One of the big possibilities for the 64DD was the ability to add new content to games. Each time the device got delayed, more and more of these plans were shifted. These projects ended up being abandoned, reworked into an N64 cartridge game, or transformed into a sequel (Mario Party was designed with the 64DD in mind, but the add-on eventually became Mario Party 2). As a result, F-Zero X ended up being the only N64 cartridge game to get an expansion via the 64DD. As I’ve gone over the brilliant gameplay before, I’ll focus on what was added in this pack.

First up is the ability to make new ships choosing different body, cockpit, and wing designs, change colours and add some basic patterns, as well as picking the stats for the vehicle. You then have to replace one of the current ships with the new one (you can do this multiple times). It’s quite basic, but also a nice extra, and a feature that did end up returning for F-Zero GX. The colour of the ship didn’t seem to load during races for me, but that’s likely an emulator issue.

The Expansion Kit also came with two new cups, featuring some great tracks. These tracks are challenging without feeling cheap, and also have some fun designs, such as a track shaped like Japan (with great Japanese-style music), a star, and one called “Big Foot” that’s…a big foot. They’re a ton of fun to race on, and seem to have a bit more spectacle, with parts of tracks crossing near each other. Another small but welcome addition to the tracks is that the Rainbow Road track in the original game now has new music, a wonderful rendition of the Mario Kart Rainbow Road music.

But the key feature of this kit is the track editor, letting you create your own courses to race on. The editor is very fiddly to use at first, and not particularly intuitive, but once you get to grips with it, there is a surprising amount of stuff that can be done. All the different styles of track are here, including half-pipes, full pipes, and cylinders, and you can also add in loops and apply track types to that, alongside adjusting heights and widths of the track. It’s very robust.

You can also add a bit of visual flair, picking the ground and sky designs, and adding billboards and buildings to the sides of the track, plus pick the music. You can then assign them to the six slots to create a cup to race on, and the tracks really do feel like proper tracks – the parts all blend together well, and it doesn’t come across as a bunch of parts one after the other. It’s amazingly well done.

The editor also lets you do things that the game doesn’t quite like – I made a very wide cylinder and the camera went through it, and I also made a track with a very steep decline and all the CPU racers had died after the second time round. Still, it’s great that the editor at least lets you try rather than preventing you from doing it altogether.

The F-Zero X Expansion Kit takes an already great game and makes it even better. The track editor is definitely a highlight, but the two new cups are also great, with the vehicle editor being a nice add-on as well. It’s a massive shame that Nintendo have never used the complete version of F-Zero X on either the Virtual Console or Nintendo Switch Online. Fans have made a combined cartridge version that runs on original N64 consoles, so it’s definitely doable without needing to emulate any 64DD features. I feel like Nintendo’s dislike of acknowledging its failures is the main reason this will never have an official re-release.

Fave

If there’s one thing worth buying a 64DD for, it’s this. Requiring the original F-Zero cart, the Expansion Kit adds more championships to the main game but also includes a complete track editor, so you can concoct your own rollercoaster-style courses. It even enables you to create your own vehicles.

N64 Magazine #40

Remake or remaster??

A re-release would be great. I think a remake of F-Zero GX with tracks and features from F-Zero X and this would be phenomenal, though.

Official ways to get the game.

There’s no official way to get F-Zero X Expansion Kit