Come to think of it, probably one of the other reasons I never bought F-Zero in the SNES era was because I only got to play it near the end of that generation, and by then the hype for the then called Ultra 64 was at fever pitch! All my pocket money was being saved for those tasty Silicon Graphics. Nintendo was on fire with their early N64 releases and so when F-Zero 64 started to appear in lists of upcoming games, you can bet I was excited!
In fact, I remember buying magazines solely because they had 2 or 3 early screenshots of the game once it was properly announced and retitled F-Zero X. Back then, I never had a PC, so I would visit my local library to use the internet. After it came out in Japan and the US, I’d print off many pages from the old IGN and the official Nintendo websites as well (not for free either!).
Eventually the game came out in Australia, and I was there day one to pick up my copy that I’d pre-ordered from the reliable Pim of Southside Video Games. Reliable until he went out of business a few years later anyway!
I still remember this day clearly. When I went to buy it, he had it running in the shop, so I had a quick go before paying for my own copy. I was shocked when he asked for just $59.95, a whole $40 cheaper than the average Nintendo release back then. Why? Well I think I later found out or deduced that because of the low-detail graphics, Nintendo had put it out as a budget title. I had no problem with that news, even though I was prepared with the full $99.95 in hand. And as I played and enjoyed the game over the years, it acts as a constant reminder of what an insane deal that was! And I still have it to this day:
Just look at that box art! Can it get any better tha..... holy shiiieett would you look at this freaking work of art:
Modes
GP Race
The main mode of the game, where you race on progressively more difficult Jack, Queen and King Cups, across Novice, Standard and Expert difficulty. A 4th cup, Joker can be unlocked by beating the 3 Cups on Standard Difficulty. Beating each of the 4 cups on Expert then unlocks Master for that Cup, and beating them all unlocks the X-Cup, which consists of randomly generated tracks.
Each Cup has 6 tracks instead of 5 in the first game. This time, there are 30 distinct racers on the track. The player car choice is limited to 6 at first, with the rest unlocked by beating Cups to earn X marks (visible on the cup selection screen). A new row of 6 cars will unlock after 3, 6, 9 and 12 X marks are earned. Now, the pilot is shown alongside the car selection. After choosing one, you’re given the ability to tailor the machine for Acceleration or Max Speed. You can do this again before each track as well.
Starting a race, the differences from the original F-Zero become clear. The camera starts high above the track and spins down to your car at the back of a full starting grid. Your position on the grid depends on your place in the previous race. The track is now fully 3D and so the planet beneath actually appears way below the track surface. A countdown replaces the simple beeps of the original.
Since the Acceleration or Max Speed is now user-selectable, F-Zero X does away with boost starts completely. Now, all you can do is press the accelerator to see your car lift up a little in preparation for the race, which is actually a very cool little touch. The HUD has been expanded to show the current top 6 ranking racer profiles.
This time, there are only 3 laps instead of 5. The first lap plays out similarly to the original F-Zero, since you have no boost power until the second lap. The boost you receive functions differently to the original game. This time, you can boost many times per lap - as many times as you want, so long as you have energy, since now using boost depletes your energy bar. This small change means you’re often racing on the edge of danger. This time, the pit lane starts to recover your health instantly, the moment you enter it.
Upon completing a lap, the time gap between your car and those in the lead, or behind you if you’re in first is shown on screen. You can also bring up this display permanently by pressing the L button. In each race after the first, a Rival marker is displayed on one of the other cars on the field. This racer is closest to you in the overall points tally and so if you take them out of the race, they’ll get zero points and you’ll definitely move up the leaderboard.
Like F-Zero, you will explode and lose a car if you deplete your energy from collisions, boosting too much, or flying off the course. You have less lives to start with depending on the difficulty. There are no points to earn lives in X - instead you earn them by destroying other racers. This can be achieved by pushing them off course or into barriers with a well placed Spin or Side Attack, which are new moves added to this game. When you destroy another racer a star appears on the screen - get 5 kills and you will get an extra life. If you lose all your lives it’s game over and you have to start the Cup again.
This time, there is no “Safe” rank you need to be above to continue the track and proceed to the next. You must simply finish the race. Each of the 30 rank positions gets its own point score at the end of a track. This is tallied over the 6 courses and the winner is the car with the most points at the end. Completing a Cup, you are treated to an awards ceremony on the track and a comment from your pilot. The car also gets a trophy mark on the Car selection screen.
Time Attack
A dedicated Time Attack mode appears for the first time. Now, times are saved to 1/1000 of a second so you can really beat a time by a fraction! There are only 5 records per course stored now, but each has a name entry, so you can know if you or your friends have the record, as well as the machine settings that were used. Max Speed on a track is also stored as an independent record.
