Podcaster and sometimes gaming industry insider NateTheHate made the audacious prediction that F-Zero would finally get its moment in the spotlight in 2023.
F-Zero … in 2023?
This rumor comes after a number of insiders, including Emily Rogers and Liam Robertson, stated a few months ago that Nintendo is currently looking to remaster a significant amount of older content that they created for their older gaming systems. This rumor follows in the footsteps of those statements. The F-Zero game that was referenced is most likely a remaster of the GameCube title F-Zero GX, which saw the light of day for the first time in 2003. This game was a collaborative effort between Amusement Vision and Nintendo, and it was released by Nintendo. Please remember that this is only a rumor and take it with the appropriate amount of salt.
The year 2023 will mark the beginning of F-Zero’s era.
Regarding the first Metroid Prime game… Late in the summer of 2021, Retro ended the creation of the game (to be clear, development was done at that point; nevertheless, the game still needed to undergo quality assurance testing, any translation, and so on). The completion of the game has been known for some time at this point. Whatever the explanation may be, Nintendo just decided to hold off on making the announcement and releasing the product.
Remembering F-Zero GX
Drive forward down the straight. Lean into the hairpin turn and make a little adjustment to the steering at the exact right time to go by your two competitors. Make your way onto the boost pad while narrowly avoiding the smoldering wreckage of a racer who had more bad luck than you. Turn the power on and race as fast as you can up, around, and back down the 360-degree circle. Examine the tachometer for accuracy. 2000 km/h. There is no other option besides F-Zero.
The much-beloved F-Zero series from Nintendo, which debuted on the Super Nintendo and continued to develop on the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Advance, now makes its grand entrance into the next generation with the release of F-Zero GX. Magnet-o-racing newcomers will be tearing around the rollercoaster tracks like experts in no time, and everyone will be on their knees in awe at the speed and splendor of this racing wonder for the Nintendo GameCube. Fans of earlier versions will feel right at home with F-Zero GX’s familiar controls and strategies.
F-Zero GX has a huge variety of gameplay modes and options. Multi-race Grand Prix, Time Attacks, four-player Versus Play, and a one-player Story Mode that puts you in the gleaming gold boots of F-Zero hero Captain Falcon for a series of racing’missions’ are all included in this game. A wonderful addition, the Versus Play mode supports up to four players. F-Zero GX is always about the speed of its floaty futuristic vehicle, a pace that defies belief and will have you picking flies from your face after each race regardless of how you choose to play the game. You may speed up by using the A button. More speed, more speed, more speed, until a quarter of a kilometer of track is obliterated under your ship with each passing second. Of course, there is also some steering to be done; the L and R Buttons, which give you greater lean to the left or right, respectively, will be your closest friends when it comes to this aspect of the game. When traveling at a speed of one thousand kilometers per hour, the tiniest of pushes is all that is required to maneuver you through F-Zero GX’s right-angled nightmares and hairpin horrors, or to avoid a competitor, or to tilt your scary post-ramp tumble back into the circuit.
Then there are the energy strips, which are the lilac-colored areas of the track that fill up a meter that is located in the top-right hand corner of the screen. This seemingly innocuous bar is really representing your boost. You press the Y button, and with a head-spinning visual and audible ‘whooosh,’ you’re gone over the horizon at over 2,000 kilometers per hour. You pass rival racers before you’ve ever realized they’re there, and you take three turns in the time it takes to blink your eyes. Be careful, though, since your boost meter also serves as your energy meter, and if it hits zero, the race is over.
The outstanding collection of thirty vehicles in F-Zero GX each have their own distinct appearance, set of abilities, and attractively drawn comic book-style pilots. It doesn’t take long for people to decide which vehicle is their favorite: possibly the swiftness and delicate sleekness of the White Cat, flown by the slim Jody Sumner, or the bullishly hefty Stingray, piloted by the never-happy Samurai Goroh. You also have the ability to tamper with the speed-to-acceleration ratio of any craft, adding gobs of nuanced strategy to your gameplay. The sensation of genuinely racing, pounding and bumping your way through the pack, your spine tingling its knowledge of the victory-hungry automobiles behind you, has never been more intense as it is now that an incredible 29 other vehicles are sharing the road with you. You are fortunate in that you have the ability to push or spin other racers off the track and into the ether, sending sparks flying as that garishly painted steel collides with one another. It is much more pleasant to know that your buddy is out of the race for good as they take their multi-mile drop down to the ground far, far below. Knowing this makes the experience even more enjoyable.
However, the twenty courses in F-Zero GX are the game’s crowning glory. F-Zero stalwart Mute City has returned, this time with pastel neon advertising for sushi restaurants and “Electric Stores” floating and flickering like ghosts over its winding and meandering pathways. On the Lightning track, an already intense feeling of impending danger is heightened by the treacherous hanging highways and the furious sky, which is constantly ripped apart by purple lightning. White fire illuminates the industrial metalwork of Port Town, and Green Plant sees amazing transparent track loops sitting in the middle of dense forest, where the blinding sun is often only just visible through the lustrous leafage. White fire also illuminates the industrial metalwork of Green Plant. As you make your way farther into the level, the streets will get more congested, the loops and bends will be more unsettling, and the jumps will be taller and more difficult to land from. Of course, everything is difficult while traveling at a speed of 2,000 kilometers per hour; just do your best not to punch the air and yell “Victory!” when you complete a lap without bouncing off any of the track walls.
In addition to all of this, you will also get a revolutionary link to the arcade version of F-Zero known as F-Zero AC. If you want access to all 8000 potential vehicle combinations in F-Zero GX, you’ll need to download components from F-Zero AC as well. However, you may personalize your car in F-Zero GX by using bits and pieces that you’ve won through winning races. Even better, you are able to upload your custom-built ship to F-Zero AC and race it in the arcades. Additionally, you are able to download new pilots and ship components to F-Zero GX. Unquestionably a fresh approach to gaming.
