This game is the best racer for the Cube, period.
Grand Prix- This is the main part of the game. First you have to select the difficulty. The difficulty settings include novice, standard, expert, and (unlockable) master. You must then choose the cup that you are going to race in. These cups include ruby cup(easy), sapphire cup(not too hard), emerald cup(hard), diamond cup(very hard)(unlockable), and AX cup(a real challenge)(unlockable). You then have too choose which racer you will choose. There are four available at the beginning of the game but more become available for purchase at the shop as the game progresses. The cup will then begin. You will come to a screen before each race and it prompts you to choose an engine setting. This ranges from max acceleration and no top speed, to no acceleration and max top speed. After each race, points are tallied depending on the position you scored. At the end of the cup, the racer with the most points wins.
Vs. Race- This is obviously the multiplayer mode of F-Zero GX. It is just as good as the real game in almost every aspect. Even the control and frame rate remain the same. This is all great. The only not so good thing about the multiplayer is (like other multiplayter racing games) some of the graphics from the single player game were not included in the multiplayer. This is pretty much the only down part of the multiplayer though.
Time Trials- This is the mode in which you try to record your best time for each of the 25 tracks in this game. You will need to et smart engine settings depending on the track and you will have to race a perfect race in order to get a great time. Staff ghosts are hidden in this game also. The way to unlock them is to come within then seconds of them on each course. If you come within ten seconds, you will recieve a reward of ten tickets(of which you can by things in the shop with) and the staff ghost will appear in the shop. They are worth 25 tickets to buy. If you afford it, go to the track you bought it for and then press Y on the track screen. It will give you a menu and you can choose the staff ghost off of it. When you play the race, it will also be racing. If you manage to beat it (hardest part of the game, believe me) you will receive a 25 ticket prize.
Practice- This is obviously the mode in which you perfect each course for the grand prix. It's basically just a free race mode. You can also toggle between a few options like the AI's difficulty, the number of AI, the number of laps, etc.
Story- In this mode, you play through chapters of a simple, yet interesting story featuring captain falcon(the only character you can use in story mode).
Once you beat a chapter, the next appears in the shop for an increasing price. You also have the option of trying that chapter on hard difficulty. If you beat that, you can try very hard. If you manage to beat a chapter on very hard, a new racer ill appear in the shop for 20 tickets. There are nine chapters in all and each give out there own challenge.
Options- This is where you can toggle between all of the different options in the game from sound volume(music,menu, SFX) to having AIs appear in the muliplayer mode.
Replays- During the course of the game, you can save two different things, replays, and ghosts, Ghosts can be raced against at any time. Replays are videos that replay a race that you chose to save. In this mode, you can watch all of your replays that you saved.
Extras- The are three things in this garage, emblem editor, amd shop. The garage is where you can use all of the parts that you win or buy in the shop. You can put together your own killer machine and color and decorate it in any way you want. Then you can assign a driver to it and use it. The emblem editor lats you use art tools and such to make your very own custom emblem to put on you car. The last is the shop. This is where you use all of those tickets you get for winning chapters in story made and grand prix races. You can buy other racers, parts for custom machines, and other stuff like chapters in story mode, alternate musics, and staff ghosts.
Driver Profiles- In this mode, you can look up the history of each driver and things about their machine. Also, whenever you beat a grand prix cup on the master difficulty, you unlock a small bonus movie for that character which can be viewed here in the driver profiles.
Now that I have looked into the modes, i'd like to touch on the other aspects that make this game great.
Gameplay- It is easy enough to get into the game and used to the controls. The A button is for accelerating, B is for braking, START pauses the game, L and R are for drifting(and attacking), Y is for boosting, Z is for attacking, and the Control stick is for controlling the direction of your craft. It is just a great game to play and is pretty easy to pick up.
Graphics- Amazing! The game's graphics really show the power of the Gamecube. The tracks and backgrounds and things along side of the track are beautifully detailed. If there was one bad thing, it is that you will occasionally see a course with a kind of bland background(not to many of those).
Sound- The sound affects fit where they are suppose to with the boosting and crashing and all. The music is great. It is enjoyable to listen too and you won't ever get sick of it.
Replay- With so many unlockables, this game has what it takes to last a very long time. The mutliplayer never gets old.
Overall- This is a great game and would be enjoyable to everyone except for people who hate a challenge. It deserves a perfect ten except for the hard factor. It is definitely the Cube's best racer.