This is an incredible game and there's nothing quite like it.
The thrill of the speed of the races, with courses so tightly designed and difficult to master that one mistake could be costly and your vehicle flies off the track. The risk vs reward when on lap 2 you get boost power which drains your health in exchange for more speed. The boost mechanic is genius as it adds an extra layer of strategy to the races. Do you boost when your health is low and risk blowing up from crashing into a wall? Do you risk boosting near a corner and fly off the track? It all adds to the intensity that F-Zero races bring. Add into that the ability to destroy other racers by either side or spin attacking them and you have even more power at your disposal. There's nothing quite like catching up to someone and side attacking them into oblivion. All of this makes the standard grand prix mode exhilarating to play through, but this game goes above and beyond for replayability.

Beat a grand prix with a character and you earn a nice little interview scene where you can ask them a question to find out more about them. Why did they become a pilot? What's the story behind their machine? The answers may be short but it adds an extra something to characters that are normally stuck behind the wheel. Not only that though, every pilot in the game has a bio section with a description on them and every single character has their own unique theme. Seriously, they didn't need to do that for 30+ characters but they did!

GX also includes a story mode which does give a nice insight into the actual world of F-Zero, from canyon challenges to bet races, there's a nice little bit of world building gone into the game. Now the main issue with story mode is that even on the lowest difficulty, Normal, it's blooming hard as nails. It will take a lot of patience to get through it but it is a nice thing to have in the game.

There's also unlockable content from the arcade game F-Zero AX, but that requires beating stuff on the hardest difficulty..... or taking your memory card to an AX arcade machine......

This is the ultimate F-Zero, you can tell a lot of love was put into making this game. It may be very difficult and challenging in areas, but if you stick with it, learn the courses and how to handle the immense speed of the vehicles, then you'll find one of the most satisfying racing games out there. It's a shame the series has never stepped into the online era because 30 player online races would be very cool to see.

Reviewed on Jan 18, 2021


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