Very fast, Very fun...
This is the tagline for F-Zero GX and AX, and it describes this game perfectly. F-Zero GX is raw speed, and if you blink you will die. This is quite possibly one of the most fast paced and chaotic racing games it has ever been my pleasure to play. Even on novice difficulty, the tracks fly-by so fast you can hardly see what is going on. In order to get good, you have to memorize tracks and practice…a lot. But if you make it, you will be well rewarded.
If you have not already figured it out, speed is the focus of the gameplay. There is a light combat element, but it does not matter. Speed is all that counts. You have a boost that you can use, but it will cost you health that can be regenerated by driving over colorful strips on the road. The whole system works really well, and will have you hooked in no time.
But this game is not for everybody. Many people will be put off by this game's cray difficulty levels. Only the players who are really good or really stubborn (me) will truly enjoy this game.
At the start there are 15 tracks available, split into 3 cups: The Ruby Cup, The Saphire Cup, and the Emerald Cup. If you can beat them all on a high enough difficulty, you unlock the Diamond Cup. After that, there are 6 tracks from the Arcade counterpart, F-Zero AX, that can be unlocked by being even better. There is also a wide variety of characters/cars to unlock with money bought by winning races. There are also other neat surprises, like interviews with the characters that you can watch when coming in 1st on standard or higher difficulty. And if all this is not enough for you, there are harder difficulty levels just waiting to be unlocked. There is no cheat to unlock the extras. You have to earn them the old fashioned way…
…Well, there is one shortcut to unlocking the AX tracks, you can earn them by bringing your gamecube memory card to an AX machine and beating the tracks on the arcade game. But seeing as those machines are rare now, that is not an option for most people. (though if you know where an AX machine is…tell me…I gotta play one!)
There is a story mode, and it is also hard. Not only do you have to beat a chapter to unlock the next one, but then you have to buy the chapter with money earned from races. (and chapters are very expensive) The story missions are a fun diversion from the rest of the game, as the campy cutscenes are fairly entertaining, and the missions usually have a twist to them.
There is also a custom car creator. You build your machine using parts you can buy, and you can even add custom emblems. (though I warn you that cars & emblems take up a lot of space on your memory card.)
The game is presented really well. The graphics for this game are beautiful…I think it all goes by so quick…and the music is pretty catchy.
In addition to playing cups and story, there is also the standard practice, time trials etc. There is a multiplayer element, but I have not gottent to try it…but I am sure it is as good as the single player (if not better).
Overall, F-Zero GX is now my favroite racer. (along with Mario Kart) I would suggest that anyone who wants pure speed play this game.