[ai0tron]

Let me first state that I love F-Zero, I love Nintendo, and this post is pretty much going to be laden with praise and joy for the both of them.

The fact that I love F-Zero in general doesn't play into my love of F-Zero GX as much as I thought. The new game would be lovable to me even not having played the previous versions of the game. Because it is in fact, near perfect, the pinnacle of the racing genre, it stands out, and it rocks my world.


The play control is superb, tight and sensitive, but still subtle. Their is so much depth to the play control it will take weeks to get it all fine tuned to perfection. As stands now, I'm pretty darn good, I'm not going to be humble here, I rock this game, I love this game, and the winner should be someone who loves the game. (To quote a character from the game.)

The courses are challenging, and almost all of them are challenging on the master level, but some are easy even on master. On the other hand, some are next to impossible on master (To obtain 1st place that is). On the whole, the rumors are true, the game really is freaking hard. And even a seasoned veteran of F-zero such as myself was somewhat annoyed with what seemed to be insurmountable difficulty. But those challenges have all fallen, and I now stand as king of the F-Zero world.

Time Attack. Beating the staff ghosts is hard, but doable, beating people's online times is insanely difficult and may never happen. (You can post times online at the official website) Thats the kind of thing I like, a constant insurmountable challenge, something to strive for. The play depth lets you refine your times to unthinkable levels. And if you have the guts, and the skill, you can try the much ridiculed, but actually VERY cool "snake" technique. Which allows you to zoom around without boosting at speeds pushing 3,000 Kph.

3,000 Kph, yes, it hurts my head too.

You can build your own ships, and the story mode is a lot of fun with nicely done FMV sequences to liven it up and elicit a laugh or two.

The music in the game is very good, expecially for a video game, it rocks out and fits the mood perfectly. The sound effects are also very cool. Especially the ripping of air sound that racers make when they are coming up behind you. It sounds just like a fighter jet at an air show, yes, it rules.

You can also output this game in progressive wide screen. Which must be pretty friggin amazing.


All in all, pound for pound, it is per capita, the best video game ever. Nintendo will always have the best games, you Xboxers can have your regular slow fun with GT3 but nothing I have ever played can compare to F-Zero. It's better than Metroid, it's better than Zelda, it's better than everything. It rules, it owns, love Nintendo, love them!!! (And Sega)

 

[MusicLover]

double

 

[MusicLover]

I too am an extremely huge fan of F-Zero. But to hear you say all of those awesome things about GX honestly makes me want to cry, since I don't yet have the game. I am definitely getting it. Oh boy, can't wait!

Btw, you can actually build your own ships?!!! AWESOME!

 

[ai0tron]

I know what you mean man, I couldn't wait to get it, I actually had it overnighted the day it came out.

Music Lover there is tons of stuff to unlock in this game. I don't think I have yet seen anyone post on IGN that they have beaten ALL of the game and its been out for over a week. And you know how hardcore some of those gamers are. And yeah you can build your own ships, but you have to beat parts of the game to unlock the parts to the ships and then you have to earn points to buy the parts. Basically, you have to put a lot of time into the game, so try not to be discouraged. There are stories on IGN of people smashing controllers in frustration when they get to the tougher levels. Since you've played F-zero before you stand a good chance. The god honest truth is that this game is literally at the brink of human comprehension. For example, the story mode is very hard... on easy. I mean it's honestly difficult to finish (the first few levels arent) even after having defeated all GP circuits on master. But it has a hard mode. And it requires some insane manuevering, and some wit in order to beat that. But it also has a very hard mode.... thats just something I don't want to think about.

I'm nowhere near unlocking everything by the way. And ive been playing it way too much... I've never had a game hold out on me like this, it's like the harder I try the harder it gets. I seriously dream F-zero. I have residual images in my mind of f-zero when I close my eyes. It was godly intervention that I got this game the day after I finished school. Otherwise, I definately would have missed classes.

Anyhow, when you get good at it, you really start to love it. It's the most rewarding game I've ever played.

Oh yeah, you may want to get the 251 block memory card. You cant transfer the main game file to other cards. So if you start a game on a small card and you run out of space for decals and garage data you'll have to put it all that on a second card.

I forgot to mention the decals too. You'll like this, you can design your own decals with a built in paint program and paste them onto your custom ships!! Then you can take those ships to the arcade and race them on AX. Pretty damn sweet if I must say so. This is why it's nice to have 2 cards though. Keep your sensitive game data at home, and transfer your garage data(with your custom cars) to another card that you take to the arcade. With the extreme difficulty of the game it would really suck if something happened to the card with your main game on it and you lost your progress.

here are some data sizes for you to estimate if you need a new card:

Main game: 4 blocks of data
Garage: 13 blocks of data
Each saved decal: 3 blocks of data
Replays: 12-18 blocks per replay

So as you can see there are a myriad of ways to use up lots of memory card space.

 

[wallijonn]

ai0tron,

having played the N64 F-Zero, I'm not really impressed with the GC version (from what I've seen on TV). It still looks, and probably plays, in my estimation, the same.

Having played all the PS Wipeouts (and the immensely inferior N64 Wipeout), I prefer that game to F-Zero, on the music score alone, much less the gameplay which is superior to F-Zero.

So, does it play and look like the N64 game? Did they get rid of the cheesy midi music and put real music tracks in there?

What fliers are on the GC?

