F-Zero GX is From The Future! | Review

[@HQRubbish]

I have to say, it is always such a breath of fresh air to hear you speak on difficulty. To hear someone talk about the concept of difficult games as a positive, as something to be mastered is already becoming so rare. But that you also approach the topic with a level of honesty about your own skill level and struggles (again as a positive) is very refreshing. So often the discourse surrounding difficulty is broached either by those who cannot perform and therefore hate it, or those who have already mastered it and talk down to beginners. Great work.

[@PsychoJosh]

F-Zero GX is my absolute favorite game of all time and I'm worried that when they finally port it to Switch they'll ruin it somehow because Switch-era Nintendo doesn't understand gameplay nuance. Even from a casual perspective I'm still floored by just how much content and detail they packed into this game. The graphics and level design are beautiful even today, every single character in the game not only has a voice but a character model and unique animations even though you RARELY SEE THEM IN-GAME, since they are these tiny people inside these ships traversing vast gigantic alien worlds zipping by at 2000 km/h. Not only that but they all even have their own theme music (the MUSIC in this game oh my god it's so good, beautiful tracks by Daiki Kasho of Gran Turismo fame). Every level has immaculate detail, there's tons of lore and info on everything in the game, and it feels like a very lived-in universe. Just on casual appeal alone it has so much going for it but on top of that the gameplay is so much fun and super addicting.

[@patrickholt8782]

This game pulls off a 6th gen hat trick with 480p resolution, 60Fps, widescreen with 4 players. Great tech!

[@MrDirkles]

@@patrickholt8782 60fps and 480p is all any good game needs

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It really does! Maybe it's just my millennial heart speaking, but I love its visual style and think it holds up extremely well even now, especially when you run it in dolphin at high resolution. It's just so clean and elegant visually.

[@MrBroken030]

the frame rate is sooo good, no matter how fast you go or how much action is on screen!

[@coffeebean_tamer]

​@@TheElectricUnderground playing it emulated at 2k or 4k on a pc or Android is something else even the soundtrack is amazing.

[@rodneyabrett]

I'm glad you brought up this topic of arcades because the entire reason why arcades were so innovative and filled with fresh ideas is because they HAD to be in order to get your attention and get you to stick a quarter in the machine. The arcade coin-op was an incredibly competitive space and even if you go back to the history of Western arcade devs like Midway or Atari, they hired eccentric thinkers that were rewarded for their out-of-the-box crazy design ideas. So much foundation was laid during this era.

[@Camdavis11]

I guess it's a lot easier to drop a quarter to try something new rather than $70.

[@a.d.9825]

the last major innovation in arcades where trading card dispensers that resemble lootboxes, years before EA did it with FIFA and Madden. I know it's not popular, but hey it's a innovation nonetheless.

[@MrDirkles]

@@rodneyabrett totally agree. It's a tragedy that the creative and brilliant types have been shelved whilst dull mediocrity has been made king.

[@shawklan27]

​@@Camdavis11 obviously

[@Camdavis11]

@@shawklan27 sorry, that was meant to be tongue in cheek

[@wtfdoihavetodohere]

"Five more stages would have been nice". That Ikaruga review will never stop being funny to me!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That one gets me every time ha. I also find it really funny how off-handed the remark is, that's what makes it so potent. Because you know the reviewer thinks adding 5 more stages, doubling the length of the game, is just some casual addition no big deal ha.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

Our *frothing* demand for this game increases!

[@someinternetdude302]

It's very important to have people point out popular misconceptions in gaming history like you do in the beginning of this video. Great video as always.

[@EvilLucario]

I don't think you can properly review GX without also reviewing X, which was Nintendo EAD. GX does add a lot of new tech for sure like shift boosts, but it is still fundamentally building on X's game feel and design while also smoothing out other things like grip being a bit easier to maintain for casual play over X. It has its own way of moving around like how side attacks are very good for making turns and etc, so I think it is just as equally valuable to assess X when talking about GX, because as good as developers Sega are, they aren't the birth of everything in GX, not even just in regards to the high skill ceiling.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That is definitely true with a really iterative skill-based series like F-Zero. If I was more of an expert in racing games and knew all the complexities of all the systems in and out, I probably would have been able to draw some interesting comparisons between X and GX. But for this review I didn't want to just focus on the racing meta of the series, but really hone in on the unique aspects of GX that make it stand out to me in a way the other games in the series don't, which is its use of 3D physics vertically, its visceral sense of speed, and how dynamic the tracks are. X def has elements of this for sure, but I think GX just takes it to the next level in such an interesting way. I guess a fun way to describe it, at least from my POV, is X is like SMB64 and GX is like Melee ha. It's funny how direct that comparison works.

