I got F zero GP about a month ago when I saw it on clearance. I had been playing
Mario Kart DS more then it would be healthy so I decided to go with Nintendo’s other racing franchise F Zero.
Story.
Ok F Zero GP goes after an anime that premiered on 4 kids TV last year. Rather then following Captain Falcon, it followed Rick Wheeler. Rick is a cop has well has an expert racer in the year 2050, whose life is ended when chasing the felon Zoda. Rick is kept in suspended animation and is awaken 200 years later and finds that life has changed. Humans have come in contact with alien life forms and now can travel the galaxy. The biggest sport now is F-Zero a dangerous racing game where the whole point is not just to win first but to survive. It also seems that Zoda has been reawaken has well and is now competing for the cash so Rick joins a secret team of under cover officers whose goal is to win the F-Zero games so they can get the cash. Has for Captain Falcon he is now the mysterious side kick, so much which if he was ever unmasked that it wouldn’t surprised me if he turned out to be Speed’s older brother.
If the story sounds cheesy it is and the series didn’t last one season before being canceled. The good news is the game is quite good.
Graphics.
The graphics in the game are great for GBA standards. While it’s no Mario Kart obviously, it does do a 3d racing game on a 2d system perfectly. The game goes fairly fast without frame rate skips and the car models rarely look like they skip has you get close to them. The car models themselves are well detailed, almost has well has the gamecube version. In some cases they look better then the gamecube version because they are more animated has you can see there wings move has you turn. Of course like a lot of racing games like F-Zero for some reason when you put them on the gameboy player they look more pixilated then they should, but it’s a small complaint to a really great looking game.
Sound.
Some classic F-Zero tunes play in the back ground. The tunes seem like a mix between Mario Kart and the futuristic music of Mega Man X. The tunes are pretty good but the sound effects are also great. You get the explosion has other cars crash in to each other, has well has the boom of your rocket engine whenever you hit the gas.
Gameplay.
Ok if you have played any version of F-Zero you get the basics of F-Zero GP. If you have only played the gamecube version
F-Zero GX and found it to frustrating the good news is F-Zero GP is a lot easier has well.
Ok the game is played like your ordinary racer, you have to get to the finish line first. But they added to it a bit, not has much has Mario Kart but a bit to make F-Zero far from being your Grand Transmimo. First your car has a power bar if you bump into an opponent, or a wall you loose your power bar. You can replenish it by running around green strips placed along the tracks. After the first lap you can now use your booster. By pressing both the L and R buttons together you can get a quick boost of speed whenever you want, but it zaps a lot out of your power bar. You have to use a bit of strategy in where you use your booster. If you run out of power your car explodes and you loose a life. Also if you loose control of your car and it falls off the track it also costs you a life.
It’s not has cut throat has the gamecube version mainly because despite it saying 30 cars on your ranking, you only really have to deal with 4 or 5. You have to purposely drive bad before seeing anything below 5. Because of this you don’t have to worry about having to dodge has many has you zip down the road.
The controls in the game are also pretty tight and dodging and turning your car is pretty easily, but if you need to do tighter turns then normal pressing the top L and R will make you do a really sharp turn. There is also a move where you can tap the A button while making to turn to also make it sharper if need be. Of course how well you turn depends on the character you’re using and there are a lot of characters.
It seems like most of the characters from F-Zero GX made it into the game plus a few new ones like Rick Wheeler of course. Each character has car differs in how fast they boost, how much damage they can take, and how easily they control. There weight also matters. The easiest characters to use in this game are Rick Wheeler and Captain Falcon. Falcon controls like he does in past games, and Rick is a little bit better if you don’t consider that is car is a flying brick.
Ok so what are the game modes.
Well there is GP mode that is like your ordinary racer game. You race in 5 tracks and whoever has the most points at the end wins the trophy. There are 4 cups and 3 difficulty levels to choose from.
There is also a story mode has well, but unlike the gamecube version where you were stuck has Captain Falcon you get to choose your character. You start off has Rick and has Rick story continues and he completes the objectives for his stage he will meet other racers and then there part in story mode will unlock. All the stories are connected to each other so you get to see each characters role in the fullest.
There is also a time trial has well has a test mode. In the test mode you race a part of the track and try to get the best time for just that part. It’s tricky though because the car is all ready chosen for you.
Final Recommendation.
Despite the fact that F-Zero GP isn’t has cut throat has it’s game cube companion it’s a solid racing game with plenty of modes to play from. Definitely worth the 20 dollars or so that you would have to pay for it use.
