F-Zero Review
Where futuristic racers began.
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: 21st November 1990 (Japan), 23rd August 1991 (NA), 1992 (EU)
Platforms: SNES
Before Wipeout there was F-Zero. It was a launch title for the SNES and showed early on the power of Mode 7 and what a tremendous way to start it. F-Zero is posited as the future of Formula 1 racing set in the year 2560 using antigravity machines on race tracks set 300 feet above ground located over 9 different planets with 15 courses in total. Your racers are Captain Falcon piloting the Blue Falcon, Samurai Goroh and his Fire Stingray, Pico with the Wild Goose, and Dr. Stewart and the Golden Fox.
I think like anyone within the last 25 years, I was first introduced to Captain Falcon as the punchy guy from Super Smash Bros Melee and it wasn’t until later on when I learned of his own series. My first exposure to antigrav racing was Wip3out on the PlayStation on a demo disc, so I thought it quite familiar and cool that F-Zero was much in the same as that. It wasn’t until 2017 when I got a SNES again that I finally played F-Zero in full when I got the game for my new SNES collection. And, oh, did it click something delightful in my brain. I felt like I was 7 again and it felt good playing F-Zero authentically. I even got the game boxed with the manual that had a comic in the manual, how nice. But I was quickly entranced by it. Not only was it nice feeling a SNES controller again but it was fun learning a new game on the console, and it is very quick and easy to pick up and get into yet challenging to master.
You get 3 cups to choose from; knight, queen and king and 3 difficulties to choose from; beginner, standard and expert. Knight is the easiest cup while king is the hardest, so doing king on expert difficulty you’ll be facing sadist levels of difficulty as this game can be extremely demanding on you and your skills you’ve learned. Naturally, it all starts off easy enough in the first cup and introduces you nicely to how the tracks work and how the machines handle, but the final two tracks Death Wind 1 and Silence really test your skills and establish this as a death race. Death Wind will push you aside with strong winds while Silence has tighter corners and a minefield to navigate, but if you’re successful you’ll be rewarded with a tight shortcut.
As I already stated, there are only 4 characters/machines to choose from and each have their own strengths and weaknesses in acceleration, speed, durability, and handling, and they really do all look and feel unique. I’m quite preferable to Pico and Goroh. Falcon is the easiest and perfect introductory character for new players as the most balanced and accessible, and I feel Dr. Stewart is the most testing and difficult. Despite who you choose, overall handling and control of your machines is very good and incredibly responsive. As you start, hit accelerate at the right moment of “Go!” for a nice speed boost. Pressing L or R while turning in the respective direction will help you slide into corners easier and there is a brake that can come in handy on tighter corners but more often than not just releasing acceleration then quickly tapping it, or feathering, will get you around a tight corner nicely. On expert difficulty brakes will come in handy however. On certain tracks there are jumps, such as on White Land 2 where if you don’t learn how they work fast you’re not going to finish the race. By holding down on the d-pad as you hit the jump you’ll fly up farther, and be sure to hold down as you land for a soft landing otherwise your machine will thud and you’ll lose energy. Because of not understanding these jumps at first I ended up dying a lot. And of energy, you get an energy bar which can be lowered by crashing into hazards on the track and replenished by driving through energy lanes, a pit stop essentially, usually located before or after the start line. For each lap you finish you earn a boost which when used at the right spot will give you a massive lead in the race.
Because of the limited roster of racers you only really see 3 others that you have to worry about on the track but they do throw in “drones” to fill out the track on the second lap to make it feel like there’s more racers. These quickly become hindrances and a challenge to stay ahead in the race as bashing into anyone else on the track will have you ricochetting everywhere off the walls causing damage. Because of how much space they take up it makes it tricky to not hit them, especially if they’re in your race line. Some are even flashing which is a warning that they’re on low energy, so if you hit one of those they’ll explode and deal massive damage to you. Bump into walls you lose health, bump into mines you lose massive health, and even driving over certain energy pads you lose health. If you’re not careful in avoiding these hazards you’ll lose all of your energy and crash and die and explode. This can all be very frustrating. You only get a certain number of machines/lives too so expect failure on your first attempts. You can earn lives by racing really well and earning enough points to win another life, though I never could figure or learn what tallies up the points in a race. Time perhaps? Speed? To add more to the peril of the races, you need to stay up a certain number of rankings each lap or else you’re eliminated as the total rankings reduce for each lap. It then becomes a last man standing kind of race.
