F-Zero GX

"Not for beginners"

I recall owning F-Zero when I was young, and at the time I was never really able to appreciate the game, but even so, F-Zero has always been one of my favorite racing games ever since its debut on the Super Nintendo. The combination of futuristic racing and insane speeds has always made this game fun. However, I was not able to enjoy anymore F-Zero games until GX. F-Zero GX comes packaged with beautiful graphics, wonderful gameplay, tons of vehicles, a lot to unlock, and a great challenge.

F-Zero GX is comprised of three major modes of gameplay: Grand Prix, Story, and Time Trial. In Grand Prix mode, the main objective is to race against 29 other racers while racing for points. At the end of the fifth race, the points are accumulated and the winner is determined. The racing becomes quite fierce and hard, but never unfair, meaning that the computer A.I. will never attempt to cheat you in a higher difficulty level race, they will merely race better. The Story mode is just as challenging (if not more) than the Grand Prix mode. Basically, the Story mode tells a story (duh) while incorporating some kind of race. You speed through a very tough story line as Captain Falcon, the “good guy” of the game. After the Normal difficulty is beaten, Hard mode is unlocked, and Very Hard mode is unlocked after beating Hard mode. Most of these story missions (on any difficulty) are hard and will take the average casual gamer multiple tries to master them. The Story Missions and competition are not the only things that are hard; the tracks become increasingly hard, until the difficulty becomes almost insane if you haven’t any prior practice on that track. Time trial is what the name implies; you race the clock in an attempt of setting a track record. Additionally, this game provides even more replay value with the VS. Battle mode in which up to four players can race each other. I haven’t experimented with VS. Battle mode much, but from what I have seen, it adds a wonderful multiplayer experience.

In F-Zero GX, there is tons to unlock, including drivers, tracks, and parts for a custom vehicle. Extra drivers/ vehicles and parts may be bought with F-Zero Tickets earned after a Grand Prix, a successful Story Mission, or Time Trial. When you first try out the game, there are 26 vehicles that are available to purchase. All of the vehicles attributes are shown by a rating system, in which individual attributes such as “Body,” “Booster,” and “Grip” are rated from A to E, E being the worst. These are all bought at the F-Zero shop, and you must purchase missions after you have completed the previous one. It’s kind of a let down, yet it improves the life of the game by forcing you to earn more F-Zero tickets. Also included with the F-Zero shop is the Garage, in which customizing four unique vehicles is allowed with the parts that have been bought from the shop. Parts that can be bought include the body, cockpit, and booster. The body accounts for your “Body” attribute, the booster accounts for your “Booster” attribute, and the cockpit accounts for the “Grip” attribute, almost common sense. This adds up for hundreds of combinations of unique vehicles, which is always a good thing. That being said, F-Zero has a ton of extras to try out, and creating a vehicle with a unique combination of parts is always fun.

The graphics are awesome, and they are superbly detailed. If you play on an HDTV, make sure the game is played in progressive scan mode, as the graphics look even more realistic. Even with thirty simultaneous racers on the screen, then game never dips below sixty frames per second, an awesome feat considering all that goes on these tracks. The fact that the game runs at a consistent 60 frames per second makes traveling at supersonic speeds seem somewhat realistic. The tracks are beautifully detailed and futuristic, and the also remind me of the traces in Extreme G3 (if you have ever played that game). The colors are vibrant and you will be surprised when you first play the game because the graphics are just amazing.

One of my only gripes is the controls. Although it is mostly the design of the controller, I felt that the controls were hard to get used to, and the vehicle in the game would go out of control easily (or maybe I am just not great at this). Instead of the controls not being responsive, it felt as if the controls were being too responsive. Maybe it’s not fair to rate the controls badly because everything felt jerky because the racing was fast pace. Anyway, I have gotten over this, and the control scheme doesn’t really affect the gameplay.

If you recall from the Super Nintendo version of F-Zero, the Blue Falcon, Golden Fox, Wild Goose, and Fire Stingray were the original vehicles, and they return again as the original vehicles in F-Zero GX. The fact that each character has its own musical theme gives the characters a more personal feeling. The majority of the music throughout the game was comprised of Techno beats. For the most part, the in game music and sound was incredibly loud, even with my volume fairly low. Overall, the sound and music was well done.

This game has its challenges and will be fun for most people. Although, if you become frustrated quite easily, this game may not be for you as it presents its own unique challenges; but then again the F-Zero series has always had its challenges, so expect another challenge in F-Zero GX. There is a ton to unlock; therefore, the replay value is great. Buying is the better option here as opposed to renting because it is unlikely that you will unlock everything in just a few days. Just for all of the goodies to unlock and the replay value, this game is a must buy for everyone who has some kind of patience.

Pros:
..Wonderful graphics
..Great sense of speed
..A lot to unlock
..A higher difficulty than average games

Cons
..Controls being “too responsive”

9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/04