[@EvilLucario]

@@TheElectricUnderground Another good example would be like comparing F-Zero X to DoDonPachi and GX to DaiOuJou. GX wouldn't exist without X, the same way DaiOuJou wouldn't exist without DoDonPachi.

[@IAmTheMan9898]

I felt the same sort of thing throughout the video. X was a badass game that has things arguably better about it and provided a base for what GX became. I also wish there was more appreciation for the world of F-Zero and its characters. Sure, the game itself might as well be a discipline of its own when it comes to game play, but the engrossing presentation is the gateway to an interest in the game that made people want to become masters.

[@chloesmith4065]

X walked so GX could run

[@davidaitken8503]

I think X is better balanced in a lot of ways compared to GX. The fact that GX has so many more energy replenishing strips means that the heavier top speed vehicles can boost just as frequently as the lighter low top speed vehicles, leaving them at a severe disadvantage. The whole idea is that although they have higher top speeds overall, the heavies can't boost as much per lap because their juice drains more from boosts compared to lighter vehicles. It forces you to crank up the top speed more on the lighter vehicles, essentially just making them like the heavies, which isn't good for game variety.

[@weebnerdgaming4908]

I think the predecessors deserve more credit. F-Zero’s speed and controls had been established since the first game on the SNES. Then there is F Zero X that is as smooth as it is crazy fast (and lacking graphics to maintain 60 FPS, a rarity among console 3D racing games). F-Zero GX perfected it with the help of SEGA’s expertise.

[@thelastgogeta]

Ditto. F-Zero started off as a trailblazer even if I connect much more with the joint boost/machine health and 3D space in later games like X and GX. 60 FPS on N64 with 30 racers and supporting splitscreen multiplayer was crazy. SEGA brought their A Game but Nintendo set a very strong foundation whether it was inspired by arcade games or not.

[@trafalgar47official66]

Oh boy this game.... I never grasped how that ran so fluently on my GameCube, it truly was a beauty of its time

[@ssppeeaarr]

IBM processor hype... lol drink it in. last console nintendo cared about being most powerfu.

[@neokimchi]

The presentation was unreal too. On top of the amazing graphics and audio, full story mode with a huge amount of cg cutscenes (although a lot of them were cheesy) and theme songs and animated shorts for every single pilot...... what on earth was this game

[@deltest1770]

Definitely check out Gunvalkyrie or Panzer Dragoon Orta if you want to talk about SEGA's era after the Dreamcast. Gunvalkyrie had a lot of uniqueness for trying out tank control in a third person perspective and just everything else.

[@MadGear199X]

Oh man, I'd LOVE to see him review Gunvalkyrie

[@verygoodfreelancer]

the amount of production budget nintendo was willing to pour into this, having sega produce a custom song for EACH character, the massive amount expensive looking CG cutscenes, the story mode, even at the time playing it as a kid i was blown away

[@gzuskreist1021]

Sega can only make a good game post 2000 when Nintendo helps them.

[@0rnery0verwatch]

@@gzuskreist1021 I think another, lesser spoken of aspect, was the fact that Sega was a former rival now working with one of Nintendo's older IP's, so they had a lot to prove and clearly poured a lot of sweat and blood into the effort. When old rivals work together, gamers win🎉

[@gzuskreist1021]

@@0rnery0verwatch as a black man, i love f-zero gx. Also, im Chinese.

[@0rnery0verwatch]

@@gzuskreist1021 🤔

[@GojiGuy]

GX is an incredible game. Insane amount of HIGH QUALITY content. And whats also impressive about it is that despite the insane depth of the game, its incredibly fun as a casual game. I cleared it as a 13 year old kid. Its really the full package.

