F-Zero GX

by Gregory Moffett

‘This isn’t as fast as I expected’ and ‘That was easy!’ are two of the thoughts that came to mind on Christmas morning in 2003.

Several weeks before that glorious day, I had made the decision to purchase Mario Kart: Double Dash instead of F-Zero GX as I was a huge fan of Mario Kart whilst futuristic racing games never really appealed to me in the past.

My first impressions of Double Dash were lacklustre, even if I would eventually go on to love the game over the following weeks and months, leading to some feelings of regret that I hadn’t made the decision to pick Captain Falcon over Mario in November.

Unwrapping F-Zero GX and slipping the game into my black Gamecube would show me what I’d been missing out on. Everything I had seen and read in the lead up to the game’s release was that of a beautiful racer with outstanding visuals that ran at a blistering pace with a huge number of racers and insane difficulty. Having never played an F-Zero game before, it was exciting to finally jump in at what seemed like such a high point for the franchise.

I dived straight into the first grand prix with an extremely straightforward trip around Mute City: Twist Road in the Blue Falcon. Most games ease you in during the initial stages but I was almost surprised by how easy my first race was in F-Zero GX and how it didn’t actually seem as fast I was led to believe. Was I about to be left disappointed?

The answer to that is a resounding NO! The further I progressed, the more the speed and intensity ramped up, as well as my adrenaline. F-Zero GX is all about blistering pace, precise controls and bravery, both in trying to take out rivals at high speed on tracks with no barriers and in knowing when to use a final boost at the risk of crashing out of the race entirely.



I always felt like I was playing F-Zero GX on the edge, particularly during Master difficulty, in an attempt to unlock everything. It is outstanding and it is regrettable that we haven’t had an HD sequel on Wii U that does justice to the legacy of this game.

F-Zero GX is definitely not for the faint-hearted, either in Story Mode or Grand Prix, and I felt like a hero beating everything the game could throw at me. TWICE! A corrupted memory card meant that I lost my save file the first time around and rarely have I felt such heart break. I never thought I would manage it again but the game instantly drew me back in and I had such an amazing experience all over again!

If it ever happens again, I have no doubt that I’ll cry! It would, however, give me the perfect excuse to play through the entire thing again and that can never be a bad thing.