F-Zero GX: 9.0
F-zero GX is what most racers only dream of being. Not only is this the most intense racer I've ever played, it also has the most depth. For someone like me, who has never played an F-zero game before it's great that Amusement Vision centered the game around the only character from the series im familiar with (Capt. Falcon) and included bios for all the other characters.
Strong gameplay and easy to learn techniques will make this easy for beginners and fun for masters. At the start of the race it's anyones game, the first lap is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with the tracks (IE. Where the speed pads and recovery pads are) but once you've earned the boost by compleating the first lap it no longer becomes a game of luck but a game of skill. You'll be stuck on a track with people who'll try to bump you off and then make a quick getaway, forcing you to make a choice of weither to stay clear of danger and win the old fashioned way...or to take out the other racers making you the winner by default.
And you'll learn to love and appreciate the different styles of turning too. Tilt the control stick to veer left or right on the stacks. Hold down the either the left or right trigger buttons and tilt the control stick in the coresponding direction to execute a tight, curve-hugging swipe. Or you could hold down both trigger buttons and steer with a combo of both...where every turn you make will be a side-swipe...wich is just one way of dealing out damage to the other drivers.
As far as the graphics go, you probably wont be blinking anytime in the near future. Neon walls and ralings on the tracks race past as you travel at speeds above 1000 MPH, A combination of fire, electricity, heat and light bombard your eyes everytime you use a boost, all of this done at a steady 60 frames per second. Normally graphics don't count in a game, but you wouldn't get the full sensation of how fast you are going without them in this game.
Now im not a big fan of techno music, but the music does fit with both the high-speed action of a futuristic hover-race and the neon, towering electical cities of the year 3000. While the music could be a bit better, the sound effects really need more tweaking. Oh sure the crashes and explosion sounds are nice (And the sounds make as you race accross tthe recovery tracks only amplifies the feeling of speed) I was really hopping to hear roaring monster jet engines from each of the racers. Even when you switch to the cockpit view the sound of a rocket powered engine sounds kinda wussy...guess people in the future have made fast electric cars.
Overall im quite satisfied with this game. Even if you master the game itself you still wont guarentee your victory as a combination of tight tracks and cheating AI equal a game that keeps you on your toes. My only other complaint is that there are 30 racers to choose from, and you're given four from the start so you'll have a lot to unlock...and it takes a great deal of skill and time to earn the ability to unlock things.
So if you own a GameCube incarnation of every major Nintendo franchise and so far your only multiplayer game is still Smash bros, rent this game. While your dominating the tracks your buddies will be too busy looking at all the pretty lights to pay attention to where they're going.
F-zero GX is what most racers only dream of being. Not only is this the most intense racer I've ever played, it also has the most depth. For someone like me, who has never played an F-zero game before it's great that Amusement Vision centered the game around the only character from the series im familiar with (Capt. Falcon) and included bios for all the other characters.
Strong gameplay and easy to learn techniques will make this easy for beginners and fun for masters. At the start of the race it's anyones game, the first lap is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with the tracks (IE. Where the speed pads and recovery pads are) but once you've earned the boost by compleating the first lap it no longer becomes a game of luck but a game of skill. You'll be stuck on a track with people who'll try to bump you off and then make a quick getaway, forcing you to make a choice of weither to stay clear of danger and win the old fashioned way...or to take out the other racers making you the winner by default.
And you'll learn to love and appreciate the different styles of turning too. Tilt the control stick to veer left or right on the stacks. Hold down the either the left or right trigger buttons and tilt the control stick in the coresponding direction to execute a tight, curve-hugging swipe. Or you could hold down both trigger buttons and steer with a combo of both...where every turn you make will be a side-swipe...wich is just one way of dealing out damage to the other drivers.
As far as the graphics go, you probably wont be blinking anytime in the near future. Neon walls and ralings on the tracks race past as you travel at speeds above 1000 MPH, A combination of fire, electricity, heat and light bombard your eyes everytime you use a boost, all of this done at a steady 60 frames per second. Normally graphics don't count in a game, but you wouldn't get the full sensation of how fast you are going without them in this game.
Now im not a big fan of techno music, but the music does fit with both the high-speed action of a futuristic hover-race and the neon, towering electical cities of the year 3000. While the music could be a bit better, the sound effects really need more tweaking. Oh sure the crashes and explosion sounds are nice (And the sounds make as you race accross tthe recovery tracks only amplifies the feeling of speed) I was really hopping to hear roaring monster jet engines from each of the racers. Even when you switch to the cockpit view the sound of a rocket powered engine sounds kinda wussy...guess people in the future have made fast electric cars.
Overall im quite satisfied with this game. Even if you master the game itself you still wont guarentee your victory as a combination of tight tracks and cheating AI equal a game that keeps you on your toes. My only other complaint is that there are 30 racers to choose from, and you're given four from the start so you'll have a lot to unlock...and it takes a great deal of skill and time to earn the ability to unlock things.
So if you own a GameCube incarnation of every major Nintendo franchise and so far your only multiplayer game is still Smash bros, rent this game. While your dominating the tracks your buddies will be too busy looking at all the pretty lights to pay attention to where they're going.