[@n2oshotandironman]

Mark, it's great to see you exploring racing games, especially F-Zero GX. I appreciate the amount of work you put into these Patreon-voted videos-the research, practice, and attention to detail really add value to your analysis and give depth to your perspective on the game’s design and legacy. Your focus on GX's arcade roots, with its clear SEGA DNA, is refreshing and highlights a lineage that’s easy to overlook if you're only familiar with the SNES entries. The insight into the speedrunning community is also a solid addition. Even as a longtime fan of GX, I wasn’t aware of the additional techniques for cornering and it’s definitely got me interested in picking it back up to try them out. You’re delivering on the high standards you set for yourself, and it’s appreciated.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thanks so much my dude!! Yes I def want to do the patrons justice on the games they vote for and sometimes it's really good for me creatively because some of the game selections, like F-Zero GX, do push me into entirely new territories of research and analysis. I'm glad you appreciate the effort ha, this one was certainly a beast because of how complex and technical the game is, but it feels good to have gotten into the thick of it for sure :-)

[@RaymondoPerson]

I think the hyperfocus on console wars, generations etc is just more profitable than the arcade environment (where individual games matter above all else) because it introduces big emotionally charged "events", "great leaps forward", not to mention clearly defined & simplified brand competition to follow almost as a sport & take part in. Very good for both the games industry and games media. So you quickly start to understand why old game mags & early online reviews dismissed arcades as coin-munching relics, claimed games designed that way were too short & lacked replayability etc. Just the focus on "big worlds", "linearity bad" & environmental exploration over mechanical exploration serves the "great leaps forward", "big events" line of thinking (look how much bigger games in this new 'generation' are!).

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Your exactly right Raymondo I couldn't say it better myself. There is clearly a bias now and then that arcades were some kind of money-grubbing side show and that real gaming happened at home on consoles.

[@crawlingamongthestars3736]

Very good points. Worth mentioning also I think is console games being generally much more approachable in terms of difficulty for the average player (not to mention game journalist), and so they naturally draw more people to them due to this fact. Also, many arcade games are essentially "stuck" in the arcade, because of a lack of console ports, or at least quality console ports. Most people don't use emulation, so if the game is not officially on console, there's going to be far more of a lack of familiarity and knowledge of it, regarding the general gaming population. Because of this so many arcade games have essentially been forgotten and lost to time by the majority of gamers, especially since the oldschool arcade scene is long dead now.

[@ZorroVulpes]

great points, even as a pc gamer new gpus tend to come out around when new consoles come out

[@antusFireNova]

​@@crawlingamongthestars3736 not to mention that some arcade games have very unconventional controls

[@coolfool64]

I'm glad you said 'the melee of racing games'. I always felt F-zero GX and Melee were kindred spirits on the Gamecube, in their speed, brilliantly broken mechanics and extremely finesse movement .

[@megamillion5852]

Something about the whole GameCube era in many ways felt very Melee centric. Like a dolphin, splashing, fun-loving beauty.

[@whoevencares219]

I really miss the old Sega, they were able to pump out some of the simplest concepts, and yet make them the most replayable games to date, for example Super monkey ball and Crazy taxi, games that had simple controls, yet their game feel and physics were things that not a single other developer was able to replicate, the sad thing is, the new Sega can't replicate these physics and game feel anymore, when they released a remaster of the first 2 monkey balls, their new physics were completely broken and awful in comparison to the originals, they really used to have such a tight grip on the concept of "game feel" and risk reward systems, and now it's seemingly gone.

