Finally a game for the hard core gamer
GAME PLAY
Imagine driving extremely fast on crazy twisting courses and you have F-zero GX. The game is very easy on the first set of levels, but then you slowly ramp up into the harder classes and the game reaches the brinks of impossibility and will make you question if you have the necessary skills to beat it. The enemies are the least of your worries, the tracks need to be memorized first. The tracks are all wildly difficult compared to Mario Kart or your typical racer, and in some cases the game almost feels insane on some tracks. Just stay on the track, finish in the top 6 and you'll usually do good. Besides the extremely quick racing and tight handling, their are side to side attacks that allow you to knock racers off the road for extra lives and if they are in the lead, potential championships. That is how you win in Master Cups.
The story mode in the game is strange as heck, with cheesy and funny cutscenes, mixed with the hardest challenges ever to face a gamer.
Imagine having to stay above 750 KM through a twisting track... its not fun. A big problem with the story mode is that some missions are so hard they aren't fun rather they are just memorization. If you get past that, the reward for actually beating a mission is so great, it over comes the obstacle of the missions being almost too hard.
GRAPHICS
Graphics are phenomenal. The game probably looks about as good as any GC game, except that you are at 60 FPS. Models look good, tracks are bright and have plenty of background objects. There is a lack of reflections in race, but thats to be expected to hold 60 FPS
SOUND
I did not like the music in most races. I don't hate techno, and its definitely better than the music in F-Zero X. I just feel that the only game that got the music right was the original, which I don't like because of its gameplay. One song I do like is in the second story mission I believe, its a redo of one of the original F-Zero songs, and sounds great and fits the mission.
VALUE
The game has plenty of replay value out of the sheer difficulty and having to redo so many times because you screw up. There are plenty of tracks, but good luck for the average gamer to unlock them all. I actually invited some of my regular gamer friends over for F-Zero (this brings me to multiplayer aspect of the replay value) and unless you have a lot of hard core gamer friends, the multiplayer is not going to be fun, you'll just end up a mile ahead of everyone else. On the other hand Multiplayer is fun with a decently good friend, though most of the time you will kick their butt. One complaint is that you can't run multiplayer with all thirty cars, but I expect that is a technical limitation rather than an oversight.
TILT
Tilt for me usually comprises of the games story and how it immersed me into the games world. Since this is a racing game, I had to choose something else. I chose the fact that its a racing game that I actually play because its challenging and hard for me to win. Mario Kart:Double Dash I can beat on the hardest modes with no problem, in F-Zero GX, I'm lucky if I win on the hardest mode, most of the time I won't, and the times I do feel more like the luck than skill.
Overall, while not perfect, F-Zero GX is finally chance for the hard core gamer to put his skills to use, rather than letting them dull on easier games.