BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2

released on Aug 10, 1997

An expanded game of BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2: Practice

This is the SoundLink version of BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2, which is the direct sequel to the original F-Zero game released for the Super Famicom via the Satellaview. Two versions were released - a non-SoundLink game and a SoundLink game. Little is known about this SoundLink version outside of surviving videos, but it was distributed in two halves in August 1997 and had a similar announcer and redone soundtrack as the previous Satellaview entry. At least the first week rearranged a few courses, and replaced two with new locations called "Forest I" and "Forest II". Presuming no areas were repeated, this likely means the SoundLink version had twice as many courses total. In addition, it can be seen that the player cannot choose between Grand Prix and Practice modes in the SoundLink version; as it was a live broadcast, the player is forced to play each course in a timed Practice mode, and then the Grand Prix race.


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This'll be an extremely quick, to-the-point review since there isn't too much new to say on this one. And hey that's probably a refresher from all the paragraphs I usually chuck-out! As you can see, I played this one quite a while ago and meant to review it MUCH sooner. But oh well, is what it is I guess. Now, what is a "BS F-Zero"? Basically a sort-of sequel to the original SNES F-Zero that was distributed via the Japan-only Satellaview add-on. What we have on-hand is technically not the complete product however... the live event 'Soundlink' versions of the game (which featured commentary voices and I believe remixed music?) were never archived. What we instead have is the 'practice' version, which contains five of the ten courses to freely play upon in practice or grand prix formats akin to what is in the original F-Zero. This has left two locations in the series, Forest and Metal Fort, completely unused in any official capacity as all we have left of those tracks is archival footage from many years ago. There is now technically an exception to this, hence why I specified "official". But that's a story for another time. This is the second BS F-Zero game and the only one really worth covering, considering the first one is split-up by different 'weeks' and retreads the original F-Zero courses except for adding one new one at the end of each grand prix. Those five courses are the ones used in this game, so it's only worth picking up this game if you wish to experience the BS F-Zero exclusive content.

In this little practice pack we have Mute City IV, Big Blue II, Sand Storm I and II, and Silence II. Sand Storm is technically the only new location introduced here but it also utilizes remixed assets from Sand Ocean, though I like to see it as being on the further reaches (or 'dark side') of the Sand Storm planet. These tracks are all really good in my eyes with Silence II being my favourite of the bunch by a wide margin, offering a similar feel to the original Silence track whilst still being uniquely distinct enough to be worth playing. Mute City IV follows the trend of being a slight layout modification of the original Mute City track, this time being set during a sunrise and featuring a lot of boost panels that can make you quickly lose control especially as they end off with a huge section of jump panels that can easily cause a crash-out if you don't react accordingly. You can also try to slide/drift your way towards the corners of the track to avoid the jumps, instead taking more boost pads around the typical final turns of Mute City. It's an alright track when you learn it after a few runs with a very beautiful aesthetic to it. Big Blue II is okay, it's not bad but is far less fun than the iconic original track; this one instead goes for an approach favouring jump panels, which is fine but it makes me more think of a Red Canyon track than Big Blue. I still like it for what it is, at least. And lastly are the totally new settings with Sand Storm I and II. I feel like Sand Storm I is actually a very fun and exhilarating track with how it encourages you to tackle it with cornering/drifting, and also a simple but fun land-mine section that sees you having to drive super careful to avoid touching them and the magnetic fields on either side. It's a fair bit challenging but feels great to conquer it after multiple runs and learning where everything is... something I feel far less fondness for with Sand Storm II, an okay track but disappointing finale to this package. Sand Storm II is technically a little bit shorter than Sand Storm I but it really doesn't feel that way, the tighter turning at the start is something I actually like but the land-mine straightaway is replaced with a fairly dull pull-magnet section that makes the track feel like "Fire Field at home". What makes it particularly lame here is that the Death Wind pushing is always in effect, meaning you're fighting two very similar track elements at once which is an interesting idea but I wasn't a fan of the execution. If I'm running through this tracks, I almost never pick Sand Storm II.

And that's really all there is to say on this one, actually. This is basically a lite version of the original F-Zero with five new tracks, although there are also four new vehicles as well which I have some. Mixed feelings on? The Green Amazone and Blue Thunder are both my favourite go-to vehicles here, as they feel the most like machines from the original F-Zero and are thus easiest to get to grips with. The Luna Bomber goes as fast as a hyperactive child downing sugar but has really mediocre steering/control in exchange, it's a vehicle I basically forced myself to learn because it's hella fun to zip-through these courses with a machine this fast but just takes a bit of learning. Fire Scorpion is... a vehicle. I'll be honest, I never pick this one. I feel as if it doesn't have much of anything going for it, essentially being a worse Fire Stingray. And hey I absolutely love the Fire Stingray, but Fire Scorpion isn't it chief. I'm not sure what, but something about this one feels very off to me. As for a critique affecting all the new vehicles, it's the graphics; instead of the pixel art seen in the original F-Zero, as well as the rest of this game's elements, they utilize models pre-rendered into sprites akin to Donkey Kong Country. With this game coming out in '97, it's understandable to see why. By the time this game game out, the N64 had already been out for almost a whole year; the first BS F-Zero came out in '96 and was half a year older than the N64, too, so it's fair that Nintendo would want to use the pre-render technology to make the still existing SNES look ever more impressive than it already is. The first Donkey Kong Country had been out two years before BS F-Zero 1, so I can't fault them for making the machines here 3D rather than taking the hand-drawn approach again. However... it clashes very badly with the other assets in the game. We have these highly detailed models retaining a great degree of graphical fidelity even given their restricted SNES palettes set against the traditional sprite styles for the courses and bumpers. You go so fast in these games that the course part can be forgiven to a degree, you'll zip-zoom by and not really notice the lack of track detail unless you've paused it or something. The backgrounds are more detailed too and thus blend better with the machine models. But the bumper sprites are the exact same as the original F-Zero and as such you have these 3D models in the same plane of existence as hand-drawn graphics? It feels like a fan game that didn't quite go the full-effort, which is appropriate since this is basically an officially licensed ROM hack of the first F-Zero. The machines by themselves look pretty good and the pre-render style is always a favourite of mine, but they clash quite noticeably with the rest of the game's assets.

That's actually all there is to say on this game now, for real. BS F-Zero 2 is a fun little distraction offering five new tracks to play on with some different-ish machines to have a go at too. This is essentially the first F-Zero with less content, but the core of the game still plays very well and yes the AI is still a cheating prick on higher difficulties. This one ranks slightly lower than the original for having less meat on its bones, but especially the clash in art-style. I'd at least be a bit more forgiving if the other new tracks- Forest and Metal Fort -had pre-render looks, however they do not and thus that makes the vehicle graphics a bit of a noted anomaly in this game space. You can play this one and finish it in an afternoon if you want, or do what I did and finish it gradually on each difficulty setting across commuting trips on the bus. You'll like this one if you really wanted more from the original F-Zero, it's hard to be disappointed aside from knowing the full version is likely lost to time. There is now an unofficial technicality to this statement, but that'll be another review for future me to worry about.

Basically "DLC" for the first F-Zero game, with four new vehicles and a new cup. It's neat if you want to experience what the Satellaview content was about.

its pretty much just the bonus content from the first 4 BS F-zero games essentially mashed into a brand new cup, with one new course. Interesting stuff. If you wanna play the satellaview F-Zero games, just play this one, since it has all the new stuff in it.