[@DKCreo]

Enjoyed the video, Mark! That said, it did seem like you were trying to force shots against Nintendo just for the sake of giving the credit to the arcades lol. For example, Miyamoto could easily have had his Zelda inspirations from certain arcade games (which he did) AND the whole garden and exploring-caves-as-a-child stuff (which is more than likely true) at the same time; one doesn't necessarily have to cancel out the other. . .and I don't know man, proposing the idea that Virtual-On is a further origin of what would eventually be called "Z-targeting" in Ocarina of Time just doesn't sit right with me, specifically with how you presented it because I do think it's at least interesting to consider. The way Virtual-On mechanically locks on to targets during gameplay is fundamentally different than what Ocarina of Time developed (which would essentially be an on / off toggle that directs your full attention between the target and your player character (Link) the entire time, whether that be an enemy, an object, a point of interest, etc.). They're not really one in the same in terms of overall function (being that the games are so different) and I think the fact that so many studios and developers have outwardly credited Ocarina of Time themselves is more telling of how the industry actually sees it than not. I don't think drawing the comparison / having the discussion is inherently abhorrent on paper, but you kind of presented it in a way that undermines their story of landing upon chanbara-styled combat and whatever after having observed a theatre play almost like a complete farce. On a different note, it's kind of hard to omit the importance of F-Zero X, which WAS Nintendo EAD being the foundation with which GX obviously looked to build upon. Vastly different games in that GX is quite an evolution of what came before, but I think you kind of presented a perspective against Nintendo's ability in comparison to what Sega had provided when really it's more of an iterative development of what had come before. Now I'm sure it's probably also true that you don't feel the most qualified to elaborate on X to GX which is fine, but it still probably deserved a little bit of screentime regardless. Also helps to know that Yoshihiro Togashi was the lead for GX who happened to have a track record (pun) with his work on the Daytona USA arcade cabinet in '94 - definitely something important worth mentioning! Again, I did enjoy the video, I just felt your arcade bias was a bit heavy-handed this time around which is funny because I actually don't think I entirely disagree with where you're coming from in spirit; there's definitely a place for these kind of discussions to be had, but they probably should be presented a bit more thoughtfully is all. Looking forward to the next one. :)

[@MrDirkles]

The pinnacle of gaming. We never knew it at the time but it was downhill all the way from this point on

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah even at the time I didn't realize how much if a negative impact losing arcades as the for front of game design would be, but now we are really feeling the effects because without the arcade business model, a lot of really strong game design concepts have eroded in the face of making games more shallow and marketable

[@jamespaguip5913]

@@TheElectricUnderground I really enjoy your channel but I’m not hear to judge but gaming isn’t dead because indie games and double AA games are doing a lot better than triple AAA games for example: hollow knight, anno mutationum, deep galactic rock and stone, shovel knight, vellum, vampire survivors, cuphead, trepang2, ultrakill, Boltgun, sparks the electric jester, hades, outer wilds and sentry. You should try out more indie and double AA games. I hope you respond.

[@jamespaguip5913]

@@TheElectricUnderground I really enjoy your channel but I’m not hear to judge but gaming isn’t dead because indie games and double AA games are doing a lot better than triple AAA games for example: hollow knight, anno mutationum, deep galactic rock and stone, shovel knight, vellum, vampire survivors, cuphead, trepang2, ultrakill, Boltgun, sparks the electric jester, hades, outer wilds and sentry. You should try out more indie and double AA games. I hope you respond.

[@jamespaguip5913]

@@TheElectricUnderground @The Electric Underground I really enjoy your channel but I’m not hear to judge but gaming isn’t dead because indie games and double AA games are doing a lot better than triple AAA games for example: hollow knight, anno mutationum, deep galactic rock and stone, shovel knight, vellum, vampire survivors, cuphead, trepang2, ultrakill, Boltgun, sparks the electric jester, hades, outer wilds and sentry. You should try out more indie and double AA games. I hope you respond.

[@JamesPaguio-n5g]

@@TheElectricUnderground ​​⁠ ​​⁠ I really enjoy your channel but I’m not hear to judge but gaming isn’t dead because indie games and double AA games are doing a lot better than triple AAA games for example: hollow knight, anno mutationum, deep galactic rock and stone, shovel knight, vellum, vampire survivors, cuphead, trepang2, ultrakill, Boltgun, sparks the electric jester, hades, outer wilds and sentry. You should not be stuck in the past and try out more indie and double AA games. I hope you respond.

[@idglet9565]

Dude, now you HAVE to make a Super Monkey Ball video. Those first two games are game design clinic.

