Screenshots :.
F-Zero GX
GameCube
Matt
30-03-2007
"It's just like a driving game, but in the future. Amazing."
"Captain Planet reject sits behind the wheel"
"Mayhem!"
Here’s a poser for you: what do monkeys in balls have in common with hellishly quick futuristic racing? Anyone? To be honest, it’s a little bit of a trick question really. You see, F-Zero GX is the latest instalment of Nintendo’s vision of what F1 could look like in the year 26th century. This time, though, it’s been developed by Sega’s Amusement Vision studio and uses – believe it or not – an upgraded version of the Super Monkey Ball game engine.
My expectation for this one was high. GX’s predecessor, F-Zero X on the Nintendo 64, was one of my favourite racing titles of all-time, and the thought of the same kind of thing presented with flashy next-gen visuals really whetted my appetite. It’s at points like this when most people expect me to start going down the ‘but, sadly…’ route, so it’s all the more pleasing that GX is more than good enough for me not to have to.
At its heart, this new F-Zero game is strikingly similar to its predecessor. Packs of 30 racers zip around twisting circuits high in the sky, smashing and knocking each other about in the quest for first place. The action is insanely frenetic and you very rarely get any respite even on the easier difficulty levels, with enemy AI being particularly brutal and not afraid to slam you into any available barrier.
Ship control also feels reminiscent of the previous game in the series, with the various craft offering a proper sense of weight and momentum. Obviously with the game being primarily an arcade title, things are more than a little forgiving and you’ll never find yourself lumped with a machine that is utterly impossible to pilot. That being said, things certainly aren’t a walk in the park and depending on the ship of your choice’s attributes in weight, grip and speed you will have to change your racing technique to suit.
The main mode in F-Zero GX is Grand Prix mode, which works in a very similar way to the previous game. Initially presented with a selection of three cups (Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald) and a choice of three difficulty levels, the player must race in a series of five races in each cup and accrue the most points in order to win the championship, an achievement that also gives you tokens to spend in other sections of the game. Winning the cups also eventually leads to the unlocking of two further cups and Master difficulty to race on, which unsurprisingly is teeth-grindingly difficult.
Elsewhere, the game offers an intriguing Story Mode, allowing you to Captain Falcon through a series of missions. Whilst offering an interesting aside to the challenge of the Grands Prix, the mode somewhat shoots itself in the foot a little by being hugely difficult. The incentives are certainly there though; as with Grand Prix mode there are three difficulty levels, and completing each of the nine missions on all the difficulty levels unlocks items in the game shop.
As well as presenting standard Time Attack and Multiplayer options, Customise Mode gives the player the chance to tinker around a bit with the ships at their disposal or create their own aerodynamic beast. Thrown in to the mix is a logo design tool that allows the player to add an individual splash of colour to their creations too. This is a very welcome addition and will add countless hours to your gaming sessions as you test and try various combinations.
On top of all the modes, options and the high octane thrills, F-Zero GX looks utterly beautiful. Whereas the limits of the hardware meant that Nintendo had to make concessions when it came to F-Zero X’s graphics to keep things running smooth back in the days of the Nintendo 64, the power of the GameCube has enabled Amusement Vision to smother the game in a wonderful next-gen sheen. Words alone can’t do the game full justice, nor can they hope to convey the feeling that you get whilst buzzing past vast cityscapes, dense jungle and bubbling pools of lava.
In many ways, this is what fans of the series had been desperately hoping for. For years now we’ve had the fiendishly addictive gameplay but have had to accept that to run smoothly the games have had to look minimalist. Now, for the very first time, we’ve got a wonderful graphical experience and thankfully Amusement Vision hasn’t gone and stuffed the intense gameplay up. It’s an ideal marriage.
Obviously, if you’re not into futuristic racing titles then this will all go right over your head. At the end of the day F-Zero GX isn’t going to be a universal classic due to it ploughing a reasonably narrow furrow. For what it is though, and for what Amusement Vision has managed to do in grabbing a much-loved series and pulling it up right into the heart of the present, F-Zero GX is an outstanding game.
My expectation for this one was high. GX’s predecessor, F-Zero X on the Nintendo 64, was one of my favourite racing titles of all-time, and the thought of the same kind of thing presented with flashy next-gen visuals really whetted my appetite. It’s at points like this when most people expect me to start going down the ‘but, sadly…’ route, so it’s all the more pleasing that GX is more than good enough for me not to have to.
At its heart, this new F-Zero game is strikingly similar to its predecessor. Packs of 30 racers zip around twisting circuits high in the sky, smashing and knocking each other about in the quest for first place. The action is insanely frenetic and you very rarely get any respite even on the easier difficulty levels, with enemy AI being particularly brutal and not afraid to slam you into any available barrier.
Ship control also feels reminiscent of the previous game in the series, with the various craft offering a proper sense of weight and momentum. Obviously with the game being primarily an arcade title, things are more than a little forgiving and you’ll never find yourself lumped with a machine that is utterly impossible to pilot. That being said, things certainly aren’t a walk in the park and depending on the ship of your choice’s attributes in weight, grip and speed you will have to change your racing technique to suit.
The main mode in F-Zero GX is Grand Prix mode, which works in a very similar way to the previous game. Initially presented with a selection of three cups (Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald) and a choice of three difficulty levels, the player must race in a series of five races in each cup and accrue the most points in order to win the championship, an achievement that also gives you tokens to spend in other sections of the game. Winning the cups also eventually leads to the unlocking of two further cups and Master difficulty to race on, which unsurprisingly is teeth-grindingly difficult.
Elsewhere, the game offers an intriguing Story Mode, allowing you to Captain Falcon through a series of missions. Whilst offering an interesting aside to the challenge of the Grands Prix, the mode somewhat shoots itself in the foot a little by being hugely difficult. The incentives are certainly there though; as with Grand Prix mode there are three difficulty levels, and completing each of the nine missions on all the difficulty levels unlocks items in the game shop.
As well as presenting standard Time Attack and Multiplayer options, Customise Mode gives the player the chance to tinker around a bit with the ships at their disposal or create their own aerodynamic beast. Thrown in to the mix is a logo design tool that allows the player to add an individual splash of colour to their creations too. This is a very welcome addition and will add countless hours to your gaming sessions as you test and try various combinations.
On top of all the modes, options and the high octane thrills, F-Zero GX looks utterly beautiful. Whereas the limits of the hardware meant that Nintendo had to make concessions when it came to F-Zero X’s graphics to keep things running smooth back in the days of the Nintendo 64, the power of the GameCube has enabled Amusement Vision to smother the game in a wonderful next-gen sheen. Words alone can’t do the game full justice, nor can they hope to convey the feeling that you get whilst buzzing past vast cityscapes, dense jungle and bubbling pools of lava.
In many ways, this is what fans of the series had been desperately hoping for. For years now we’ve had the fiendishly addictive gameplay but have had to accept that to run smoothly the games have had to look minimalist. Now, for the very first time, we’ve got a wonderful graphical experience and thankfully Amusement Vision hasn’t gone and stuffed the intense gameplay up. It’s an ideal marriage.
Obviously, if you’re not into futuristic racing titles then this will all go right over your head. At the end of the day F-Zero GX isn’t going to be a universal classic due to it ploughing a reasonably narrow furrow. For what it is though, and for what Amusement Vision has managed to do in grabbing a much-loved series and pulling it up right into the heart of the present, F-Zero GX is an outstanding game.
9/10