The tracks otherwise are really good and memorable. Knight has the most iconic with Mute City and Big Blue. Queen has more middle of the road difficulty in tracks throwing in much more challenging courses. King cup is the hardest with some of the most unforgiving tracks such as Death Wind 2, which is a variation of the first Death Wind track, which was but a plain oval, but this throws in some sharp turns that really cause you hassle while contending with the heavy winds pushing you aside. Mario Kart gives you Rainbow Road for a final hurrah but F-Zero gets Fire Island, a final “fuck you” as it throws everything at you; tight corners, narrow paths, debris slowing you down, other machines blocking your way, enemy machines bashing into you from behind, mines, gravity strips pulling you into fire, energy fields sapping your energy, the whole thing is treacherous. Despite how stressful it is, it does get your heart racing and really pushes what you’ve learned to your limits making the challenge exciting and very rewarding when you finish, and that’s really the best part of this game. Other than the drones that clog up the track causing frustration I can’t find fault or many other complaints with the tracks and their intended difficulty. I do quite like Silence, Port Town tracks, and Sand Ocean tracks.
Visually the game looks stupendous and as a launch title showing off what Mode 7 can do I think it’s a fantastic start to show the power of the SNES. In short, Mode 7 allowed the rotating and scaling of a background to create levels of depth and the illusion of a 3D space. The effect is used wonderfully to create a large sense of space for these tracks and the draw distance is far enough for you to see what’s coming. Often in tracks like Port Town it’s beautifully rendered in moody shadows. If you take a moment to look at the backgrounds once you finish a race, or even start one, you’ll see a lot of detail and depth to the tracks, especially in Mute City to see how vast the place is and the roads below you. The sprites of the machines look fantastic and varied and are all uniquely designed. The manual depicts the game in a comic booky cartoony way and you get that sense in the game as well. There’s a great atmosphere in each level and everything is wonderful to look at. Best of all it all runs so smoothly despite its speed. What a great start to show what the SNES can do.
It sounds great too. The music tracks are all incredibly iconic, lively, and will all get stuck in your head so easily. For each track being about 3 minutes long as well it loops nicely. Death Wind was one of the earliest tracks to get stuck in my head due to its repetitive droning but it’s very good. Red Canyon and Sand Ocean are both very fun and playful. Fire Island is frantic and adds a lot to the stress of the level. White Land is also breezy yet frenetic. Silence is my favourite because it has a unique progression and melody to it that isn’t quite like the other songs in the game. It also got stuck in my head very easily early on. The machines make all manner of funky aerated noises and whines and whooshes too, it’s great.
F-Zero is a perfect example of easy to learn, hard to master. In a matter of minutes you’ll get a hang of how it works but by the end of the first cup you will have been provided with all the tools you’ll need to become a master. You’ll fail, a lot, and you’ll practice a lot too. But this game is so damn fun to play and just as quick to be able to pick up and start a race without any fuss that you’ll have no trouble learning the intricacies of F-Zero. It is also shockingly addictive to play that compels you to jump back in so you have no problem getting into practicing the game. You’d play for about 20 minutes, take a break but then almost immediately get the urge to want to do another cup with another racer and try to get better at the harder cups and then try a hand at the harder difficulties and master those and then try to get as fast a time as possible on each track. The gameplay loop is enticing and a lot of fun and rewarding. I find it a shame that not many people have given F-Zero a shot and that it’s not more popular because it is one of the greatest racing games ever.
F-Zero is notorious for track memorisation, as is Wipeout, to know how and when to take corners in the game and how each track works. But I also think perhaps much more importantly than that is your skills development. You can memorise every nook and cranny and pixel of Red Canyon 2 but it won’t matter a thing if you can’t smoothly take a hairpin turn and come out of it with great speed. You can study Fire Island all you want but unless you’ve developed the skills to be able to navigate all of its hazards without touching a single one of them and taking its boosts every lap no problem you’re not gonna win that race.
F-Zero is great at treating all players respectfully. Dedicate enough time to it and your skills will be remarkable, but if you’re brand new to it then don’t sweat it, you’ll get it eventually. There’s a fair learning curve to be had. And when you’ve mastered it the rewards are plentiful. It’s a plain and simple game with nothing in the way of unlockables, but with so much depth to its gameplay it has so much replayability and longevity it’ll never get old. Plus those skills will come in incredibly handy for the succeeding games.
Where to Purchase:
eBay: £8 - £308 / $13 - $3,260
Amazon: £20 - £275 / $26- $29
CeX: £10 - £15
Also available with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.