F-Zero GX (GameCube)

F-Zero GX. Many say it's the fastest racing game of them all. Whilst this may be true, lets look at some promises and specs:

- RRP (When released), £39.99
- Rated Teenager by ESRB
- For Nintendo Gamecube
- Licensed by Nintendo.

Well, to start with, lets have a short history lesson of the F-Zero franchise.

It all started on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (S N E S) with a game ...
...the game i am reviewing, F-Zero GX.

Lets start with some of the basics.

== Starting the game ==

I jammed in my memory card and disc and i was away. It got to the part where it asked me if i'd like to make a save file. I obviously said yes. Then this snazzy screen came up telling me to input a name for my file (Which may i add was utterly pointless since you can only have one save file per memory card). ... more

F-Zero GX. Many say it's the fastest racing game of them all. Whilst this may be true, lets look at some promises and specs:

- RRP (When released), £39.99
- Rated Teenager by ESRB
- For Nintendo Gamecube
- Licensed by Nintendo.

Well, to start with, lets have a short history lesson of the F-Zero franchise.

It all started on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (S N E S) with a game called F-Zero. A rather basic racing game. 4 playable machines, racing at high speeds down a selection of tracks. A little bit dull and repetative.

Then it all started getting more exciting, with the Nintendo 64 addition to the franchise, titled 'F-Zero X'. Which was titled an INSTANT CLASSIC. 30 playable machines, infinite tracks (Because a certain X cup made a track for you on the spot) but if you were not to count the X tracks, it would end up 35 with plenty of playable modes. Grand Prix, Single Player (Practice), Multiplayer, Death race, and many more. A very classical game.

Now we are in 2003. With the game i am reviewing, F-Zero GX.

Lets start with some of the basics.

Starting the game

I jammed in my memory card and disc and i was away. It got to the part where it asked me if i'd like to make a save file. I obviously said yes. Then this snazzy screen came up telling me to input a name for my file (Which may i add was utterly pointless since you can only have one save file per memory card). Once done, the start screen which pictured a machine floating around a track with some quite cool music in the background. Easy to start.

Further

So now i'm presented with a screen of 9 options.

• Grand Prix
• Vs. Battle
• Time Attack
• Practice
• Story
• Replay
• Customize
• Options
• Pilot Profiles

In Depth Description of Menu

== Grand Prix ==
The basic and formost important part of the game. The Grand Prix mode (At the start) lets you select 3 cups to race on based on general difficulty of the tracks.

• Ruby
• Sapphire
• Emerald

There is a new cup unlockable called 'Diamond Cup' unlocked by completeing other cups

Each cup consists of 5 tracks you race in against 30 other players. You start in the 30th position on the starting line. And each race you win, you are in the opposite position on the starting line in the next race. It's hard to understand so heres how it goes:

Finished: Position on starting line
1st 30
2nd 29
3rd 28
4th 27

And so on. This evens things out for the players. So if you do badly in a race, you have a better chance of winning the next one.

The whole grand prix is based on points. The winner is the one with the most points wins the grand prix. And the following:

1. An alleged 2 billion space credits (Currency which is unused)
2. A minimum of 15 game tickets (See later in review)
3. Parts for custom ships you can create

And you could win:

1. More ships you can buy with game tickets
2. A new difficulty
3. A new cup

That wraps up the grand prix mode.

Vs. Mode

This is the multiplayer mode of the game. You can race with either 2-4 players on each track you've unlocked with certain settings like restore, (You can automatically be put back on the track if you fall off of the track), handicaps and computer player (Only 1 is available), and you can race with all the carts you've unlocked.

Overall, the multiplayer mode is a bit disappointing. You can only race with 4 player including computers and the detail on the tracks disappear in multiplayer mode.

It's beyond me why they didn't make Grand Prix mode multiplayer. That would have been amazing.

Time Attack

Quite obviously, you race solo down a track trying to make the smallest time possible. Once you make a new record, you can race against a 'ghost' which is how you raced down the track. You are transparent. That way you can see what mistakes you made, and make the quickest time possible.

Overall this doesn't occupy you for long. It's tiring to make a record on each track and it is also pointless and unrewarding.

Practice

You can go on ANY unlocked track and race on it under your own conditions. You can change:

• Restore
• Laps (From 1-7 to Infinite (Freerun))
• Computer players (0-30)
• Computer difficulty (Novice to Expert) if applicable
  And then you start the race under your own conditions.

This mode is great if your practicing of getting to grips with certain tracks. Or just want to practice killing everyone on the track! WHich can be fun may i remind you.

Story Mode

The is the somewhat disappointing addition to the series. 'Story Mode' consists of only 9 chapters. which are rediculously hard to complete.

You have to buy each chapter after completing the last one with 'Game Tickets' which you earn in modes of the game. All of the challenges are very repetative. I got them all after a few tries.

After you complete a challenge, you can do it in a harder mode. Then if you complete that, a further harder mode. It turns an already hard challenge into something rediculously impossible.

I didn't like this mode.

---------------------------------------------

These are the racing modes covered and explained.

Overall, this is how i rate each of them out of 10.

• Grand Prix - 9/10
• Vs. Mode - 6/10
• Time Attack - 5/10
• Practice - 7/10
• Story Mode - 3/10

Overall the average was about 6 or 7. So not too bad on the modes. The grand prix and practice will have you going for a good while! Time attack if you have become a skilled pilot. I say leave story until you've become used to the game. Who knows, you may like it!