 

[MusicLover]

Thanks for the heads up on the memory card. The fact that the game is extremely hard and long is definitely good. I hate games that are too easy. I love challenges. However, not many games have much of a challenge.

I wish it wasn't already time for school. Once I get the game, I'll probably just ditch all of my homework to play. *sigh* Why must life be so difficult?

 

[MusicLover]

Wallijonn, have you played the SNES F-Zero, one of the best games of all time?

 

[ai0tron]

Wipeout?? Man, I don't like that game. (And I pretty much dislike practically everything that comes out on the playstation, especially Grand Theft Auto.) Wipeout always came across to me like they couldn't figure out how to make a good racing game so they just covered it all with 90's pop culture gobeldygook. I never played wipeout on the N64 but I assume it was just as poor.

Don't get me started on gameplay. But thats the problem with wipeout, it's gameplay is not the perfect, finely tuned work of art that is every iteration of F-zero. And thats why I play games, for finely tuned gameplay, not for music, or even for graphics.

Wallijon, if you can appreciate gameplay that is challenging, go ahead and get it. It's hard, and to me, it's near perfect, but I liked F-zero, and F-zero X as well, and not because they looked cool or had great music but because they played well. (I also have F-zero on the GBA which is a totally different version but similar graphicaly to the original on the SNES.)

You also may want to keep your eye out for the new Extreme G. I don't think I would like it, because I like to race and not waste time firing weapons. Im all about the technicalities of getting around the course as fast as possible.

 

[Snufkin]

I never used to be a Nintendo fanboy, in fact I was of the opinion that the N64 was a kids toy (it still looks like one IMHO)

But the Gamecube has changed that, I'm 100% fanboy through and through now

I love my little cube.

I have to kick my girlfriend off Animal Crossing every fricken night (so I can play... just for a little while!)

F-Zero GX looks awesome, shame we have to wait so long for games to make it here to Oz

Regarding wipeout - I thought it was great at the time, but it just seemed most of the difficulty was just the controls. With a decent controller and a basic idea of track layout it was extremely easy to win races, random weapons etc aside.. sure it was fun, but I don't find fighting against controls a challenging part of gameplay.

 

[Lando]

Dammit, I want GX, but I already decided to spend money on a bunch of other stuff! Snufkin: If you don't have a 64, get one so you can play Majora's Mask. Great game. Oh, and your beloved Animal Crossing was originally an N64 game.

 

[mclaren20]

HOLY CRAP!?!?!?!?! its out?

damnit


this, soul caliber 2, and the new tony hawk soon.


damn you $50 games.

 

[Lando]

What? Tony Hawk 5 already?

 

[dhwilkin]

This game is really great... also really difficult! Granted, I haven't put much play time into it, but geez. I never had so much trouble w/ the first two F-Zeros. If anything, the game looks too good! Seriously, there's so much going on visually that some things, like jump plates, are difficult to see when you're going fast. I am, at least, very glad the sensation of extreme speed and pretty graphics are in full force. F-Zero X was a letdown, after the original. This F-Zero is everything the previous one should've been, and much more.

Oh, what's the fastest way to earn tickets? I must unlock the original Big Blue music...

 

[Snufkin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lando Dammit, I want GX, but I already decided to spend money on a bunch of other stuff! Snufkin: If you don't have a 64, get one so you can play Majora's Mask. Great game. Oh, and your beloved Animal Crossing was originally an N64 game.

Yeah, I grew out of the looks vs plays thing a while back, when choosing which console to buy the LAST thing (stupid) I considered was the games I wanted to play.
I was thinking.. PS2 has most games.. Xbox has big marketing& specs (big everything really) and gamecube is.. small.
Then I looked at the games, and bought a cube

brw, I've played Majoras mask

I don't care about penis size any more, more games, bigger hardware etc.. in the end it all comes down to how much fun you can have with it

 

[wallijonn]

ai0tron, Snufkin,

I guess it's every man to their own preference. For me, Wipeout is the cat's meow. I loved the controls and the weapons system. Nothing like deciding whether to go for the speed boost or the weapons, or throwing away the weapon and hoping for something else. My favourite had to be the AutoPilot. Yes, there were some pretty lame weapons that did absolutely nothing, and sometimes the course slowed you down too much or took a very sharp turn, but there's nothing quite like the feel of lifting up the front end (push the up bottom) to skim across the top of the course, or push the nose down to pick up speed.

No, I never tried the NES version. But I did enjoy the PS2 Wipeout immensely. But for a pure racer, probably F-Zero is better, seeing as they have much longer courses. But like I said, I prefer the Wipeout Music more. Again, I like playing my games with headphones, so for me the Wipeout series is more viseral - it really gets the blood bumping. Now if only they could have allowed you to swap out the game CD and play your own Techno music.

So, again I ask, how is the music on the newest F-0?

Snufkin,

Get the N64 for the original Turok and Goldeneye. They are two shoots par excellance. I love to play Turok on the hardest mode and the knife is my favourite weapon. Nothing like slitting the throat of a soldier and he gurggles "Motherferrrr" as he chokes on his own blood. All subsequent Turoks are pure crap, as are all subsequent James Bond games. For some reason I like "Body Harvest," a real crap game, but for some strange reason it appeals to me. And of course everyone should try the Zeldas and the platform games. Don't bother picking up any fighters, though.

Anyone have a good-as-new DreamCast for sale? There's a few games I wouldn't mind owning.