F-Zero - GP Legend Review by: EX Palen - 8.5/10
Ahead of the firstSince long time ago, mankind has always imagined how the future would be. Mankind's imagination, long before developing videogames, has always inspired different future realities. 1984, for example, a book from George Orwell wrote in 1948, expected how would the world be less than forty years into the future, the same as did Stanley Kubrick in 1968 when filming 2001: A Space Odyssey. Orwell had some success, but only due to the language the characters spoke. Kubrick just failed catastrophically. Later on, Star Wars and Star Trek advanced some centuries into the future, still showing, as Kubrick, space colonization by mankind. Videogames weren't realistic the first decades, not just graphics but also game plots. Mach Rider, a NES game released in 1985, was the first racing game to be set on the future, but F-Zero, in 1990, was the one that created the futuristic racing sub-genre, with its own series and more like WipeOut to come.
This game was the last installment (actually not, but Climax, its successor, was only released in Japan) of the F-zero series to date, released in 2003 shortly after F-Zero GX for the GameCube. Since then, no other F-Zero game has been released, which is sad, so let's give this series the reviews they deserve.
Graphics: The machines are very detailed. The circuits, and also the environment of each planet, are also good: the big oceans from Big Blue, the storms in Lighting, the mist in Mist Flow that lowers visibility... The only bad thing is the circuit map. I don't remember it flickering when I played this on my Game Boy Advance SP, but either I'm wrong or it's a problem within the emulator. Whatever happens with the map, graphics still get a 9.
Sound: What has to be said about sound? The themes from Mute City and Big Blue are a trademark of the F-Zero series, and two of the most epic themes of all time. The menu music is also good, and nothing wrong with the in-game sound effects. Although I don't like much playing with background music, there's almost nothing to be blocked by music in this game, so I give sound a 9.
Addictiveness: Well, it's not that addictive, at least for me. The fact that you just have to win all cups in all difficulties isn't that much of a challenge. The story is rather short, with only eight characters out of 30, and then you're left with Zero Test and Time Attack, that means, you can only challenge yourself. Maybe I'm slipping information regarding other aspects, but if those aspects aren't very good they affect the way you would play this game again or not. For all of this, addictiveness receives a 6.
Story: The game is inspired in the anime of the same name, but I know nothing about it. Maybe this game's story is the same as the anime, but it's really short, taking few missions and few characters to complete. However, it can be quite challenging depending the way you drive, and there are some missions that are really painful for my style. Even so, story gets a 6.
Depth: Again, what I said in addictiveness and story. It has a short story, yes, there aren't many things to do in Grand Prix, yes, but if you connect with the game, you can develop the challenge to improve yourself in Time Attack by
selecting a bunch of your best machines and putting them against the clock, or master all the Zero Test missions. I'm not one of those chosen ones, even so depth gets a 7.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the CPU maybe isn't that much of a challenge, but the circuits are another thing. We start with circuits that have boundaries in all their length, to circuits that have multiple jumps, tight sections and corners, ice, mines, water, or even they don't have what could we call the start line (Honeycomb Rink). Beating the CPU is rather easy, compared to how difficult it is to master the most difficult circuits, specially the tracks at Mist Flow, with lowered visibility. I give difficulty a 7 for all of this.
Summarizing, I don't know what do you guys think but... Wouldn't it be great for F-Zero to return? Now we have the 3DS and the Wii U, imagine what they could come up with. Hope Nintendo hears this, F-Zero needs a comeback, a great comeback.
Graphics
9 Sound
9 Addictive
6 Depth
7 Story
6 Difficulty
7
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