Crafts

There are 40 unlockable/buyable crafts. 30 of them can be unlocked straight away, no dealy if you have the tickets. But 10 can be unlocked by progressing through the game. These are called AX Riders.

The statistics for each ship couldn't be simpler. They are like scool grades. A bieng best and E bieng worst.

It is like this:

• Body (The higher grade this is, the less your ship will take damage)
• Boost (The higher this grade is, the more you will get out of boosting)
• Grip (The higher this grade is, the more you will turn when you turn the control stick. So it's less likely to fall or hit the wall)

A lot of the stats are VERY innacurate. A racer called Jack Levin has a low rating for boost, yet i find him to be one of the fastest characters of the game.

Also, Acceleration differs from ship to ship. It tends to be, the lower your ship weighs in Kilograms, the more it accelerates. But on average, the higher accelleration there is, the lower the speed will be.

Custom Ships

This is the further disappointing add on to F-Zero GX. You can guy 3 parts from the F-Zero shop and put them together as you wish. You unlock parts by progressing through the game (I think you get that now).But:

• The stats for each part are more innacurate then a blind fashion designers pick of the week.
• Making an emblem thats good is nigh impossible. Therefore you cannot customise your ship to suit you properly like what was promised to a certain extent.
• All the starting parts are about E graded. And the only good ones are too heavy to use besause it ruins the ships accelleration and grip despite what the stats say.

For these reasons i can quite confidentally say:

All custom ships made are awful

And that ends that very disappointingly.

Game Tickets

Game tickets are the heart of the game. They are the key to unlocking things. They can be earned by:

1. Winning grand prix's
2. Defeating story modes

And thats IT. They are the only worthwhile parts of them game to progress. Game tickets can buy you:

• New ships
• Ghost data for time trials by staff
• New chapters for the Story Mode
• Custom parts to make your own ships

Overall if you have no game tickets you are stuck in the game completely. Which is bad. It makes you suck of the game fast.

Graphics

The one STUNNING part of the game is the graphics. They all smoothly run together. The exhausts of the ships have greatly increased. Now they look very futuristic. The tracks detail has no mistakes. All the scenry is very well put together. Lots to see in the graphics, but i think this might distract you from the racing itself.

The Tracks

There are 20 tracks and the tracks used on story mode which are unracable.The tracks in general are very well put together. They consist or the following parts:

1. The pit (Where you replenish your energy so you can continue racing)
2. Traction pads (Makes your machine slippery along the track and almost uncontrollable
3. Dirt pads (These slow down your ship losing valuable time_
4. Boost pads (These give you a brief speed boost. These are VERY important to winning)
5. Jump pads (These send you flying in the air. Great for bypassing turns, but VERY RISKY)

These are evenly on tracks which gives you a great racing experience. The tracks themselves are very cool! Each are unique and consist of different zones. There are sometimes several tracks in different zones (IE Mute City, Fire Field). But some tracks get tiring after a while.

F-Zero AX

This was featured A LOT in the hype of the game. It is an arcade machine in arcades (Quite obviously) which you can carry your memory card and race on them in a large cockpit and large screen to give 'The Ultimate Racing Experience'. Overall, i cannot add this into one of the plus points for the game for the following reasons:

• They are SO hard to find. I have never seen one and many have never heard of them.
• You have to purchase an ID card to be part of the fun.

But you can unlock bonus things on your game if you race in a F-Zero AX machine. Which makes it more insulting because unless you travel miles to find one you cannot get the optimum out of your game. Which as i say, sucks.

Music

The F-Zero series have always been very rock/metal based themes. This one is no exception. Except this one has a bit more of an electronic feel to it. The music suits the tracks very well and they are very nice to listen to. They are very high quality and suit the game VERY well.

Also theres a sountrack for each rider which suits very well...

The voice acting in the game is reasonable. Too many of the characters sound exactly the same which kills the experience somewhat.

Pros and Cons

Pros

- You can go down the track at BLISTERING speeds which is a jawdropping experience if your new to the genre
- Many crafts to choose from, trying them all will keep you occupied
- You can change the colour of your machine to suit you!
- You CAN make your own crafts and customise them to an extent
- Widescreen option to increase your game screen if you have a widescreen TV.
- 60 Hz mode to optimize graphics if your TV can handle it. If now theres the classic 50 Hz option.
- PLENTY of unlockables to thrill your thrillbuds for a good while.
- Multiplayer mode.
- The game is very customisable to suit you.
- Codes have been released so you can put a code up onto the internet to show off your time.
- A hell of a challenge!

Cons

- VERY disappointing story mode
- Lack of detail in multiplayer mode graphics
- Grand Prix mode isn't multiplayer
- The amount of gamr tickets you recieve is unbalanced.
- You have to find a F-Zero GX Machine to unlock content which is insulting. It's also a moneymaking ploy.
- Lack of tracks available.
- Gets boring after a while.
- Hard, Hard, HARD.

Conclusion

I think, overall, this is an awesome racing game (Probably the best in it's genre). It completely shows off what the gamecube console can infact do. Very detailed and rich graphic and blistering high speeds, plenty of modes to play, very customisable, and the tracks and carts are awesomely good. But the game is repetative, and some of the modes lack somewhat. But overall i reccomend this title. It is a thilling addition to your Gamecube collection!

_Thank you for making it this far in the review. It's a while since i have reviewed anything, and this one is about 2000 words long. So thanks for making it this far._

Necormancer

 

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