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F-Zero X Trailer - Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


In this futuristic racer, the key to winning is speed! F-Zero X will become available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members on March 11!

Choose from 30 different hover-car racers, including updated versions of the Blue Falcon and other vehicles from the original F-Zero™ game, and get ready to hit the acceleration! Race to the finish line on tracks that twist and turn through the air. However, you will have to avoid the other 29 cars on the track or else face the consequences! If you're in a competitive mood, try to win a Grand Prix Cup, get the fastest lap time in a Time Trial, or destroy the competition in a Death Race. You can also challenge three friends in the Versus mode. With five separate play modes, hidden vehicles and courses, and an excellent soundtrack, F-Zero X is a worthy racing title to return to!
 
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Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
One of the best games on N64. I played this probably over 200 hours by myself just mastering some of the tracks.

Absolutely can’t wait!

Edit : That section of the comparison video at 1:06 on the track silence 1 has me a bit worried, the n64 version is so smooth, and the switch version doesn’t look like the frame rate is keeping up. Ever so slightly. Might be what they are using to capture it though.
 
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RAIDEN1

Member
The wrong F-Zero to bring out when the 2003 version wipes the floor with what the N64 had....not only that but there is no improvement in anyway, ie what you would get on some old xbox games on the Series X...that and the fact you could probably play a superior version on the Series X/S anyway....makes you wonder why even bother with this..
 

nkarafo

Member
The wrong F-Zero to bring out when the 2003 version wipes the floor with what the N64 had....not only that but there is no improvement in anyway, ie what you would get on some old xbox games on the Series X...that and the fact you could probably play a superior version on the Series X/S anyway....makes you wonder why even bother with this..
X is the better game. Far better controls, more balanced difficulty curve and a better soundtrack.

GX has the graphics and nothing more.

Though, i agree about the no-improvement thing. They could at least increase the draw distance like this:




They could also add the expansion kit in the deal. Dunno if they will. The expansion kit has the track/craft editor, more championships, more songs and improved sound quality.
 
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Notabueno

Banned
I don't care about a GX remaster, even less an X remaster, the fact there's still no F-Zero SX for Nintendo backlog fructification, franchise diversification and portefolio valuation is baffling.

Are they're going to keep on milking the same 3 franchises mario, zelda, pokemon and abandon the whole rest?
 

Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
So update is out and my worst fears came true. Lots and lots of frame drops. Only played through the first cup but some turns at stuttery frame rates were made way more difficult. I guess we can hope for an emulator update, but not too happy about the performance. It is 100% playable but I shudder to think how some of the more complex tracks will hold up on master difficulty where pinpoint precision is a must.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


F-Zero X is now on Nintendo Switch, but it's not perfect. We explore how it holds up nearly 25 years later in our Retro Review, which also explores the graphics, 60fps gameplay, controls, Death Race, comparisons to F-Zero GX on GameCube, and more! All this and more in our in-depth review of F-Zero X N64 for the Nintendo Switch NSO Expansion Pack!

0:00 Intro
1:00 What is F-Zero X?
1:59 Boost Power! (Risk Management)
2:30 30 Racers?! + Rival System
4:18 Controls Vs. F-Zero GX
4:58 60fps Gameplay on an N64?!
5:41 Graphics
7:00 Death Race, X Cup, & Multiplayer
8:45 Missed Opportunity: 64DD Expansion Kit
9:17 One Issue...
10:25 Verdict
 
I remember renting this from blockbuster and having my mind blown back in the day. At the time the graphics were impressive when combined with 60 fps. The sense of speed was incredible. What a fun game.

That being said wth is wrong with Nintendo and all these n64 exp pass games all having severe issues related to lag and framerate? They had no problem with Sunshine and Mario 64 as well as Galaxy and
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
So update is out and my worst fears came true. Lots and lots of frame drops. Only played through the first cup but some turns at stuttery frame rates were made way more difficult. I guess we can hope for an emulator update, but not too happy about the performance. It is 100% playable but I shudder to think how some of the more complex tracks will hold up on master difficulty where pinpoint precision is a must.
Disappointing, they are fixing some major visual bugs but performance issues continue (see Zelda, then again they still have to fix the banding in SMG and the heat haze in SMS in the limited SM3D collection sigh… it is sad seeing Nintendo not caring enough about games preservation). It is like building demand for Switch Pro 😂
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
I remember renting this from blockbuster and having my mind blown back in the day. At the time the graphics were impressive when combined with 60 fps. The sense of speed was incredible. What a fun game.

