Gaming Target - Game Boy: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity

Written by Ilan Mejer on March 28, 2002

Review: The third game in Nintendo's famous F-Zero racing franchise retains the flair and excitement of the original, while ignoring innovations of the N64 sequel.

EAD opted to shop out the F-Zero franchise to the newly established Nintendo 2nd party developer, NDCube, for the much-anticipated Gameboy Advance version. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the Japanese version of the game was simply titled СF-Zero', many people overlooked this game as a remake of the SNES original. Maximum Velocity (MV) pretty much refuses to acknowledge the story or gameplay of its predecessor, F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64. It introduces a new generation of F-Zero courses, pilots, and vehicles, since this Grand Prix takes place a quarter of a century after the original. MV focuses on the graphical, audio, and gameplay experience of the SNES classic and builds off it, resulting in a completely new racing experience, at once familiar, yet wholly its own.

The game features up to fifteen vehicles at once vying on one of twenty unique tracks, in one of four different difficulty levels. Not all options are immediately available, but are unlocked as you progress. Maximum Velocity may appear similar to the SNES game graphically, but it hardly plays like it. The only feature they truly share in common is the lean-in turning facilitated by the L and R shoulder buttons. The A button still accelerates, B still breaks, and the boost can be accessed by hitting L and R simultaneously. Now, the game truly handles as if you were riding in hovercrafts. More than in any other F-Zero game, the vehicles will slip and slide all over the course, especially while turning or after receiving a hit. The only way to gain control after a collision, or retain control while turning sharply is to master the new maneuver called СBlast Turning.' In essence, by quickly firing on your accelerator, you will be able to gain traction and maintain control over your vehicle's hover. Combined with the ability to lean into your turns with L and R, you encounter a racing experience that is made more exciting and УtwitchyФ than the SNES game ever was.

In addition, the innovative X system of boost-shield compromising from F-Zero X has been dropped in favor of the SNES format. The bright green bar on the upper right hand side of the screen represents your craft's shielding. It will deplete as you incur damage either through colliding with other craft, by smashing into the high voltage boundaries of the tracks, or running over mines and other ground-based hazards. Most courses feature a stretch of track, usually near the lap point, where you will be able to regenerate your shields. You may slow down and remain in these regeneration strips if you are critical, but it is recommended to fly through them as fast as possible, gaining whatever shields you can without sacrificing speed, and probably your position. You begin with no boost ability, and gain one boost for every one of the five laps you complete, up to three boosts at once. A new twist to the gameplay requires you to take the initiative during the races. You may finish the first lap whenever you wish, but you must place within the top ten for the second lap, top seven for the third, top five for the fourth, and you must finish the final lap within the top three places to proceed. Should you fail, you will be able to replay the race, at the cost of a life. You only start with five lives per circuit.

The courses themselves range from the simple to the complex in a very satisfying manner; each course is comprised of five different tracks, of five laps each. While some of the locales overlap from circuit to circuit, all of the twenty or so tracks are unique. The majority of the courses have some sort of shortcut, usually involving a risky jump. By pressing Up or Down on the D-Pad, you will be able to alter the trajectory and speed of your jump, but should you land off-track, it will result in the (very nicely animated) destruction of your vehicle, and the loss of a life. The more complicated courses feature a slew of track-altering features such as lava, mines, speed burst arrows, jump points, rough terrain, and magnets. You will need to pay extra attention to the fourteen other racers in the course as well, as they possess their own AI (artificial intelligence) and will, at later levels, attempt to maneuver you into uncomfortable situations.

The game features a robust multiplayer mode that caters to up to four players simultaneously. Furthermore, you will even be able to play with only one game cartridge, although it will be without sound, complex courses, or different kinds of vehicles. Multiple GBAs with an equal amount of F-Zero Maximum Velocity game cartridges will yield a full range of courses, vehicles, and options. MV admirably keeps track of the 5 fastest lap times for every single course in the game. Since you can name each of the three save files included on the cart, the game successfully implements an extremely complete high scores system. This wonderful system can scan your high scores with any other games linked up to you, and simultaneously synchronize and update all linked games with the fastest lap times of all courses, from all the players. This increases competition and replay amongst friends even when multiplayer gaming is not an option. The package is neatly rounded out with the inclusion of a hidden circuit, a hidden difficulty mode, nearly half a dozen hidden vehicles, a hidden Championship Time Trial challenge, and a much appreciated practice/training mode.

Graphically, the game one-ups the SNES version in every aspect. The courses themselves are beautifully rendered using Nintendo's patented Mode-7 technology, first developed for the Super Nintendo itself. However, where the SNES game could only render one rotating, pseudo-3D layer at once, F-Zero Maximum Velocity pushes two. This makes the scrolling backgrounds and extra scaling effects of the courses themselves much more appealing and convincing. Furthermore, the courses themselves are much sharper and of a better resolution than the decidedly grainy SNES game. On top of that, the game runs faster than the SNES version although not nearly as fast as the N64 incarnation. The vehicles themselves are extremely detailed and when choosing a vehicle you will be treated to a rotating 3D model. In the game, they appear as equally detailed sprites. These sprites feature a level of animation not seen in the original. Vents will spew smoke realistically, and flaps will angle and turn appropriately as the vehicle takes turns. In addition, there are many more frames of animation for the repositioning of your vehicle and the perspective changes of surrounding vehicles than in the SNES game, making it look and react with a fluidity akin to the fully 3D N64 title.

NDCube successfully captured the spirit and sheer power of the music of the two previous F-Zero games and reinterpreted it in a very welcome manner. While I was looking forward to hearing some of the great guitar riffs that make the Mute City, Big Blue, and Port Town songs from the previous games so exciting, every classic song is missing in actionЕ presumably because none of the courses or locales from previous games returned either. The music, vehicles, racers, courses, and locales are all new to the F-Zero universe. The sound effects are standard, exactly what you would expect from an F-Zero game, aside from the occasional explosion, which is complemented by a very powerful sound bite.