I'll admit it: I bought into the hype. But how couldn't I? F-Zero X was my favorite N64 game, my favorite racing game, and one of the longest-lasting games I've ever bought, even though when I bought it, I thought it would be nothing more than a sideshow of a game. This game, F-Zero X's sequel, was supposed to fix F-Zero X's biggest fault: the graphics. In fact, the game looked to be F-Zero X but faster, with more detailed tracks, and much better graphics. And right when you think you know what type of score this game will get, I'm going to be like that Survivor producer and throw you off: F-Zero GX delivers in all three of those categories I just mentioned. It is so much faster, its tracks are much more detailed, and its graphics are incredible.
This Review, like all others, is on
that old 0-4 star scale. This Review will also be compared to its N64
predecessor, F-Zero X, with +'s, -'s,
and ='s telling you if it's better than F-Zero X (+), worse (-), or about
the same (=) in each category (and the categories may be out of usual order,
as I want to be consistent with my F-Zero X Review).
Graphics: ****
I've been impressed by many games' graphics,
but F-Zero GX beats them all. I've never seen a prettier
game than F-Zero GX, and yes, I have
seen Halo and that Star Wars Cube game, and yes, I own Metroid Prime and
Star Fox Adventures, and yes, I own quite a few EA Sports PS2 games. The
forest tracks look absolutely amazing and realistic. The space-themed tracks
are incredible as well. The machines look great, and the drivers themselves
look awesome. This game is a graphical masterpiece. Now as most of you
know,
graphics don't make a difference as
to whether I like a game or not, but these graphics are still really good.
(+)
Sound: *
F-Zero X gave us a great soundtrack.
While no one song was a standout track like the SMB3 ending theme or the
Fire Emblem theme in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the music was the type you
hum along to, the type of music that gets you more into the game. The music
in F-Zero GX is more techno-style, and I really don't like it. It really
isn't the type you hum along to or anything like that. Sure, you can hear
a remix of the Mute City
theme, but it isn't really that good
either. The only music I somewhat like is Captain Falcon's theme song,
which has lyrics but nonetheless is
probably the best. It is a nice touch that every character has his or her
own theme song, though I'd have to say that most I've heard are very forgettable.
The sound effects are fine, and the character's voices are great, which
help out this rating a little bit. (-)
Difficulty: ****
F-Zero GX was made to be a lot more difficult than F-Zero X, which I'm fine with to a certain extent. After all, even I found some of the normal difficulty levels to be too easy after a while. The problem is, they made the game hard in ways that I usually find damaging to a game: levels that are very hard to finish, things based on luck (the attack system I'll explain below), and computers that come back even when it doesn't make sense. I do not want to say this is the problem with this game, but this is a result of the problems in this game. They will follow later. (-)
Characters: ****
I've always thought that the crack crew
of characters in F-Zero X were the best collection of characters
besides the Mario series and maybe
the Pokémon series. F-Zero GX brings them all back, and you can
see them in full 3D form. They also have bios and will speak. This is great
for the F-Zero series, and with these
extra features on the characters, it
surpasses F-Zero X. (+)
Gameplay: 1/2
Here's where the unraveling of F-Zero GX begins.
It's tough to pick a place to begin,
but I'll start with what I think was the best thing in F-Zero X, which
was the ability to attack opponents. Don't get me wrong, that's still in
this game. It is now so stupid and luck-based that it's not funny. The
game is so much faster than F-Zero X, it is almost too fast. Why? You can't
strategically attack anyone, using a speed boost to be able to sneak up
behind them and nail them. You can't try pushing your machine really hard
in one direction with the purpose of attacking someone. No, attacking is
like this: you just hit the X button and a direction and hope to attack
people as you go by, as really you can't mount any real attack. I have
knocked out quite a few machines out of just hitting the X button and a
direction and just happening to bump into them as I go by. It is really
just based on luck, not on skill like in F-Zero X, where you really needed
to be good at the game in order to master the art of attacking opponents,
or else you'd hurt your energy or your chances at winning the race, or
both. This, I felt, was one of the best
things in F-Zero X. Notably, the Death
Race mode is absent from this game, meaning that obviously the guys
at Amusement Vision had less emphasis
on attacking and more emphasis on speed. That may make the game look better,
but it is also a lot less fun than before.
That, however, is not the only mistake
in the gameplay. In something I'll mention below, the tracks are made almost
like they're supposed to be cool-looking, but they aren't really practical.