That being said wth is wrong with Nintendo and all these n64 exp pass games all having severe issues related to lag and framerate? They had no problem with Sunshine and Mario 64 as well as Galaxy and
Not sure if it is emulator maturity or per title fixes, but it is odd having performance issues on N64 titles and not on GCN ones… they are drip feeding titles to allow per ROM patches though…

Even those games have issues: they borked the heat haze effect in SMS (they should have redone it to take the higher native resolution into account) and SMG now exhibits visible banding :/.
 

Nemesisuuu

Member
So I've caved in and bought Switch OLED with recent Metroid Prime remaster release - also bought online expansion pass - I'm baffled how bad frame rate is in this. I knew it wasn't that great, but when you try it for yourself - oh boy. Yes you can lower resolution to 720p - yes, it has less frame drops, but still. You can even go as low as 480p and guess what - drops are still there, though not as frequent as on higher resolutions.

When you see it's been almost a year from last posts and the problems still persists - come on Nintendo. I'd like to play proper official version, not this that can't hold 60fps at 480p 25 years after original release date. Let's not mention it's been working great on emulators for years. Quite embarassing actually.
 

Naked Lunch

Member
So I've caved in and bought Switch OLED with recent Metroid Prime remaster release - also bought online expansion pass - I'm baffled how bad frame rate is in this. I knew it wasn't that great, but when you try it for yourself - oh boy. Yes you can lower resolution to 720p - yes, it has less frame drops, but still. You can even go as low as 480p and guess what - drops are still there, though not as frequent as on higher resolutions.

When you see it's been almost a year from last posts and the problems still persists - come on Nintendo. I'd like to play proper official version, not this that can't hold 60fps at 480p 25 years after original release date. Let's not mention it's been working great on emulators for years. Quite embarassing actually.
Thats just a travesty. Sickening.
Its stuff like this - years and years worth of examples - waiting around for companies to properly bring the classics to the modern - that had me dig out my old consoles - restore them - and invest in a high quality low lag upscaler.
F-Zero deserves better.
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Just get a CRT and a N64, it's not that expensive and you'll be able to play the classics as they should be played.

Edit: did they add the 64DD stuff for the Switch release?
 
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amigastar

Member
I don't care about a GX remaster, even less an X remaster, the fact there's still no F-Zero SX for Nintendo backlog fructification, franchise diversification and portefolio valuation is baffling.

Are they're going to keep on milking the same 3 franchises mario, zelda, pokemon and abandon the whole rest?
True that, they have this wonderful franchise and decide nothing to do with it. Frustrating.
 

Romulus

Member
So I've caved in and bought Switch OLED with recent Metroid Prime remaster release - also bought online expansion pass - I'm baffled how bad frame rate is in this. I knew it wasn't that great, but when you try it for yourself - oh boy. Yes you can lower resolution to 720p - yes, it has less frame drops, but still. You can even go as low as 480p and guess what - drops are still there, though not as frequent as on higher resolutions.

When you see it's been almost a year from last posts and the problems still persists - come on Nintendo. I'd like to play proper official version, not this that can't hold 60fps at 480p 25 years after original release date. Let's not mention it's been working great on emulators for years. Quite embarassing actually.


This has me curious. I could have sworn I was playing this game with my bro on the ORIGINAL xbox(2001) and it was good. I know it works and runs at 720p I just want to check the framerate now.
 

Nemesisuuu

Member
Thats just a travesty. Sickening.
Its stuff like this - years and years worth of examples - waiting around for companies to properly bring the classics to the modern - that had me dig out my old consoles - restore them - and invest in a high quality low lag upscaler.
F-Zero deserves better.
Yeah, as someone said it would be great if there was new installment in the series, but, yeah.

I played it throughout the years on PC emulator and it was always great, so it is really disappointing to see it in this state. Back in the day I didn't have N64, but friend did have and I have really fond memories of playing F-Zero X on it. It would be nice to have it in great state on modern hardware through official channels.

This has me curious. I could have sworn I was playing this game with my bro on the ORIGINAL xbox(2001) and it was good. I know it works and runs at 720p I just want to check the framerate now.

Friend had modded OG Xbox with N64 emulator installed that played Super Mario 64 just fine if I recall correctly.
 
Yeah, as someone said it would be great if there was new installment in the series, but, yeah.

I played it throughout the years on PC emulator and it was always great, so it is really disappointing to see it in this state. Back in the day I didn't have N64, but friend did have and I have really fond memories of playing F-Zero X on it. It would be nice to have it in great state on modern hardware through official channels.