[@curiositytax9360]

What does game design clinic mean? I dont know much about video games but I played f zero gx and the first two super monkey balls for the first time just last year and they are easily three of the best games Iv ever played. F zero gx become my favourite game of all time. Never thought I’d have one of them but here we are

[@mejia29]

I really appreciate your assessment on F-Zero GX. I often find others when discussing video games that it lacks a perspective on being an art medium. F-Zero GX is so singular. Less of a "product" and more of artists having a vision that coalesces into something great. Possibly can never be recreated like paintings from the Masters.

[@chozochiefxiii3298]

F zero gx and burnout 3 are the kind of racing games I'd like to play. Wish there were more of them.

[@cokesucker9520]

I miss burnout

[@stolensentience]

burnout 3 is still the last time I enjoyed a racing game

[@coffeebean_tamer]

Split Second and Blur were the last Arcade Racers everything is ultra real simulation... sad that diversity in genres is dead.

[@Nap1300]

I always appreciate people talking about F-Zero GX, it's one of my favorite games of all time. And a lot of the points regarding a GX remaster are things I do think the series could use, particularly online leaderboards and a track editor (My dream is actually having online 30 player races which is a bit out there but if anyone could do it Nintendo/Sega could). However, as a few people have pointed out in the comments, I feel you're a bit too eager to diminish Nintendo's contributions to the series--a lot of the stuff that makes GX special mechanics wise was present in X, which was entirely developed by Nintendo EAD. GX did a fantastic job of refining it, yes, but to say Nintendo was not involved in its success at all feels a bit disingenuous to me. But that's not my main issue honestly. My main issue is how the speedruns of the game seem to color your perspective on what the series was designed to be, particularly in regards to the Speed/Accelerator dial. F-Zero X and GX created that dial as a way to allow players to tune the vehicles to match their individual playstyles--most casual players will see this as a way to dial into whatever setting is most comfortable for them specifically, if they'd rather be riskier with low acceleration and high speed or safer with high acceleration and low speed. The fact that this ended up being a moot point with speedruns is a completely different issue with game balance--snaking was in no way intended by the developers and is a quirk of how the game handles turn acceleration. Which is fine, plenty of games end up having wacky physics quirks that can sometimes enhance the gameplay experience (see Melee and MvC2 as you brought up) but snaking has been a contentious point in the community for as long as it was discovered since it basically turned the optimal times into a contest of who's willing to break their hands faster. I can guarantee you that was absolutely not the intention of the developers when they created the Speed/Acceleration dial--AX had a similar quirk called T-Drifting, and that got patched out before the game got its console release. I don't think the answer is to get rid of the dial altogether, the answer would be to make it so you can't have a value above 1.0 for your machine's turn acceleration, but you wouldn't really be able to do that in a remaster since speedrunners are purists who only want to play the version of the game that's closest to the original. And if you keep the dial, there is no way you'd ever be able to keep track of what playstyle somebody is using in order to make separate online leaderboards. I cannot see any world where your proposal for separate in-game leaderboards for different playstyles would ever work in reality, there are waaaay too many variables to keep track of if you wanted to create the flags for that sort of thing. I dunno, I'm rambling since while I would LOVE a GX Remaster, I'm not sure you'd really be able to pull off the suggestions you propose and still have it be the version that speedrunners play, which seems to be one of your main focal points for what you want out of the game and makes it a bit of a paradox. I personally think the real answer is for Nintendo to reach out to whatever developers of GX they can find (I know some moved on to RGG Studio, some moved on to other Nintendo projects, and director Nagoshi is currently running his own studio) to put together a brand new game rather than try to remaster a game that's just too precisely crafted to do anything other than basically port it without touching the mechanics of the game at all. It's a bit of a long shot, but Nintendo has been willing to outsource projects like Metroid recently, and I like to think that F-Zero 99 is sort of priming the pump for either a GX remaster or ideally a brand new title for their new console. Forgive my word vomit, thanks for highlighting one of my favorite games of all time.

