F-Zero GX

I consider myself a huge, i mean HUGE fan of racing games. Both sims and arcade styled games appeal to me, yet, when I first played F-Zero, I just had to say "This isn´t like anything I have played before. It´s better".

There are two main aspects that anyone needs to know about any F-Zero games: it is a futuristic styled racing game, and, more importantly, it is insanely fast! This game doesn´t stray away from the basic formula, instead it improves it and takes the franchise to a whole new level, mainly by exploiting the GC's full capacity.

The game takes place in the 26th century, just when a new grand prix is about to begin. The deal with this racing game is that a lot of it´s focus and depth stem from it´s dense storyline that began with the first F-Zero for the SNES and is still being developed through each of the installments in the franchise. Although the main mode of the game, Grand Prix, doesn´t follow any particular storyline, the novelty to GX is the addition of a "Story" mode, which follows the adventures of Captain Falcon in defeating Black Shadow, and the rise of a new, more dangerous threat to the galaxy and the Grand Prix itself. Although being relatively short (under 10 chapters) the story mode is relentlessly difficult, even in the normal difficulty. However, the missions that you take on as captain falcon are varied and have an interesting background (from winning a GP to avoiding a bomb from destroying your ship by staying above a certain speed). Also, each of them is accompanied by a gorgeous cutscene that pretty much serve as the narrator to the storyline that could have used a bit more of length, but the challenge is so tough and varied that you just don´t care.

Now, moving on to Grand Prix mode. In this mode you just pick any of the ships that are available for racing and tackle onto a Cup, each composed of five different courses. This mode proves to be both fun and challenging, mainly because the difficulty is steep and each and every single ship in the game feels different from the rest. This adds a lot of complexity to the game, since mastering every single character isn´t a short task, and also shows the level of dedication the developers put into the game (even the sound of each ship´s boost is different). In addition to the 31 standard characters that come in the GX version, there are also some characters and unlockables that can only be obtained directly from the AX (arcade) version of the game. GX also adds a garage function, that allows the player to build up to four custom ships from the parts inventory, which can be bought by winning tickets in both the story or grand prix mode. This means that unlocking everything in the game is a very long and hard labor, however, most people wouldn't mind putting their hands on it considering the ammount of fun you have playing this game, that just never seems to get old.

The track design on F-Zero GX is just amazing. From the uber-detailed backgrounds of mute city, to the creative design of the Cilinder Knot in Fire Field, each track has something that makes it memorable and challenging, and will also require the player to memorize the position of the boosts in each track in order to conquer the harder difficulties of the game. The sense of speed is also breathtaking, with most of the racers going at speeds above 1200 km/h; add 30 more rivals simulaneously racing you and what you get is addictive mayhem. With 26 tracks in total, 31 standard characters and ships, and 4 difficulty levels, plus the huge ammount of ship parts, this is a hugely immersive and complete game, that will keep you coming back for more.

Concensus: If you have a Gamecube and like racing games, this is the one to get.

Pezjulo´s Indicators
Story 3/5
Graphics 5/5
Sound 4/5
Difficulty 5/5
Gameplay 5/5
Replay Value 4/5