F-Zero X adds Ghost racers to Time Trial mode. These appear as a record of a previous best run, when you replay the course. Up to 3 ghosts can appear at once too, or you can race without if you prefer. Ghosts are only stored until the power is turned off, unless you save them - but only one can be saved. You can easily clear records and ghosts as well.
Finally there are “Staff Ghosts” that can be unlocked by setting a time close to that of the Staff Ghost. You can then compete against the ghost to improve your time.
Death Race
This is a new mode where the goal is to take out all 29 opposing racers on a single dedicated course. You can boost right from the start and there is no limit to the number of laps here. Your best time for destroying everyone is saved to the cartridge.
VS Battle
Multiplayer is finally added to F-Zero in grand fashion - full 4 player split screen! CPU cars can be added to make up for any friends you don’t have too. There’s also a handicap feature that’ll keep unevenly skilled players closer to each other, and a slot machine feature which gives retired players a means to potentially reduce the remaining player’s energy in various ways.
Practice
Practice returns from the original. This time you can practice any track or difficulty from the GP, and for any amount of laps too.
Tracks
Jack Cup
Mute City Figure Eight
The developers waste no time taking advantage of the 3rd dimension with this track introducing a full loop. It’s interesting that the loop is essentially just a straight, but is somehow a lot more exhilarating, knowing you’re traveling upside down! The course layout is a lot simpler than the original Mute City with only a few turns, but this acts as a good first course.
Silence High Speed
Silence bears little resemblance to the original game’s track. Instead, the layout is actually similar to Death Wind I, although the course twists around too. There’s no wind, but there’s an abundance of boost arrows on the course. The challenge here is to navigate through the field while hitting as many boost pads as possible. You have to be careful though, since in this game, too much speed and the curvature of the track will actually lift you right off the road, usually to a gruesome death. Holding forward to tilt your nose down will keep you on the track, but you’ll have a harder time steering.
Sand Ocean Pipe
The first course to introduce one of the defining features of F-Zero’s tracks - the full pipe. No longer limited to a flat road, you can now disorient yourself by driving on the walls and ceilings in 2 pipe sections. This extra space can be used to avoid and overtake CPU cars - that is until you’re funneled out the end as the pipe becomes increasingly small. They smartly add a coloured strip so you do actually know where you should exit the pipe.
Devil’s Forest Corkscrew
This course’s defining feature is its banked corkscrew straight where it can be easy to lose grip overtaking cars at speed. There’s some relatively sharp corners at the beginning and end, but this is a pretty simple course overall.
Big Blue Cylinder
You get the impression this game almost made itself with the amount of ideas 3D afforded them. You can drive inside pipes, so why not on the outside too? A far cry from the original Big Blue, 80% of this course is driving on the outer edges of the pipe. As it twists and undulates your aim is to spin over and under as you attempt to hit all the boost pads. Like silence, too much speed in a few places will lift you right off the pipe, so you have to be careful too! The track ends with a sharp chicane that can be a source of pile-ups and races lost in the final moments.
Port Town High Jump
Port Town introduced gap jumps to the original F-Zero, so it’s fitting that this version has the game’s first huge jump. No jump pads are necessary, as you climb a thin, steep incline full of boost pads to launch you high into the air. Tilting your nose down you can gain incredible amounts of speed, but you have to stick the landing!
Queen Cup
Sector α Inverted Loop
In this course you drive one way then back again to see where you just came from (or is it where you’re going?) hovering above. It’s another high speed course where you have to be careful of flying off.
Red Canyon Multi Jump
A rectangular minimap suggests another Death Wind I style course, but this one is made different by having several jumps along the straights. There’s lots of elevation changes here, and again tilting the nose comes into play if you want to retain speed.
Devil’s Forest 2 Up and Down
A course with wide banking sections surrounding a dangerous sloping up and down section, that finishes with a tight chicane. Boost pads at the top of each hill will certainly lift you into the air, but this can be used to your advantage to overtake in flight!
Mute City 2 Technique
A nostalgic style course that is generally flatter than most other courses in the game. Lots of tricky turns, thin paths and optional jumps over gaps keep it interesting.
Big Blue 2 Quick Turn
The second Big Blue eschews the first’s outer pipe design in favour of an inverted section made dangerous by no edges at all. This is perfect for nudging CPU cars off but they can do the same to you!
White Land Dangerous Steps
Tracks with no no edge make a return here and are even more dangerous. Even the loop has no edges. The lap ends with a series of jumps to climb up to higher segments of road. You can really pick up speed as you tilt forward, culminating with an enormous jump that rockets you into the final turn.
