Wednesday, August 27, 2003

F-Zero GX

Well, I looked at the ads again, and F-Zero GX did come out today, not yesterday. So I'm glad I didn't try and pick it up yesterday, heh. Would've been a wasted trip.

I finally got it today, though, after waiting about 3/4 of a year for its release. So what do I think about it? Well, let's just say it made me go "woah." Multiple times. And for various different reasons. And I actually did the O_O look while I said it, except that my mouth was hanging open.

So yeah, it's definitely lived up to all my expectations so far. The play control, while at first I thought it seemed a little too finicky, is fast becoming second nature. And, like I had hoped, they kept the drift control for the R and L buttons the same as Maximum Velocity on the GBA. If you just push in one of the buttons, you drift to the side while staying pointed in the same direction, instead of it turning you to the side like in F-Zero X. And, what's more, you can still do the drift turns that the F-Zero X style allowed. To do those, you just hold in both the R and the L buttons and you'll drift around turns. Very nice; it's like getting the best of both worlds.

Of course, the first thing I noticed about F-Zero GX was the awesome speed of the game. Never before have I seen a racing game go this fast! At first I was just trying to keep up with what was going on, and that was on the easy tracks with barely any sharp turns. You really have to concentrate on the later tracks... And this was just on the easiest difficulty! I can't imagine what Expert mode is like.

Also, another thing I found cool, was that after I stopped playing I realized my heart was pounding and it felt like I had just been hiking a little ways up a steep hill. I'm not kidding, either; it got my adrenalin pumping. Even in practice mode it can get pretty intense, just trying to stay on the track on some courses.

The story mode also looks like it's going to be extrmely fun. I've only done the first two missions so far, and while the first wasn't that interesting (a training mission), the second was a lot of fun. It's a race against Samurai Goroh, pilot of the Fire Stingray, along a cliff edge while large boulders roll down the hill. Very fun trying to dodge the boulders while taking the turns as sharp as you can (because you really need to if you want to win) and trying to find good places to use your boost.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with this game so far. A definite buy for anyone that likes racing games.

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