The Facts
- The next installment of the F-Zero franchise
- Futuristic racer in which players control hovercraft over floating tracks
- Speed through 15 standard Grand Prix tracks plus a wealth of unlockables
- Exclusive new Story Mode challenges players through nine chapters complete with FMV cut-scenes
- Battle against 29 different racers on-screen at once
- Earn money to buy parts and build vehicles
- Customize the look of your ride with a deep decal editor system
- Four-player split-screen support
- Advanced 3D engine draws spectacular race environments at a constant 60 frames per second
- Runs in progressive scan mode
- Supports 16x9 widescreen
F-Zero GX is an unconventional racer. It's not Burnout 2 and it's definitely not Gran Turismo. It's an arcade-styled game about speed, about track memorization and perhaps more than anything else, about quick reflexes and ability. Videogame purists will love it -- be mesmerized by it, in fact. But -- let's get this out of the way now and not dwell on it -- inexperienced players who, say, haven't grown up playing games of this type and are unfamiliar with their workings, might never fully adapt and conquer some of the challenges in place. We honestly believe that some people just won't get it regardless of how much they practice. Players will either have the skills or they won't. And indeed, even pros will find some of the hurdles the title has to offer almost insurmountable, though with practice hardly impossible.
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The nine-chapter Story Mode successfully accomplishes several feats: 1) It turns the once static characters of the F-Zero series -- yes, even Captain Falcon -- into likeable mascots; 2) it makes sense of the races it encapsulates and gives them purpose (players will want to keep racing just to see what happens next in the progression of the unraveling tale); and 3), it pours on the challenges and at the same time teaches gamers how to master the finer elements of in-game control, which in turn helps on the long, hard road to success. From the beautiful presentation of the FMV sequences that link tracks to the creativity of the challenges themselves (racing through small gaps in closing walls, over courses with lava splotches, against ghosts, etc.), the Story Mode is remarkably well done, infinitely addictive, thoroughly entertaining and ultimately extremely satisfying. High praise, we know, but it's deserved. What's more, because chapters must be purchased before they become opened, and because some are too expensive, players are forced to journey into the Grand Prix mode and win races to earn extra cash. This is a testament to the solid design that is the backbone of F-Zero GX. Amusement Vision has perfectly intertwined the two modes so that completing one is beneficial to the other and as a result players will once again feel compelled to go through it.
Complementing these modes are the two most important factors of any racer: control and level design. Both, we can happily admit, are exceptional and fantastically varied from craft to craft and from level to level.
Those who've played older incarnations of the F-Zero franchise will immediately recognize the mechanics in place for F-Zero GX. The analog stick tightly manipulates the craft, while A speeds, R and L air brake, Z button 360 spins, Y provides a nitro boost (a gauge at the top of the screen runs down the longer it's held; running over boost zones on the tracks refills the meter), and X can be used to dart left or right and smash into vehicles (hopefully careening them off the course). The setup is highly intuitive. It just feels -- well, right. Learning the basics is an easy process and gamers -- even those who have no business with this title -- will soon be off, speeding along the brutal, unpredictable tracks. But there's a big difference between knowing the controls and mastering them and this is where the pros will peel off the layers of depth hidden under the surface of the mechanics and set themselves apart from the novices. It will, actually, become a necessity. Later levels require that players use the Z-button to 360 spin through S-turns, as well as use the L and R buttons together for more powerful drifts around corners. There are challenges where pros will want to use the X button to take out the opposition at every opportunity. Players will even need to decide what's more important to them before each race -- pure speed or acceleration -- and modify their craft's levels based on that. F-Zero can be misleading in that sense; it looks like a twitch arcade racer, but there is much strategy to be found for those who know where to look, and it's these players who will advance when the others won't.
There is a potential drawback as controls, go, though. It has to do with a technique called "snaking." Here players can zigzag left and right which tricks the physics model into believing they are coming out of a sharp turn and a speed burst is gained. Using it, players can beat some of the ghost racers that would otherwise be much more difficult. Game destroying glitch? Hardly. While it's true that snaking does deliver massive speed increases, there are some notable catches: 1) not everybody can do it; the truth is that snaking isn't for the novice racer -- it's hard to pull off with any degree of lengthy success (and those who can do it will probably be able to beat the ghost racers without it, anyway); 2) gamers have to buy the right craft to do it -- a high-grip, fast acceleration vehicle like Black Shadow's Black Bull (and one won't immediately have access to it); and 3) snaking isn't really feasible on all of the courses (rather, players will need long straightaways to successfully maintain it). Purists who want to see their name on the F-Zero ranking website might take issue with the technique, but most won't even realize it exists.