King Cup
Fire Field Zig-Zag Jump
Fire Field returns mid-game this time in a not nearly as nasty track as the original game. It’s characterized by a thin, steep decline followed by another enormous jump into a zig-zagging section. The lap ends with a sharp incline that will slow you right down if you don’t handle your tilting correctly.
Silence 2 Wavy Road
This version of Silence is made distinct with a full circlular banked corner into some tough turns, followed by an edgeless section of track that has undulations on either side. As with all undulations in this game, be careful of lifting off! Or don’t be careful at all, and use them to massively increase your speed.
Sector β Double Somersault
A double loop appears here, again with no edges. The later half of the lap has you racing directly downwards, where gravity is not on your side, and lifting off becomes incredibly dangerous.
Red Canyon 2 Slim Line
A course defined by incredibly thin sections of track, bound by walls that’ll cost you damage as you try to overtake. There’s also a dangerous jump if you’re traveling fast - which you are - that encourages an extreme dive to pick up maximum speed. The pit lanes here are also very thin so precision is required to fill your energy meter.
White Land 2 Half Pipe
We’ve got pipes, we’ve got tubes, and now we have half pipes. Without a ceiling, much less an edge, these become far more dangerous. The curves and sways of the track impact the grip of your car considerably but are designed in such a way to send you riding and down walls like a skateboarder.
Mute City 3 Jumps of Doom
Going with tradition like Mute City 2, this one is again a flat course. The jumps of doom refer to plates placed strategically on corners, allowing you to skip over and hopefully down onto a boost pad. A few edgeless sections make it tricky.
Joker Cup
Rainbow Road Psychedelic Experience
A 1:1 layout recreation of the track from Mario Kart 64. What was an often long and boring course there, is made far more interesting and challenging with the removal of barriers, and the far greater speed of the cars. The last part of the lap is full of mines, and with no ricochet, one hit will send you flying, usually right off the corner you were on!
Devil’s Forest 3 Mirror Road
A course of two halves, you travel to the midpoint in one direction then after a quick 180 you’re heading back while upside down. There’s not much danger here despite a few edgeless sections.
Space Plant Cylinder & High Jump
Memorable for the steep incline right at the start of the lap. With boost power you can launch yourself miles down the road. TSpace Plant also inherits an outer tube from Big Blue. It’s not quite as twisty here. Once you’re back on regular road you’ll have to navigate into tiny pit lanes on a curve before taking another big leap of faith across the finish line.
Sand Ocean 2 Wave Panic
This course is all about undulation. It’s up and down and twists and turns abound, but it’s still very fast, and you’ll have to watch your grip intensely.
Port Town 2 Snake Road
The last nostalgic course - this one opts to completely reproduce the original Port Town 2, just with some scale adjustments to accommodate more player cars and the greater speed. It was a great course in the original and it’s a lot of fun here. The curves make excellent spots for slamming into CPU cars to destroy them.
Big Hand Deadly Curves
The final track has a gimmicky minimap shaped like a hand, but actually offers a unique challenge owing to its length, slippery surfaces, and lack of edges. There’s lots of opportunities to kill or be killed here, and you really can’t afford to break concentration.
X Cup
All the courses here are randomly generated. They don’t tend to offer much in the way of excellent layouts then, but can still be fun to race. What’s most fun is having a track be generated with a corner the CPU is incapable of taking without flying off, and finishing 1st of 1 as a result!
Cars
F-Zero X greatly expands the player car roster to 30 distinct machines. I’m not going to go through them all since it’d take me too long and to be honest, i’m not familiar with their stats any more. You can just read about them on a wiki like https://mutecity.org/wiki/F-Zero_X if you want. Instead I'll use this section to discuss the pros and cons of having 30 distinct machines.
Although the original had many cars on the course, it wasn’t often you’d see more than 3 at once. Here, you can routinely see 20 or more. It was a wise decision to include this many cars. Since the tracks are long and wide (which came first is maybe a chicken and egg scenario, but I digress), the extra CPU cars on the field keep the races from becoming boring. There’s always someone to overtake or kill even by lap 3 when they’re more spread apart. Overtaking several at once, weaving through them at great speed is an exhilarating experience.
I don't think many realise the influence of Daytona USA on F-Zero X but it's surely there. That too had lots of cars, 40, 20 and 30 depending on the track. They too understood how many was suitable for each. It therefore made perfect sense to me when it was announced that Toshihiro Nagoshi at Sega was chosen to follow up this game with F-Zero GX. A literal match made in heaven. We'll get to that game eventually!
Having so many cars makes it difficult to judge which one is best, but the Staff Ghosts in Time Trial mode help to suggest a suitable car for each track. The experience between the cars is suitably different due to their mix of stats. Only a few are decidedly poor to play and result in less fun being had, but all are viable for completing the game, even on Master difficulty, thanks to the new points system and ability to kill opposing racers. It’s a great feature that the game tracks your completion for every car on every course on every difficulty. As a kid with way too much time to spare, I was actually motivated to complete this task, knowing full well there was probably no reward at the end of it (there wasn’t).