[@todesziege]

Regarding the grand prix structure: I think not just arcade genres could benefit from this. Early FPS games (like Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D) did something very similar with the campaigns being divided into episodes, typically 3-4. While this originated from the shareware business model, it does have many implications for gameplay and their general structure. Although people tend to save-scum through them today, and modern ports overlook it even further with things like auto-saves, these games _do_ have death/game over mechanics, where if you die you restart the level and lose all your collected inventory (Doom even had a lives system in its beta, although it was scrapped for the final release). Because of the relatively short length of these episodes/sub-campaigns it is quite feasible to, at least for repeat plays, play these in one sitting without saving. And I would strongly argue that the most fun-and tense-way to play these games is to play without saving, and there're some strong indications that this really is how they were intended to be played. This also connects to the subject of permadeath that you brought up in another video. While permadeath in a 20 hour campaign is a bit harsh, permadeath in a 1 hour sub-campaign is much easier to stomach. Left 4 Dead is one modern-ish game that incorporates something like this, being divided into a handful or shorter episodes consisting of 4 or so maps each, that you play in one sitting. The game would be far less engaging (and popular/longlived) if it had a more "modern" format with auto-saves and "progress".

[@Wiziliz]

Arcade era is the best era of gaming and that drive for fresh ideas is why even today they tend to be my most played games, as well as the most fresh ones

[@lounowell4171]

Bangai-O Spirits is a shmup (sorta) with discrete level select, big fan. N++ also benefits A LOT from this style of menus.

[@magicjohnson3121]

160 levels and a level editor. Crazy good game.

[@RealziesCuts]

For the past few years, I had been wondering if anyone else in the world had noticed that this is the greatest racing game ever made. Thank you for your passionate and deep video. Definitely in the top 100 games of all time: F Zero GX 🏆✊

[@Nelkhael1]

This is easily one of my favorite games of all time and I always appreciate when a new video about it comes out. Thank you.

[@bazzlemedazzle1]

Takes like this are why I appreciate this channel so much! Totally agree that sega is so often talked about in the context of being Nintendo's rival. oh sega? They made the genesis to compete with Nintendo etc. but really sega was rhe absolute GOAT of the arcade during the 80s and 90s and the home consoles were an extension of that. The fact that a huge chunk of games on sega console are in fact arcade ports says a lot i think.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Exactly Bazzle! Even though SEGA and Nintendo are viewed as somehow similar companies in the western world, because we only focus on console wars and so forth, we miss out on the fact that SEGA are actually much more related to a company like Capcom where they have extremely robust and active arcade development that directly influenced what Nintendo was up to on their home consoles. Actually it's really funny to think how influenced the Gamecube and Wii era of Nintendo was by SEGA, as the wii and dreamcast actually have a ton of similarities with their emphasis on peripherals and bringing the more kinetic aspects of the arcade home. Not the case for the Switch Era of Nintendo though, that's for sure ha. Their main influence seems to be Disney and the mouse's love of legal leverage against ones foes. Meanwhile Sega support fan-game creation events.

[@Tarextherex]

Bruh Sega supports fan creation because they ain’t doing shit with their mountains of IPs 😭😭😭 The guys that made F-Zero GX are just milking Yakuza nonstop for years, that’s all modern Sega does aside from getting carried by Atlus This was a perfectly good video that could have done without the 90-00s console warring, as if modern Sega didn’t massively fall off. The boring truth on why Nintendo’s arcade IPs are getting the short end of the stick is simply because those kinds of games don’t sell and Nintendo has only so many studios. To single them out is hypocritical, all of your favorite 90s arcade devs have massively fallen off and nowadays make games that follow modern gaming trends, at least Nintendo still have their essence somewhat intact so they won’t ever make the kind of unfun AAA slop that plagues the industry. (Btw Platinum is washed too, Star Fox Zero should have been made by Treasure. F-Zero 99 sucks but at least they remember it exists) Good video though, I’m glad that you hit the nail on the head on why F-Zero GX is a great game and why it’s by far my favorite arcade-style game. I’m glad you mentioned how unambiguous it is, that’s a big part of the appeal for me. You need to get good in order to even clear a cup, the game incites you on doing everything to get better. On top of that, the game is so fun to control that I simply didn’t mind locking in and “grinding” for two weeks, being one with the machine just to clear some story chapter on very hard. For other games I wouldn’t bother doing something as repetitive but F-Zero (any of them really) is just fun. Meanwhile if you look at shmups or beat them ups I never got into one as much as I got into F-Zero because I just don’t feel compelled to do high score chasing and 1cc, it’s just bragging rights. Like, why would I bother knowing by heart, mastering a game that isn’t as fun as F-Zero. Would love to know about a shmup or beat em up that presents its content and progression in a similar way that F-Zero GX does

[@Tchiko.]

