Gamers Month - F-Zero GX

(EDIT: Sorry if I went ahead of you that had May 7th. Time zones you know :\)

F-Zero GX


Developer: Amusement Vision
Publisher: Sega
Platforms: Gamecube
Release date: September 2003 (North America)

'F-Zero GX' is a racing game released for the Gamecube in 2003, the series second game featuring real 3D graphics (the first one being 'F-Zero X' on N64). F-Zero debuted in the early 90's with 'F-Zero' on the SNES, being a fast and futuristic racer with the same Mode 7 technology graphics as Mario Kart, the pseudo-3D some of you may remember.



The game itself is pretty basic. It's a racing game, your task being piloting your ship past the finish line before everyone else. You get the ability to use short bursts of boost, and with some practice you may be able to use 'snaking' - a kind of drifting in snakey patterns for picking up speed. There are no offensive items or weapons to use, but you do have a health bar that depletes if you hit the walls.

You can choose from the usual Grand Prix-, Practice- and Time Trial mode, a story mode and a customization mode, the latter letting you build your own ship from a wide array of parts that you can buy with money you win from races. Some may say the customization mode offers deeper gameplay options, but I can't say I've spent much time in it. The different parts can affect your ships properties like speed, handling, durability and so on.

The Grand Prix mode lets you race in cups, each one containing five stages. What's more, each cup can be beaten in three different difficulties unlocking extras. The racer with the most points by the end of the tournament wins - much like in Mario Kart. Three cups will be available from the beginning while more can be unlocked by beating the former ones. If that isn't enough, there are more than 30 different vehicles to unlock.

The story mode tells the story of Captain Falcon and his adventures as a racer. This mode offers a slightly different kind of racing for each chapter, ranging from the usual one-on-one road races to blasting through a collapsing building on a time limit.



If you ask me, 'F-Zero GX' is not that much of a simple racing game as it is an experience. The reason I chose to do this game for the GFF Gamers Month is its stunning blend of visuals, music and most of all speed. Yes, this game is about speed. When racing you usually keep up a good 1500km/h of velocity, rarely slowing down even in curves. The games way to combine its visuals, music and speed is almost hypnotic. Whether you boost through the organical 'Greenplant', the capital 'Mute City' with its shimmering neon or the nocturnal rainy skies of 'Lightning' you'll be accompanied by fast and powerful beats often featuring heavy guitar riffs. The way the music blends in with your racing is ridiculousy well pulled off, and you feel motivated to go even faster. The feeling of saving up your three boosts and ripping 'em all off at once just seconds before the finish line, with music pumping through the speakers, is not one you get from many games.



There's something else worth mentioning in its own section. 'F-Zero GX' is freaking hard. I've thrown the majority of my Gamecube controllers into the wall thanks to this godforsaken hellspawn of a disc, and you know what? To this day, I haven't beat the story mode yet. I think there's 9 chapters. You're the kind of guy who goes through each cup on one sitting, unlocks the extra cups and then wins them too? Welcome to 'F-Zero GX', please prepare for a long session. You hit a falling boulder, getting stuck for a few seconds? Good luck keeping up with the rest. You think there's a barrier along this 3-meters-wide platform several kilometers up in the sky? No lol. You slip off, you're out .

I've never had so much FUN with a racing game as with F-Zero GX. It doesn't take realism too seriously, it's plain arcade action. Anyone looking for awesome and fast paced action racing should check this out, especially if you like games with challenge. You will not be finished with this game in the first week, and I'll doubt you'll find a racing game with the same blend of velocity, visuals and sound.

Note: You can not 'Falco Punch' in F-Zero GX.

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