Does the word "FAST" mean anything to you? F-Zero GX Import Impressions (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey Forner]

After far too long a wait to get my copy of this game early, my Japanese version of F-Zero GX arrived in the mail today. I've been playing it for the past few hours and would like to share some of my initial impressions for those who are interested in this product (and perhaps a little jealous that I have it before everyone else ).

Graphics and Sound
You may have seen screen shots. You may have watched some high-quality Quicktime movies from the Net. However, none of that matches the experience of playing this game on a big, widescreen TV while the soundtrack envelopes you in glorious Dolby Pro-Logic II. The levels are highly detailed. The framerate never falters. The music rocks hard and fast. The sense of speed is uncompromising. There is a thread elsewhere on this board concerning reference quality games. F-Zero GX is the next such title for the GameCube. Well done, Amusement Vision!

Controls
In typical Nintendo fashion, the controls are simple to learn, but difficult to master The control stick obviously steers your craft. The A button accelerates, and the Y button activates your boost. B acts as a braking device and the L and R shoulder buttons drift your ship ever so slightly to the left and right. In short, the controls feel a lot like past F-Zero games, particularly the N64 incarnation, and this, my friends is a very good thing indeed.

Challenge
Word around the Net is that this is a tough game. It is. You have your choice of three difficulty levels when you start out. Right now, I'm stuck on Novice, trying to beat the Emerald Cup. The problem is not that I can't win the race. I just can't finish them. I keep flying off the track and crashing, thus, ending my chances of winning. However, like another great Amusement Vision game, Super Monkey Ball I don't want to stop playing because I know that I can beat it if I play through it just one more time.

Oh, and from what little I've seen of Story Mode thus far, I can safely say that these challenges will stump even the most avid F-Zero player. They not only require wits, skill, and quick reflexes, but a sharp mind to plan out the best course of action. This should keep me busy for quite a while.

In short, I'm liking it so far. It looks like fans of the series will be very happy come later this month.

 

[Mark Dubbelboer]

sounds good, i'm very interested in this title went it gets released stateside

 

[Philip_S]

Wait until you unlock the Diamond Class. Those tracks are insane.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Phillip;

If I manage to be the Sapphire Cup on Standard, I will begin to think about that. Right now, I just keep flying off the tracks and dying, particularly on Mute City II.

Oh, and I just beat the first challenge of Story Mode on the Hard difficulty. It took me a couple hours of constant playing to finally get it, but I won. However, the joy of my victory was quickly squashed upon the discovery that there is also a VERY HARD difficulty, which is much, much worse.

I foresee this game eating up a lot of my time in the coming weeks.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Now that this is done, I hope that they're working on Daytona LIVE

 

[Dave F]

Thread crap or not, is it really necessary to resort to name calling?

-Dave

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

I started this thread to talk about F-Zero GX. I did not start it so that console fanboys could duke it out.

Stick to the topic, please.

 

[Neil M]

I'm glad to hear the controls are similar to the N64 version. This is a definite purchase for me. Thanks for your impressions Jeff. Keep em' coming.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

I wish Quantum Redshift for Xbox would have turned out like this. Started out enjoying then not. Really grew to hate the control. The video on the net for F-Zero looks insane.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

JFo, that wasn't a threadcrap.

I'm a Sega fanboy, not a system fanboy, and that includes AV. I just want to see Daytona back on a system that I can use to play online. Daytona was so great on DC online, I NEED a new Daytona title. I hope they'll take experience gained on FZero and apply it to their own core franchise

 

[Allen_Appel]

By "threadcrap" I believe he meant that your post had nothing to do with the topic in the title of the thread (kinda like this one). Perhaps you should start a thread of your own about Daytona and your hopes and dreams for it.

 

[Neil M]

JFo never said it was thread crap. He was responding before a little fight started so this thread could stay open. Let's just say one post has mysteriously disappeared in this thread that would explain everything

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

So, I finally opened up the Diamond Cup. I decided that I didn't have enough energy left for the evening to compete for the gold medal, so I just played through the courses on Time Attack mode.

Oh boy... Am I fucked.

Additionally, I spent a couple hours trying to beat the first challenge of Story Mode on Very Hard. No such luck there either.

This game just got a whole lot more interesting.

 

[Ryan FB]

Anyone know if there's a "random track generator" mode (even unlockable) like there was on the N64 version (I think it was called the X-Cup on F-Zero X)? Man, that thing made for all sorts of hours of multiplayer fun.

 

[JohnE]

Thanks for the impressions. I'm really looking forward to this one. This will be my first Nintendo game since Zelda, so I'm ready to dust the system off and get down to some business.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Ryan;

Sadly, it does not have a random track generator.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

Oh boy... Am I fucked.

And by the way, please keep the topic to F-Zero. A few days without back and forth jabs would be welcome.