Hi Mark, as usual thanks for the video. I appreciate the highlight of the arcade branch, but in the case of F-Zero GX, in relation to the series, I have to disagree on some points. I know that it’s not your main domain, and of course we all have our preferences. I’m a huge fan of the F-Zero series, I played it so much since the release of the first one on SFC. My favorites are the original and X, and if I can appreciate a bit GX for some characteristics, I don’t really like it. Let me explain. For the perspective of that, I will quickly explain the basics of its two predecessors. In the original when the ship start to drift or can’t turn enough you release the gaz, you can pump the throttle to maintain more speed. If it doesn’t turn enough then you add L/R. It’s very focused on the GP mode, master difficulty, the way you have to race extremely precisely while avoiding very punishing contacts with others ships (you can use L/R in straight line to do that more easily in this game, it doesn’t cost speed). I’ve made an « all first » Queen GP master video on my youtube if you’re curious. I was so mad when they released Super Mario Kart instead of an F-Zero sequel, despite it was a good game and not so casual for this first Mario Kart. A little personal observation : technicaly you can drift in the original F-Zero, with Dr Stewart. It’s fun (and hard) but unfortunatly not efficient at all. However I guess this is the begining of Mario Kart drifting. In X, the perfect 3D transition for me, you have the famous drifting acceleration style by setting the ship on full acceleration. It controls a bit better than in GX imo, but anyway in GP mode even if its efficient you can’t slalom precisely to avoid the other ships, and so I consider that technique good for time attack but deteriorating too much the GP gameplay where the fun comes for the precise management of the 29 other ships. So let’s focus on the grip style : in X when you loose the grip it is very punishing, like falling in the emptiness in a platform game, you don’t want that at any cost. To avoid that, first you have to turn the more softely possible. And here we have what prevent X to be appreciate today : you have to play with the original N64 stick. It’s special, it’s designed for it, it’s bad with a modern controller, period. And this original stick is very precise with its optical technology (fragile unfortunatly). This and the overall physics of the game that I will discuss later gives to X a simulation vibe, while having the crazyness and good mechanics of an arcade game. So for turning, when you have to turn more strongly then like the original you have to let go the gaz (pumping is good too), and then eventualy use L/R if it’s not enough. But there’s an other technique to turn strongly in X (not present in GX), you can use the attack by pressing quickly L or R two times, without letting go the gaz. This allow to turn way more quickly, but it’s more difficult to execute while being very satisfying to master. In comparison GX is globaly less punishing regarding the lose of the grip, in a more chaotic way. In general, the physics in this game is outstanding, imo unequivocaly better than in GX. The way you can gain speed just by having a gentle trajectory, letting go the ship exiting a bend, is so unique, the simple but deep and complex feeling of turning, of gaining speed by diving in the air, it’s so perfect and unfortunatly not that good in GX, and I mean by far, not as well designed, and it is one of my major grip with GX. The feeling of precise controls of a jet aircraft on a road is missing, despite the marvelous speed. Yes you have interesting advance mechanics, but the fondation are too much altered. And X has a ton of advanced technics too, I highly recommend the tutorial videos of W MJ on youtube, the most famous champion of this game, very detailed explainations of how X works. In GP of X, the focus on racing against the 29 other ship is very strong and precise, for example a big collision with another ship will make you lose the grip, but not if you let go the throttle just before (or you attack if you can of course, wich in its execution, is more intune with the racing gameplay in X compare to GX). That’s another thing that is missing in GX, you can’t manage the crowd so precisely and make a clean run, it’s a significant loss. I also have a X video of a clean run in master, impossible to replicate in GX (regardless your level). Two things however than I like in GX : a simple one, the mechanic of having to release the gaz after a significant max speed way over the « normal » max speed of the ship, for example after a big jump, simple but very cool to do. And one thing many people don’t know, the game is compatible with the official Gamecube Logitech force feedback wheel (manageable even with the pedals-less version that I have, there are analog wings behind the wheel), and oh boy that’s something. The level of attention to this feature is insane, I guess because of the work they have already done on the arcade version and transposed here. Surprinsingly some technics are different here, you start drifting with the brake while maintaining the gaz (instead of L+R), MTS don’t exist anymore (proof imo, if necessary, that many advanced techniques aren’t in the core design of the game), there are other exclusive technics and even the physics can be for some point a bit different, like drifting. I also made a video of GX with the wheel, it’s very sensationnal, very arcade. Also you award SEGA for some GX features that were already present in the series. I understand your global point of view of hightighting the arcade legacy for this video and you toke GX as an example, but for some points it’s not really right in this case. F-Zero has always been punishing, the collisions in the first one, the crashing out of the road etc. They raised that a bit in GX, and it’s cool, but as I mention above not always in an interesting way for me. And it is X that introduced hardcore staffghosts. Anyway, I’m glad you enjoy an F-Zero, and personnaly I would have prefered GX to be done by Yu Suzuki instead of M. Daytona USA.