Most likely, you’ll just choose your favorite design when racing the Grand Prix. This is where the developers were very smart in designing 30 unique cars. On the course, even at low polygon detail, they’re all immediately identifiable from their shapes and colours. They may not look as cool as say the ship designs in Wipeout, but they’re far more recognizable at a glance. It doesn’t take long before you associate the cars with their pilot profiles too, and start gunning for the Rival or others close in the points standing, or just that dickhead who knocked you off course earlier.
Graphics
F-Zero X adopts a similar futuristic aesthetic to the original game, with some liberties taken for new track surfaces and side barriers. The backgrounds are sparse but adequately depict the city miles below, while the game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second even with a huge amount of cars on the screen at once. Some tracks like Devil’s Forest look a little dirtier than others and come across as a bit unattractive. It’s a bit of a change from the more vibrant original game. I feel as though more effort could have been made in making each locale distinct, as a few textures are reused here and there.
Sound
F-Zero X has similar (often remixed) themes to the original game, this time electrified with guitars. The tempo has also been kicked up several notches, so the songs match the new game’s speed. It’s an excellent soundtrack that really gets you pumped for racing! Shit, that isn't even close to doing it justice. Check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPn4kCTnJ-0 in-game and then pleasure your ears with the obscenely good Guitar Arrange album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnp2c4wl7Y
Controls
A button accelerates and B is your boost. The C-Down button brakes (maybe they included that for casual players?), while Up and Right adjust the camera angle. Similar to the VR button in Sega’s Virtua Racing and Daytona, you can even go to a birds eye view, which can be fun to play around with.
Like in F-Zero, you can hold Z and Left, or R and Right to perform a deeper turn. New to this game is a drift turn, accomplished by pressing the opposite direction to the button (ie Z and Right, or R and Left). Coupled with high acceleration settings you can actually gain speed in some corners with the drift.
Double-tapping Z or R will do a side attack in the respective direction. This can be used to take out other racers and regain grip when you slip. It’s also useful for taking turns.
Holding R and pressing Z twice or holding Z and pressing R twice will do a new spin attack, which can be useful for causing havoc in a pack of cars.
My Thoughts
Much has been said over the years about how Nintendo prioritized 60 frames per second for this game, at the cost of detailed visuals - and it’s obvious that was the right choice, as the game remains impeccable to play. What I find interesting is, Nintendo of 1998 had this figured out, and yet in 2024, we still have developers pushing hardware like the Switch beyond its capability, compromising the playability of their game. Is it not common sense?
When I think of the track design in this game, I think it’s amazing they virtually exhausted the possibilities of the 3rd dimension on their very first go. Every kind of idea is accounted for, and the couple of tracks that are a little less interesting, don’t stand out as bad, so much as a nice variety amongst the crazier ones.
Equally impressive is how they perfectly designed the tracks for the speed and kind of gameplay they’d created. It doesn’t seem like rocket science, again, more like common sense. But back then, we had competing titles like Extreme G that lacked understanding of track design at all. That game is littered with hill climbs that lead to blind hairpins that make you wonder what the hell the developers were thinking.
F-Zero X’s addition of the gravity system, where your car flies off track at great speed, not only makes sense but is refined and encouraged through regular play, and grows into an advanced technique that is exhilarating to pull off.
Likewise, the way your car loses grip is handled extremely well. You can instantly “feel” when it happens and account for it with the responsive controls. It's central to the edge of your seat gameplay as you push the limits of speed.
F-Zero X is a masterclass in racing game design and one of my favorites of all time. I can hardly fault it. The dodgy X Cup tracks are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, since they’re just a bonus. The 4 player mode wasn’t as fun as Mario Kart 64, since the skill gap amongst my friends was too great, but I didn't really care cause racing the CPU and Ghosts was just so much fun.
Ok, I’m still a little miffed you get nothing for completing the 3600 races across all cars/difficulties/tracks. Just one more illustration is all I wanted! But honestly, I have no regrets. I still harp on about that achievement and time of my life like it was yesterday. Right now in fact! Long after I finished Ocarina of Time a few months later, I was back playing F-Zero X to utter completion, and I became an F-Zero fan for life. It was a truly defining experience in my gaming history. Ocarina was pretty good though too :D
The only real complaint I have is that we never got F-Zero X Expansion Kit outside of Japan. The kit added 10 more tracks along with a track and car editor, but was exclusive to 64DD and remains so today. Nintendo, it's time to make things right and bring it to Switch already!
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