There are a few levels in F-Zero GX that seem almost anti-climactic and as a result these disappoint, but on the whole the selection of courses the game has to offer is truly awesome. Players will speed through tracks that twist, turn, loop, corkscrew, shoot upward, drop off, dead end, and more. There are levels with multiple paths and multiple tiers. In one, gamers must speed boost into a ramp and launch themselves into the air and unto the second level of a highway, thereby gaining a shortcut advantage over the competition. In another, it's possible to jump into the air and over an entire turn in a course, landing on a straightway just beyond -- and ahead of the pack. There are paths that drop off suddenly; racers will have to quickly swerve left or right onto another path to avoid doom. There are frantic-paced straightaways. There are tracks that resemble the classic F-Zero titles -- twisty, turny mazes that seem almost squareish in nature. Every last one is impressive and entertaining -- some for different reasons. Meanwhile, the strategy to complete each is entirely different, which is refreshing. Never do we feel as if we are racing the same track with different textures. And best of all, each course unfolds at such a fast pace, is so chaotic and intense, that we don't realize our body has stiffened and that we've failed to blink until the match is over and we've finally ranked.
Then there are the other notables, just as impressive. From the Garage Mode in which players can buy and build their own parts and cars to the decal editor in which one can design his or her own artistic presentation for their craft, there's a certain depth in place that no other US-released F-Zero has enjoyed. Some ambitious players may spend hours tinkering and experimenting in the Garage Mode alone; we have, and we've made some pretty ugly, stupid ships as a result too, a fact we're proud of.
To top everything off, there's the multiplayer mode which supports not two, but rather four-player split-screen races. Amazingly, the overwhelming sensation of speed is maintained regardless of how many players go at it, and the framerate holds true, too. As if replay value weren't strong enough. However, that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to see a track editor in the sequel (wink wink, Amusement Vision).
Graphics
F-Zero GX is a gorgeous game through and through. Amusement Vision has done a fine job of taking Nintendo's dated franchise and updating it for the new generation. It's an update that doesn't dismiss the series' heritage, but one that embraces it. All of the old characters are back, including the flamboyant Falcon, and while they look as they always have, they're more defined, and they've been dropped into a futuristic universe in which they seem to naturally fit.
We learn more about each character in the Story Mode's shockingly crisp, detailed and overwhelmingly stylized full-motion video sequences. It's an odd thing to see FMV scenes in a Nintendo game, but to see them so well done is downright unexpected. These scenes come complete with sprawling city locations, dirty bars, neon-filled streets, hulking hovercraft, and truckloads of burly, angry men, all brought to life with vivid textures, spot-on character models and fluid animation. Watchers will be hard pressed to find any compression artifacting in the many FMV sequences that link the chapters in Story Mode, an impressive feat.
Of course, pretty FMV scenes mean nothing if the in-game graphics aren't up to snuff. Thankfully, they are. Picture this: huge, sprawling floating cities filled with holographic signage, twisting and turning streets flanked by buzzing neon lights, gorgeous nightfall backdrops with lightning bolts that flash and momentarily illuminate the rain-drop-splattered runways. Picture corkscrewing, shimmering lava locations with heat distortion, transparent tubes with subtle reflections, and backdrops that brim with complex geometry, be it skyscrapers or a giant-sized classic ROB robot initially included with the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Picture all of this with crisp, surprisingly detailed texture application, with eye-popping particle effects that fizzle and shimmer, with 29 other cars on screen at once, with real-time lighting effects, and please, picture it all running at a constant, totally undisturbed 60 frames per second. Frankly, we're not sure how Amusement Vision pulled it off, but somehow it did, and F-Zero GX is because of it a stunningly beautiful racer. It's a showpiece. Tech junkies (like us) will be happy to know that GX runs in progressive scan mode and -- gasp -- also supports 16x9 widescreen mode, too. We can tell you from experience that running in both delivers a visual experience that is jaw-droppingly clean and pristine.
Sound
The audio element in GX is probably the one area that took us most by surprise. For whatever reason, we didn't expect much. Maybe it was because we grew up with the cheesy 80s guitar riffs of the F-Zero franchise and couldn't even fathom how these might still work today. But Amusement Vision pulled a rabbit out of its hat. The FMV sequences in the game feature clear, if a little exaggerated speech, and for the first time we can hear Falcon speak entire sentences (albeit he usually doesn't). The dialogue is funny, too. Meanwhile, whether it's FMV or in-game races, the music rocks us. In one video sequence, Falcon sits at a dirty, futuristic bar and we can actually hear a background vocalist singing "F-Zeroooooo, F-Zerooooo!" over and over -- and against all the odds, it's catchy. It shouldn't be, but it is. The in-game music -- a mix of techno tunes and rock beats -- is every bit as compelling, and it can all be accessed at any time via the character profile areas of the game.
Sound effects aren't quite on par with the music, but for the most part they get the job done and bring the speed of the races to life. Our only gripe in this respect is that engine noises seem too subdued; players will be able to hear them much better in first-person cockpit view, but when the camera is pulled back to third-person (as we play) the roar of the engines fades, and that is of minor discomfort.