You'll have to slow down in order to stop from falling off around a curve,
but then you won't have enough speed to make it over a jump. The casino
track late in the game has jumps that are almost invisible until you hit
them, and once you do, you are dead. The main problem is the fact that
the tracks are made so hard to complete, that you have to forget about
actually racing and focus on just surviving. This takes away more fun of
F-Zero X, which had many last-second comebacks and exciting finishes (of
which there still are some, but not as many). In fact, there was one cup
where I actually had to totally forget about racing to the point where
I ended up finishing 25th or 26th, just so I could finish the race and
not run out of machines. I did have such a points lead that I ended
up winning the cup anyway, but that's
pretty much besides the point, as the fun in racing was gone. The
fact of the matter is, the tracks are
made too hard for the speed you're going at. They should be made easier
to complete so you can really enjoy the speed. I wish so badly they would
have made the tracks easier to complete, as well as keep the attack system
intact, because if so, with the speed (the one good thing about the gameplay),
F-Zero GX would have blown by F-Zero X. This is a shame. (-)
Controls: *
I don't feel as much control around
bends like I used to, which is the first problem with the controls. The
L and R buttons just don't seem to be as responsive, or as tight. Another
problem is the attacking, which seems pretty dull. The old method was hitting
R twice for a rightward attack or Z twice for a leftward
attack, which felt much more real.
This method of hitting X and a direction on the Control Stick is very poor.
My math professor complains about calculators by saying: "Don't just punch
the key and not know what is going on!" The same goes here. You just punch
the X button and a direction, and you may happen to bump by someone and
knock them out. It seems very luck-based. It may not seem that bad from
my explaining it, but if you try it out for yourself (the demo may still
be out in stores, or on that Mario Kart: Double Dash bonus disc), you will
feel how awkward the attack system is.
On a positive note, the Y button works
well as your boost, and the A button is quite responsive for your
acceleration. These things are not
enough to make up for the other poor controls. (-)
Tracks: *
I basically told the problem in the Gameplay section, and I'll say it again: the tracks were made to show off the graphics, I assume, but they end up not being practical. As a result, it's very tough to finish some tracks, and this isn't very fun. Instead of thinking about high-speed racing, you have to think about trying to get around a hairpin turn with enough speed to make the next jump, or avoiding almost-invisible mini-jump things in the track. I would like to credit Amusement Vision (if they're responsible) for making some really nice-looking tracks, but since most are not very practical, that kind of makes that a moot point, since I'd always take gameplay over graphics. (-)
Grand Prix Mode: *
This is basically where all the trials and troubles occur. This is where the inability to attack your opponents in a logical way hurts, and this is where the near-impossible-to-finish tracks hurt. I've given the problems already, and I'm sure you don't want to hear me repeat them again. (-)
Time Attack Mode: *
I've never liked time trials types of
modes that much, save for maybe in Mario Kart 64. I'm not too big of a
fan of this, as it is quite boring.
(-)
Practice Mode: **1/2
Practice Mode is nice because you can
practice the really hard tracks before you try them, but most of
the time that won't really help much
when it's actually time to race. Still, it's not a bad mode. (=)
Story Mode: **1/2
I didn't play much of Story Mode, though I did like what I played of it. If each chapter was unlocked after you beat the one before it, instead of having to earn more tickets through Grand Prix Mode, then I would have played more of it. Instead, I didn't feel like wasting my time playing the same boring tracks in Grand Prix Mode.
Replayability: *
This one star is a strange one. There is built-in replayability just because the game forces you to keep on winning Grand Prixes to unlock racers. However, will you even want to unlock these racers? I didn't even want to play the multiplayer mode after seeing how boring and hard the rest of the game was, which was a clear indication that the game's poor gameplay hurt the game a lot.
Fun Factor!: no stars
Probably the best indication of how
this game was made was the fact that there was no Death Race mode, a
personal favorite from the last game.
That meant that destroying other machines was no longer a big priority,
although it was what made F-Zero X really fun and really long-lasting.
As a result, this good-looking but boring racer is a result.
OVERALL: *
This is truly a shell-shocker to me.
I thought that F-Zero GX would not only be a great game, not only be
greater than F-Zero X, but most likely
the best game of this year and one of the greatest ever. Instead, it
turns out to be a complete waste. Buy,
rent, or skip? I suggest much less than a rent. Just play the demo, if
you can find a demo disc with it. You might enjoy that one race, and if
you do, that's the maximum enjoyment you'll probably get out of F-Zero
GX. I enjoyed my demo, but since I bought my game, I got more enjoyment
out of my demo race than the rest of my playing the game itself combined.
This game is truly, utterly, completely disappointing. Up until mid-November,
it was the clear-cut choice for my most disappointing game of the year
award. Now it has competition, but another disappointment should not outshadow
this game's disappointment.
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