TSSSSHHHHHHHFFFRRROOOR RRRRSHSSSSHHHH BANG (F-Zero - Maximum Velocity (GBA))

Member Name: adidadi_young

Product:	F-Zero - Maximum Velocity (GBA)
Date:	25/03/02 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun, Perfect difficulty curve

Disadvantages: Some tracks can lack replay value

Okay. Another review, by me. What's it on? Well, looking at the link that was by the one you clicked, you'd know it was a review on F-Zero. Here's a bit of handy information on the game.
The game is exclusive to the Game Boy Advance, and it came out on June 21st 2001, along with the launch of the Game Boy Advance itself. Now, I'm not writing a review on this, but I do say that you should go and get this now, if you are into games. Anyway, the game is a sequel of the epic racing game on the SNES, entitled "F-Zero". There was an F-Zero 2 released in Japan, which featured more tracks. Heh.

The game is set in the future when... ::runs off to get manual:: the F-Zero tournaments had ended a decade ago, and Captain Falcon and the other pilots are now only known as images, as winners. The tournament had died out a decade ago, and has since been deemed way too dangerous for people to compete in. But recently, some other to-be competetors have been gathered together to re-open the competition in an unofficial status. Now all they have to focus on is winning... [not taken from the F-Zero manual]


As you switch on your good ol' GBA, and you'll be brought across the usual developer/publisher logo (Nintendo) and then the main screen. Remind you of my other reviews? ^_^

In that case, I don't need to explain.


The gameplay:
This is one main racing game. It's 2D, but the rotation to make it look 3D is cleverly snook in by the GBA's sprite scaling. Okay, they are graphics. Oops. x_x

Okay, as you start racing after the overused-in-furistic-racing-games' "Go!", you'll find yourself racing at high speeds down courses which you'll lose energy by hitting the sides. Not nice. You're given with the usual Accelerate, Brake, but this one (like its predeccesors, and like WipEout) there are slide turns, L for left and R for right. Now, this is helped for cornering
for the chicanes and whatnot. Heh.

Every lap you complete, you're given a boost, which can be activated by pressing down L and R at the same time. This will optimise your potential top speed, and go more than twice as fast than usual, for a number of seconds; this ranges from 3 seconds to 12 seconds, depending on the ship that you are using to race. A lower boost time would generally indicate a better ship, so choose that.

I might aswell go onto the ships available, now. Like F-Zero, you are presented with 4 ships. But now there are 4 cups to win, and each time you do that, you are given a new ship. Now, I still haven't completed the game (master difficulty is a bit hard) but I have unlocked 5 more, very worthwhile. Yep.

Okay, what are the graphics like? Well, as the first Game Boy Advance game I got, I was extremely impressed. Rayman and Super Mario Advance 2 would beat them a bit easily, but that's not saying anything negative about it. The graphics will make you smile. Or think that the graphics are good. Yep. Oh, and may I also say, this game has an extremely good frame rate, there is no slowdown whatsoever and the game engine is just super-smooth.


Single Player:
Right, you start off with either Training or Grand Prix. Or records, but that's just self explanetory. Traning is being able to practice on any track that you've unlocked in the Grand Prix mode, on your own (against your ghost) or against an individual A.I. opponent, of any difficulty. Except Master, you have to unlock that.

Grand Prix is the main part of the game. You have 4 cups to compete in, or 3 to start. More things to unlock, then. Hehe. You're given 5 tracks to compete in, one after the other, and if you manage to come in at least third in every race to win it. It's really not as easy as you think. But there you go. This lets you unlock a lot of things.

Okay, now. Going into the side of the track will ma
ke you lose energy, which can be regained in these green parts of the track (getting lazy now ^_^).

Also, somehow managing to fall off the side of the track and land outside of the track's guidelines can get you totally destroyed. This will make you lose one of your lives. If you lose all lives? Well, game over. Of course. You can choose the number of lives in the options menu (1, 3 or 5).

Right, what shall I talk about now? Multiplayer.

You can either do this by the usual Single-Pak mode or Multipak mode. Single-Pak mode lets you play with one cartridge, as you know, and the options here are very limited. You are given one ship, in different colours, so you're likely to be Red or Blue. You are put on the track 'Silence', which isn't in the main game. The music from the SNES version of Silence would've been cool, but eh. And... that's it. One track, one ship. Not bad for a quick boredom cure, and if you're not fussy on getting 2 cartridges.

The Multipak link is much better. This gives you full access, to any unlocked ship, and any track. From here on, is a bit more straightforward. RACE! Hehe.

Oh, another thing which is on the Single Player mode, is the Championship mode. Not Grand Prix, no. This is one course, and one only, which is a new track aswell, called Synobazz: Champion Circuit. You are given a very hard opponent to race (a ghost), and the challenge is to beat that ghost. When you've done that, you can try beating your own ghost. Mwahaaaa!

You can also exchange your current best times with your friend and therefore compete with your friends on this champion track and prove whos best! Well, you can do that or compete with the multiplayer option.

Okay, so how long does the game last? Well, I haven't completed the game yet, and it has lasted me a very long time. The difficulty curve is what makes this good. As you progress, your skills slowly develop, and y
ou'll notice that by the time you're on master difficulty, you'll find it just as hard as beginner was when you first played it. Okay, so master is a bit harder than that, but this does mean that it has an extremely good reliable curve.

Now, I do admit that there are other essentials for Game Boy Advance, but if you're looking for a good, lasting and challenging game which you would want to play just for fun - this is it. It's a great game, and likely to come cheaper than usual, since it was among the earliest of GBA games to come out. Almost essential.

Once again, I enjoyed writing, and I hope you enjoyed reading. Oh, and thanks for your 3p. ^_^

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