in which sega adapts the wachowski sisters' magnus opus, speed racer, into a minidvd that might get you high if you boof it. i couldn't un-stick my eyes from the screen if i wanted to. gamecube controller diehards are still mondo uncool, though i come dangerously close to becoming one every time i jam down the spring-loaded triggers to kick into a drift. good shit. i think the devs knew the dpad and c stick placement were trashy and that's why nothing is mapped to either by default. anyway, this is the perfect racer. trying to describe the blistering gamefeel of a prime sega arcade title 20 years after the fact is a fruitless endeavor, so i will instead forego that and just show you this. and a message to my friends: no, i'm not going to shut up about this game. get gx or get out.

edit: holy shit i think this beat sonic r as my favorite racer

The guys at Amusement Vision (later Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio) were truly masters of the craft around this time, making two of my favorite games: this and Super Monkey Ball 1. They really knew how to make games that feel great to play on a visceral, physical level - games you can sit down for hours and forget you're even using your hands to control it. You just feel it.

F-Zero GX, on the surface, doesn't appear to do much to distinguish it from X. There aren't any obvious new gimmicks or anything. But AV knew exactly what kind of small, precision changes to make that would make a huge impact. The vehicles control extremely precisely; this is something you should simply experience yourself rather than take my word for it. Track designs are a clear step up from X's, with more memorable, varied layouts. To me, this makes up for the lack of the X Cup and track creator/editor.

The new Story Mode is fun, but I think I prefer the simplicity of a standard Grand Prix. I will say though that you should definitely do all the Master Class GPs before diving into the Story since those are pretty much a tutorial.

And of course, Hidenori Shoji and Daiki Kasho bring a world-class soundtrack which fits the game perfectly. I especially love how the music changes for the final lap.

It's no surprise Nintendo seems hesitant to follow up on this considering Sega's AV team knocked it out of the park.

Remember when Mario Kart 8, one of the most successful videogames ever made, featured 2 circuits inspired by F-zero and people still considered some of the best racetracks they ever played?

There is a reason for that. F-zero is more than a racing game: it's an absolute masterful ride. It's like the most adrenaline inducing and blood pumping rollercoaster you even jumped on, a game so bombastic in everything it does that it will make you come back over and over again.

If you are new to the series it can result brutal and extremely unforgiving, but the presentation, the addictive gameplay, the hyperactive energy it has in its characters, soundtrack and extremely energetic moments makes you come back.

F-zero GX specifically was the result of an "alliance" between Nintendo, Bandai Namco and SEGA, and you can feel the flavors the third party companies put into the series and this gem, which presents the same enthrilling speed of a Sonic game and the same exagerated but also goofy energy of a Tekken game.

One of the best games from the Gamecube era. Nintendo should sue itself for not porting this masterpiece on modern consoles.

I was doing that one campaign mission where you have to do the race against Evil Captain Falcon and Eviler Captain Falcon, and I kept on losing by like half a second over and over. Probably an hour into trying it I was once again about to come in 3rd, when the spirit of Captain Falcon himself took over my body. I swerved and slammed directly into a mine that was near the end of the track, which ricocheted me into another mine, which then blasted me over the finish line in a clear first place. You remember that Nascar guy that rode the wall and won the race?

I felt that rush.

Revisiting a childhood game, and realizing the game has not only aged incredibly well, but it is significantly better than you remember may be one of the best feelings in the world. You always knew the game was great, but experiencing that greatness with a deeper appreciation for what makes it so great is like reaffirming your childhood memories. I thought this was one of the best arcade racing games ever made. And fortunately (and somewhat unfortunately) this still reigns true today. F-Zero GX is the peak of the series, and I think I get why Nintendo and Sega were so afraid to make a proper follow-up to it. It's hard to improve on perfection, without fundamentally changing it. What we were left with was Mario Kart 8.....for 10 years.

Rest in Piece F-Zero/10

This is the best implementation of mid-00's aesthetic - that mix of gritty, earthy, dark greens/blues/oranges and steel-neon cities out of a frutiger aero background. It whizzes by at 700 MPH, and it feels like it. It goes for pseudo-realism and it still looks good two decades later. How does it do it? The story mode is balls-disgusting hard, but with such quick hooks objectives and ever-teasing, escalating difficulties - you can't get through that door? that one boulder is gonna make you stop playing? - it dangles the carrot so well. Great fuckin soundtrack, and there's more than one person I know who got into electronic or ambient music from this. The characters are so distinctly goofy sci-fi, and they don't need to be there or fleshed out like they are, yet they are! And then there's the astronomically-high skill ceiling that's fun to watch, and fun to just graze every now and then with an absolutely perfect slide or snake before you absolutely eat shit off the track like Icarus. Anyone of any skill level can at least enjoy it.

I've been trying to stick all my five star rated games with some kinda commentary, but what is there to add here? Go play it! It speaks for itself. It's so effortlessly cool, such a tightly built game with grand feel, few flaws, and zero friction between it and its experience - just a raw test of skill, and people still keep pushing its limits year by year.

It's.
So.
F*KING. (yeah, also literally)
HARD.

AND FAST. 10/10