Friend had modded OG Xbox with N64 emulator installed that played Super Mario 64 just fine if I recall correctly.

Disgusting indeed. It's why I won't buy the n64 expansion still. I don't want to re-experience my fav game of all time, Ocarina, and have to play it with laggy controls at a crappy framerate.

Nintendo did a great job with the GB advance emulation by all accounts. They need to go back and solve some of the N64 emulation. It's called the "n64 expansion pass" after all.

But they won't...there are numerous examples of companies doing a bad job with their early emulation, which gets better in later collections. They never ever go back and patch the earlier stuff that they released.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Is this the Walmart version of WipEout? It looks like the developers were addicted to meth or something when making it. I hope they turned their life around
 

Electric-Wizard

Neo Member
F-Zero X is turning 25 july 14th. I wrote a little something in honor of this genious racing game. Would've liked to have posted it as a seperate thread, but as it turns out, I have insufficient priviliges to do so.

Would also like to remind everyone of this write up I once did on Neogaf, illustrating the qualities of F-Zero X. Don't hesitate to drop by the F-Zero subreddit. It's a fun place with lots of cool stuff being posted.
---

F-Zero X 25th anniversary



AN EXCEPTIONAL FRANCHISE

I remember reading this post by someone about playing GX. He was saying he'd find himself playing the same track in time attack, hours on end, shaving off precious tenths of a second, trying to set a new best track or lap record. This is the kind of passion F-Zero evokes.

F-Zero X was released in Japan july 14th 1998.

In Europe, it came out around the same time as Ocarina of Time, which of course hogged all the attention, with perfect or near perfect scores. I played through OoT, but the game that really took me was F-Zero X. I hadn't heard about F-Zero up to that point (never owned a Snes), but looking at the box art and screenshots from the game, it instantly looked cool to me and I don't regret it!

X received good scores upon release, 8's and 9's, but not OoT or Mario 64-like scores, which in my opinion it most definitely deserved. It still holds up incredibly well today, unlike some if not most N64 games. One of the points of critique at the time was graphics, specifically lack of scenery. Ironically, because it's also one of the N64 games that holds best visually, while most of that primitive N64 scenery now looks bland, uninteresting and rough.

I disagreed with that judgement at the time. Nintendo made all the right choices opting instead for a rock-solid 60 frames per second (pretty much unheard of in those days), all while weaving through a pack of 29 ships all interacting which each other on crazy corkscrew tracks. This makes playing F-Zero X an incredibly smooth, fast-paced, intense experience. It also has its own unique visual style/charm and importantly, clear line of sight on the tracks. Some more modern racers have a lot of clutter, which can make it hard to figure out the next bend or where to go next, which kind of works against them.



The real gem of X though are the physics and the precise controls giving it the right 'feel'. Airtime, generating lift on curved surfaces. Different cornering techniques, stacking boosts to build speed, that fine degree of control with that unique N64 analog stick. And then of course advanced techniques like railsliding or double tap dives (DTDs). This game still blows my mind. Let's also not forget the ramming (side attack system), which is super cool and isn't cheap. It requires great skill to use effectively, keeping it a pure skill racer (instead of a whacky party game like Mario Kart) and involves a speed trade off.

And then there's the soundtrack. Boy that soundtrack...
---

I'm still passionate about X all these years later, to me still the greatest racing game I ever played. It is a game that flirts with perfection and so do/did some of it's best pilots.

Extra tracks and a track editor (virtually the same tool the developers used), dubbed the 'Expansion Kit', were released, but unfortunately this was on on the ill-fated 64DD platform (an add-on for the N64), of which I believed only ever about 10 000 copies were sold/released and in Japan only. Nintendo never subsequently rereleased it on a different platform to give access to the general public (the 3DS would've been a great fit for a rerelease/remaster with its circle pad, touch screen and 3D effect).

And that was that. After Climax sold poorly (releasing 3 gameboy advance F-Zero's in a short timespan wasn't the smartest thing to do) and the anime bombed, it was over. But before that, at least we were fortunate enough to get GX on Gamecube, another great 3D Fzero with impressive graphics.

What does the future hold? Well, X (as well as the other Fzeros) lives on in the many custom track packs created by players and the time attack competition running to this day. Which is in and of itself is quite the feat in a market with fast evolving technology and companies always trying to direct the public's attention to the next best game/toy to have. A testament to the enduring quality and genious of the F-Zero games.

I have talked about F-Zero's esport potential, with the possibilities of 30-player online multiplayer and track creation and sharing. But we have already made it into an (underground) esport with the various time attack competitions, campaign speedruns and TASes (tool-assisted speedruns) pushing these games to the limit.

