F-Zero X Review

<p>Faster than the speed of sound<P><br>Ah, F-Zero. The original SNES game that paved the way for Wipeout. But F-Zero is back, on a more powerful system sporting the smoothest visuals ever in a racing game.<br>F-Zero X is a racing game with the cars as super-fast futuristic machines similar to the Pods in Episode 1. They can travel to a top speed of over 1500 km/hour. There are 30 cars on the track at once, with the goal of finishing first. Unlike Wipeout, there are no weapons, the only way to remove other racers is to knock them into submission by either knocking them off the side or causing them to crash.<br>The graphics in this game are simplistic, with little detail in either the cars or the track. But, in a great move, Nintendo have abandoed flashy visuals in order to get the smoothest possible frame-rate. 60 frames per second constantly, with no slowdown even with 30 cars on screen at once. The sound consists of pumping rock tracks that are cool to listen to & suit the game well. There is plenty of gameplay in this cart, with 5 moves of play: Grand Prix, Versus, Pratice, Time Attack, and the Death Race where the objective is to knock all your opponents off the track. This is good fun, but only one track makes it limited. There are 4 difficulty settings, 4 different Grand Prixs, and most of the 30 cars having to be unlocked, with the really great cars like Leon & Antonio Guster only able once you have beaten the game. Also, once you have beaten Joker cup on Expert, you will unlock X-Cup, which basically is a random track generator. This works quite well. Never are two tracks the same, altough some are quite dull, but on the same level some are a real blast. The four-player mode is tops, with no-slowdown allowing for fun, fast play. <br>I'd say it's up there with Goldeneye and Mario Kart, so don't sell it once you have beaten the game. <br>With the random track generator, the smooth visuals, the awesome multiplayer & the comic-book atmosphere, this game becomes a must-by.</P> <br /> <P><a href="mailto:jamez0007@hotmail.com">James Barnett</a></P> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p> <p>  <br /> <br /> <br />