I personally thought Sega (the team that created the fun 'Super Monkey Ball') were going to screw this one up. How wrong I was. The first F-Zero was great, but the second installment just didn't appeal to me. However this one stands as one of the best futuristic racers out there (and therefore best in the series). Don't let the difficulty distract you. If you are a very patient person, this game is the one of the most rewarding games you'll ever play/own. Graphics: OH.....MY....GOD! No choppy frame-rate. Lush environments. Realistic speeds. Out-of-this-world animation. Detailed light-effects. These graphics look X-Box crafted, but are in fact GC graphics in action. If these effects don't push the GC hardware to the near-limit, I don't know what will (the new Zelda game???). Everything in this game is bueatifully crafted to make the best realistic experience of this type of racing (excusing the weird or cartoony characters). I heard it took them months to get the 4 player mode without any frame rate drop, and I totally salute Sega/Nintendo who spent weeks doing this. There also FMV endings and sequences that are a nice treat too. Sound: "Rock on" tunes is the best way to describe it. Electric guitar and techno pieces are included and I couldn't improve the music anymore. The music is ground-breaking and really creates the 'feel' of what it's like in the 25th/30th century. Excellent work. There are also a couple of unlockable tunes that are truly magnificant and recreate old classic tunes (Big Blue and Mute City). I won't spoil how they sound, but I was blown away to the tune of Mute City and sometimes I choose a Mute city track JUST to hear the tune. Gameplay: Maybe the only fault in the entire game is in gameplay - and that's the difficulty. Some gamers aren't as patient as others and get easily frustrated at the amount of racers on-screen trying to kill you and get in your way (especially on the harder difficulties). Some may get frustrated at the sheer difficulty to pass a certain vehicle. I got frustrated by both of these but I've overcome it, now that I've almost mastered the game. However it is extremly rewarding when you finish a race at first place, espcially on the hardest difficulty. And the game will notice your efforts! You get parts of racers (where you can customise your very own racer), money (to buy new parts, characters, music, course ghosts, etc) and even character endings. My only grumble is story mode. This mode you learn about the adventures of Captian Falcon as he overcomes obsticles and enters the F-Zero GP. This mode may cause you to chuck your controller at the TV, or tear your bed-sheets since you were SO close to beating a certain vehicle. I find this is much harder than the GP mode and to the point of 'ridiculous'. I still haven't finished the 1st 'Very Hard' mission. If you complete a story mission you get either more parts or secret characters - so it feels like a chore to do this sort of stuff just for a character or part of a ship. I think I've been a bit harsh on this section. Hey, the multiplayer is a blast and the content to unlock seems infinite! Now that's something not to sneeze at! There is just so many things I have not yet touched on properly since the game has so much content (so a lot of replayabillity). This game will have you keep coming back for more and this game should not be ignored, especially if you have a GC. I don't care if you have to rent it first, but I consider (even if you dislike racing games) that you check out this game.
Introduction: There is no doubt that Nintendo's F-Zero franchise started the whole era of futuristic racing games being developed for our entertaining purposes. Well, ever since the first game in the series was released... Read Full Review
I had experience with various racing games before. Gran Turismo, Trackmania, Wipeout, Burnout, Need for Speed... I guess I didn't know exactly what to expect from this game because I had never played any F-Zero title bef... Read Full Review