May I finally add I'm looking forward to the release of Aero GPX, a futuristic racer truly inspired by Fzero, which has been in development for some years now and reached its crowdfunding objectives a while back.

To close, an example of a custom track. A relatively simple one but I like it. Slider strat in action. Notice how he's able to skip several platforms with good speed and air control.


Does F-Zero X deserve an HD remake?
 
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Shut0wen

Banned
F-Zero X is turning 25 july 14th. I wrote a little something in honor of this genious racing game. Would've liked to have posted it as a seperate thread, but as it turns out, I have insufficient priviliges to do so.

Would also like to remind everyone of this write up I once did on Neogaf, illustrating the qualities of F-Zero X. Don't hesitate to drop by the F-Zero subreddit. It's a fun place with lots of cool stuff being posted.
---

F-Zero X 25th anniversary



AN EXCEPTIONAL FRANCHISE

I remember reading this post by someone about playing GX. He was saying he'd find himself playing the same track in time attack, hours on end, shaving off precious tenths of a second, trying to set a new best track or lap record. This is the kind of passion F-Zero evokes.

F-Zero X was released in Japan july 14th 1998.

In Europe, it came out around the same time as Ocarina of Time, which of course hogged all the attention, with perfect or near perfect scores. I played through OoT, but the game that really took me was F-Zero X. I hadn't heard about F-Zero up to that point (never owned a Snes), but looking at the box art and screenshots from the game, it instantly looked cool to me and I don't regret it!

X received good scores upon release, 8's and 9's, but not OoT or Mario 64-like scores, which in my opinion it most definitely deserved. It still holds up incredibly well today, unlike some if not most N64 games. One of the points of critique at the time was graphics, specifically lack of scenery. Ironically, because it's also one of the N64 games that holds best visually, while most of that primitive N64 scenery now looks bland, uninteresting and rough.

I disagreed with that judgement at the time. Nintendo made all the right choices opting instead for a rock-solid 60 frames per second (pretty much unheard of in those days), all while weaving through a pack of 29 ships all interacting which each other on crazy corkscrew tracks. This makes playing F-Zero X an incredibly smooth, fast-paced, intense experience. It also has its own unique visual style/charm and importantly, clear line of sight on the tracks. Some more modern racers have a lot of clutter, which can make it hard to figure out the next bend or where to go next, which kind of works against them.



The real gem of X though are the physics and the precise controls giving it the right 'feel'. Airtime, generating lift on curved surfaces. Different cornering techniques, stacking boosts to build speed, that fine degree of control with that unique N64 analog stick. And then of course advanced techniques like railsliding or double tap dives (DTDs). This game still blows my mind. Let's also not forget the ramming (side attack system), which is super cool and isn't cheap. It requires great skill to use effectively, keeping it a pure skill racer (instead of a whacky party game like Mario Kart) and involves a speed trade off.

And then there's the soundtrack. Boy that soundtrack...
---

I'm still passionate about X all these years later, to me still the greatest racing game I ever played. It is a game that flirts with perfection and so do/did some of it's best pilots.

Extra tracks and a track editor (virtually the same tool the developers used), dubbed the 'Expansion Kit', were released, but unfortunately this was on on the ill-fated 64DD platform (an add-on for the N64), of which I believed only ever about 10 000 copies were sold/released and in Japan only. Nintendo never subsequently rereleased it on a different platform to give access to the general public (the 3DS would've been a great fit for a rerelease/remaster with its circle pad, touch screen and 3D effect).

And that was that. After Climax sold poorly (releasing 3 gameboy advance F-Zero's in a short timespan wasn't the smartest thing to do) and the anime bombed, it was over. But before that, at least we were fortunate enough to get GX on Gamecube, another great 3D Fzero with impressive graphics.

What does the future hold? Well, X (as well as the other Fzeros) lives on in the many custom track packs created by players and the time attack competition running to this day. Which is in and of itself is quite the feat in a market with fast evolving technology and companies always trying to direct the public's attention to the next best game/toy to have. A testament to the enduring quality and genious of the F-Zero games.

I have talked about F-Zero's esport potential, with the possibilities of 30-player online multiplayer and track creation and sharing. But we have already made it into an (underground) esport with the various time attack competitions, campaign speedruns and TASes (tool-assisted speedruns) pushing these games to the limit.

May I finally add I'm looking forward to the release of Aero GPX, a futuristic racer truly inspired by Fzero, which has been in development for some years now and reached its crowdfunding objectives a while back.

