Futuristic Fun! (F Zero X (N64))

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Product:	F Zero X (N64)
Date:	04.04.08 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good graphics, Tuning options, Many vehicles, Fantastic track design, Excellent sound track

Disadvantages: Hard, Death races take an age!

F Zero X is a futuristic racing game for the Nintendo 64 games console.

F Zero X
Upon loading up F Zero X you will be greeted by a rocking guitar riff which sets the tone nicely for the game, it rocks! There is an excellent selection of great modes for you to choose from, GP Race, Time Attack, Death Race, VS battle and of course practice mode.

In GP or Grand Prix mode you will compete in a series of races, first of all you must select your difficulty from novice, standard or expert. I warn you now this game is pretty hard so don't feel ashamed if you pick the novice option! You will then pick from a selection of 3 cups Jacks, Queen or King. Jack is the easiest and King is the hardest. Then choose your driver, at first only a handful of drivers will be available to you but as you progress more will become unlocked. Each vehicle has ratings from A-E for Body, Boost and Grip, more on those aspects later. Once you have settled on a certain driver you will be whisked into your race!

Before your race starts you get an interesting tuning option, here you can choose performance bias to faster acceleration or maximum speed. It's usually best to leave this somewhere in the middle as both are equally important! Now finally you can get down to business, for some reason you always start at the back of the field and on the harder difficulties making up position can be very tricky! The races and tracks are fantastically fun, the tracks are amazing and have lots of massive jumps and loops and tunnels which you can drive upside down in which will make you feel dizzy. You also have pads on the track which you can use to give you speed boosts. Beware though it is very easy to fall off the tracks and that will force you to retire from the race!

Your racing style will depend heavily on what ratings your vehicle has, if you have a good body rating you will not lose as much energy when you hit the walls or opponents, if you have a good boost rating you will gain much more speed with your boost and if you have a good grip rating you will be able to take the corners easily. Energy is another critical component, you have an energy meter which starts full but when you collide with another vehicle or wall you will lose some, you can also use some energy to give your vehicle a speed boost. Once your energy is depleted one touch of the barriers will have your vehicle explode so you will have to use boost in a tactical way, just enough so that you won't blow up but enough so that you keep the lead.

Time attack mode is your standard, race around any track you like and try and set the fastest time, not great fun and probably the most yawn inducing mode that the game has to offer. Death race is a really interesting concept, here you must drive around and keep from dying, as soon as you lose your energy or fall off the road you lose. You must keep going and outlast all the other drivers! It's quite fun but as you have a full field of 30 vehicles a Death Race can last a while! VS battle is a splitscreen mode which can be enjoyed by upto four players, this is great fun but unfortunately you cannot race with a full field, just 2-4 players and if you don't have the full four players the remaining vehicles will be driven by the computer. Practice mode is where you can train driving around every track in the game, this is vital if you want to master some of the more difficult tracks and win the Kings cup!

Graphics & Sound
Graphically for a Nintendo 64 game this is stunning, one of the best looking games on the system. The car models are great and detailed, by N64 standards obviously. The fact that they were able to render 30 cars simultaneously is fantastic. The sense of speed is amazing as the scenery warps by you at 1000 kmph. The menus all have a really nice comic book hand drawn art style which really gives the game a great overall look. The soundtrack is also excellent, fantastic tunes each different depending on the stage you are racing on. Some standout tracks include the Mute City race and Big Blue race.

Price & Conclusion
If you were to purchase F Zero X back in the day it would have set you back from £30-50! Now head to eBay or amazon.co.uk and you can pick up this gem of a game for as little as £5. The soundtrack was available but it is very rare and can cost you upwards of £300, so the game is definitely worth the price for its music alone. You may find it in GameStation stores as they stock some older games. Overall if you are an N64 fan and want a great fast paced racing game you should definitely pick this one up. 4/5

Summary: A great fast paced racing game for the N64.