F-Zero X

F-Zero X, is a video game for the Nintendo 64. It debuted in Japan on July 14, 1998, simultaneously in Canada and the United States on September 30, 1998, and in Europe on November 6,1998. GameSpot.com. Release dates. Retrieved June 13, 2006. The game sold 56,457 copies during its first week of sale in Japan. N-sider.com. Japanese sales for the week ending March 2, 2003. Retrieved on June 13, 2006. The Expansion Kit for this game was released nearly two years later in Japan.

F-Zero X is the third in Japan (second in North America and the rest of the world) installment in Nintendo's F-Zero series. Although it failed to match the sales success of its predecessor, F-Zero, F-Zero X is the first 3D release and fully polygonal game in the series. It is one of the first console racing game that runs at 60 frames per second, which is unusually fast for a Nintendo 64 game. In order to keep the frame rate, polygon counts on the vehicles, textures and track detail is sacrificed. Furthermore, the disabled Z-buffering of the N64, is replaced by an alternative drawing scheme that results in the occasional visual glitch or car seen throughout gameplay.

One of gameplays' added enhancements is a feature only in F-Zero X, a "random track generator". Another feature is the inclusion of dash plates located at various points around the track. When you run over one of these plates, you get a speed boost that doesn't cost you any energy. F-Zero X can be used with a Rumble Pak, which allows for force feedback.

Gameplay

Driving tactics

Basic driving operations include using the A button for Accelerate, B for Boost (only available on laps 2 and 3), C-Down for air brakes, the control stick to steer the machine and the R and Z buttons drift from side to side. If R and Z were helt together it would skid. R and Z were double tapped to execute the 'Side Attack' move. R + R + Z was a spin attack as was Z + Z + R

Of particular interest is that prior to each race players may adjust their vehicle's balance between maximum acceleration and maximum top speed. This adds strategy and replay value, as players with greater knowledge of the tracks can make better decisions.

Modes

The game includes the following gameplay modes:

GP Race: Race against 29 opponents through the tracks of a Grand Prix tour.
Death Race: Driving on a perpetual straightaway, destroy the other 29 racers in the shortest time possible.
Time Attack: Choose a track and complete it in the shortest time possible. Good times will unlock recorded races against which to test oneself.
Practice: Practice any track with 29 opponents.
Multiplayer: Race a single track against 1, 2, or 3 human opponents.

Full records of Time Attack and Death Race times are stored on the game cartridge, as well as Cups won with each machine in each difficulty setting.

Cups and vehicles

The game features thirty (30) vehicles, including the four from the original F-Zero, all of which are in F-Zero GX. Six are available from the start and more can be unlocked as the player completes the cups. There are five cups, most with names based on face cards: the Jack, Queen, King, Joker and X Cups. X cup becomes available once the player has beaten all the other cups in expert mode (or if appropriate cheat codes are entered).

Jack Cup

Mute City
Silence
Sand Ocean

Devil's Forest
Big Blue
Port Town

Queen Cup

Sector Alpha
Red Canyon
Devil's Forest 2

Mute City 2
Big Blue 2
White Land

King Cup

Fire Field
Silence 2
Sector Beta

Red Canyon 2
White Land 2
Mute City 3

Joker Cup

Rainbow Road ¹
Devil's Forest 3
Space Plant

Sand Ocean 2
Port Town 2
Big Hand

¹ Bears the same name of the track in the Mario Kart series and has the exact shape of the Rainbow Road circuit in Mario Kart 64. The 64DD version has a remixed version of the Rainbow Road music from Mario Kart 64.

X Cup

The X Cup is a collection of 70+ random tracks. However, there is a misconception that these tracks are randomly generated, for similar tracks can be played on separate (or sometimes even on the same) occasion. While this added much replayability to the game, much of the tracks were either simplistic (involving a simple oval shaped track/pipe) or were difficult to race without being retired. (Scores of CPU vehicles would simply fly off the track.)

Death Race

The purpose of the Death Race in F-Zero X is to annihilate the other racers as speedily as you can, as may be inferred by the name.

Music and sound

The F-Zero series is notable for a rock/electronic soundtrack, and to carry on this idea on the N64 the normal sound processor was bypassed: around 10% of the processor is allocated just to background music.

The soundtrack was released on CD on January 27, 1999 in a "Guitar Arrange Edition" featuring live electric guitar arrangements of 10 of the game's music tracks.

Expansion kit

An Expansion Kit was released in Japan on April 21, 2000 for the 64DD, a removable disk add-on that plugged into the bottom of the N64. This disk includes new cups, a couple of new machines, a track editor, and a machine editor.

The Track Editor lets people create any track the way they want it by using 64 course points to determine the track layout. People can also add course details like pit areas, dash plates, tunnels, etc. The disk can save up to 100 tracks and can put 6 of them in a specially designed 'Edit' Cup to use them in other modes like GP, VS or Time Attack.

The Car Editor lets people create a car using a set of pre-existing parts that then combine to assemble the machine. People can also change its colors, stats, and name it to save it to the disk. The created cars can be applied to any of the existing 30 racers.

References

External links

F-Zero series | Nintendo 64 games | 1998 computer and video games

F-Zero X | F-ZERO X

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