To close, an example of a custom track. A relatively simple one but I like it. Slider strat in action. Notice how he's able to skip several platforms with good speed and air control.


Does F-Zero X deserve an HD remake?

Great read, supposedly next level games is creating something f zero related on the switch, tbf the switch is literally nintendos best chance to re introduce the series but they just dont care about the series anymore and pass the buck with the series needing something innovative, which is a load a shit, especially since fire emblem a series thats never really innovated with every game but nintendo is happy dishing it out while f zero gains dust, recently the guy that made X said Nintendo wont make another game because of mario kart, imo both games are completely different
 

JimboJones

Member
Great read, supposedly next level games is creating something f zero related on the switch, tbf the switch is literally nintendos best chance to re introduce the series but they just dont care about the series anymore and pass the buck with the series needing something innovative, which is a load a shit, especially since fire emblem a series thats never really innovated with every game but nintendo is happy dishing it out while f zero gains dust, recently the guy that made X said Nintendo wont make another game because of mario kart, imo both games are completely different
I think the difference with Fire Emblem is that it actually sells lol. Futuristic racers in general seem to have really declined in popularity.

But I agree that now is probably the best time to reintroduce if there ever was a time to try again.
 

Kikorin

Member
F-Zero GX is so great that if they just take it, upscale to 1080p and put it on Switch today, could pass for a game of this gen. I played it so much on GameCube, an awesome game with so much content to keep you entertained for ages, combined with great multiplayer. I agree that Switch is the beast chance to try to revive the series, obviously having expectations in check sales wise, considering arcade racing games are a genre that is basically dead.
 

Shut0wen

Banned
I think the difference with Fire Emblem is that it actually sells lol. Futuristic racers in general seem to have really declined in popularity.

But I agree that now is probably the best time to reintroduce if there ever was a time to try again.
GX sold 1.5 million, which is quite decent for a console that sold less then 30 million, if Nintendo was never happy with the sales then like i said perfect time to just do a basic port like pikmin 1 and 2
 
Great read, supposedly next level games is creating something f zero related on the switch, tbf the switch is literally nintendos best chance to re introduce the series but they just dont care about the series anymore and pass the buck with the series needing something innovative, which is a load a shit, especially since fire emblem a series thats never really innovated with every game but nintendo is happy dishing it out while f zero gains dust, recently the guy that made X said Nintendo wont make another game because of mario kart, imo both games are completely different
Yes and I think it's a load of shit that Nintendo doesn't bring it back. There are so many things you can do today with F-Zero that weren't possible in the past. Online leaderboards, online play, seasonal events, etc.
They could add things like customization, track editors, the list goes on...
With the massive Switch install base, the game would outsell any previous entry by a landslide and could introduce the younger generation to the series.
 

Impotaku

Member
Always wondered why the godlike GX was never seen again, something tells me it's because of the partnership in making it, it wasn't just nintendo themselves that made this possible which is what probably makes it trickier to get all parties to agree in a remaster. Shame as even now it still looks & runs amazing, thankfully i have all of them in the library from their first releases well the ones that matter N64/64DD/GC
 

Shut0wen

Banned
Always wondered why the godlike GX was never seen again, something tells me it's because of the partnership in making it, it wasn't just nintendo themselves that made this possible which is what probably makes it trickier to get all parties to agree in a remaster. Shame as even now it still looks & runs amazing, thankfully i have all of them in the library from their first releases well the ones that matter N64/64DD/GC
Makers of yakuza made GX, only thing i can think that would stop nintendo is the fact it runs off segas own engine that was used for super monkey ball, same with the wario game that was made for the gamecube, just speculating though
 

MrA

Member
Always wondered why the godlike GX was never seen again, something tells me it's because of the partnership in making it, it wasn't just nintendo themselves that made this possible which is what probably makes it trickier to get all parties to agree in a remaster. Shame as even now it still looks & runs amazing, thankfully i have all of them in the library from their first releases well the ones that matter N64/64DD/GC
Maybe because of the crazy difficulty
Stage 1 goal collect 30 capsules to pass
Collects 30
Hah thats not good enough, nerd, you need to collect 50
 

Sleepwalker

Member
I made my dad accumulate so many late return fees from blockbuster for renting this game. Truly one of the best games of my childhood. Love it so much, it and GX.

Also the game that made me figure out I love Metal music despite didn't even knowing what it was at the time.
 
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I wish they ported and enhanced these games.

Not full blown remakes or enhanced ports, more like Sega Ages improved ports.

I mean:

iL0hLW8.jpg


it makes a world of a difference.
 
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