles on the track make the bike slip or destroy it; the oil drum and the bomber ball can be shot. A skid on water, oil, or tacks can be caught by counter-steering, but on ice, where the course turns white, counter-steering doesn't work. | PDF p. 4, TechniquePDF p. 4, TechniquePDF p. 5, TechniquePDF p. 5, TechniquePDF p. 4, Technique, obstacle picturesPDF p. 4, Technique, obstacle pictures | Manual |
| Mach Rider has no brake: the booklet tells the player to downshift and let the engine slow the bike. Quick acceleration takes well-timed shifts from 1st to 4th gear with A held, and a bike slowed nearly to a stop in 4th can't pick up speed quickly. Riding onto the shoulder slows the bike, an oil drum on the shoulder hit at high speed crashes it, and after a crash the next Mach Rider starts in 1st gear. | PDF p. 5, Driving TechniquePDF p. 5, Driving TechniquePDF p. 5, Driving TechniquePDF p. 5, Driving TechniquePDF p. 5, Driving TechniquePDF p. 5, Driving TechniquePDF p. 5, Driving Technique | Manual |
| Design mode lets the player build a course of his own from 37 course parts, placed with a cursor; a course must run from the left side of the design area to the right. The NES booklet says the Save and Load menu items don't work in this game, kept for possible later products, while the Famicom booklet saves and loads courses on cassette tape through the Family BASIC keyboard (HVC-007) and its data recorder (HVC-008). | PDF p. 6, Design ModePDF p. 7, Design Mode, NotePDF p. 6, Design ModePDF p. 6, How to Design and Play Your Own Original Course | Manual |
| The North American booklet is copyright 1986. | PDF p. 2 | Manual |