[@AppleGreenmusic]

Mark please play F-Zero X and stop crediting SEGA for including things that were already part of the series. This is absurd.

[@nomanemo]

"The raw visual feel, the speed, the spinning, the turning, it's just so..." Sonic ;)

[@radio100jogosdeemacs2]

One detail people often overlook is that Toshihiro Nagoshi, the director of this game, is also the creator of Daytona USA, one of the most influential arcade racers ever made. It's likely that Nintendo chose his studio to develop this game because of it. I expected an arcade-focused channel to mention this, but oh well. Nice video as always still!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh that is so cool! I didn't know that, but it makes sense considering the game's level of polish

[@pppp-by1bq]

When Imamura of F-ZERO, who liked Daytona USA, heard that Nagoshi had brought a proposal to Miyamoto, he suggested that they work together. It was Nintendo that proposed the arcade version of FZERO, which used the Triforce, an adaptation of the GameCube's structure for the arcade version.

[@RyutaaKuzunoha]

Daytona USA is the best traditional racing game ever conceived. Two cars, three tracks, and four songs. That's all you need if the game feels great to play.

[@retrosuperbox8434]

Thanks Mark. This was awesome. I saw/heard you use the word "pure". I reckon that encapsulates this game so well. Like a shmup, you know it's possible, but you just gotta git gud first. I certainly got resetitis at certain points in the game ala shmups.

[@josuebasterretxea3923]

A reminder for everyone. Aero GPX.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

But make sure you play with the 30 racers. If you play by yourself, there’s no RNG- Might as well pre-code all your inputs.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah the Gran prix mode isn't too challenging once you really get strong with the advanced tech, but the games raw speed and technical demands is where the replayability is deep and comes from. The right amount of rng always helps add some replayability when done correctly, but with a game this pure and focused I think the lack of RNG works well.

[@jamespaguip5913]

@@TheElectricUnderground I really enjoy your channel but I’m not hear to judge but gaming isn’t dead because indie games and double AA games are doing a lot better than triple AAA games for example: hollow knight, anno mutationum, deep galactic rock and stone, shovel knight, vellum, vampire survivors, cuphead, trepang2, ultrakill, Boltgun, sparks the electric jester, hades, outer wilds and sentry. You should try out more indie and double AA games. I hope you respond.

[@jamespaguip5913]

@@TheElectricUnderground ​​⁠ I really enjoy your channel but I’m not hear to judge but gaming isn’t dead because indie games and double AA games are doing a lot better than triple AAA games for example: hollow knight, anno mutationum, deep galactic rock and stone, shovel knight, vellum, vampire survivors, cuphead, trepang2, ultrakill, Boltgun, sparks the electric jester, hades, outer wilds and sentry. You should try out more indie and double AA games. I hope you respond.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

@@TheElectricUnderground Thanks for sharing your take. I much prefer the 30 racers. Racing by yourself is boring, RNG wise, aesthetic wise, overall. Even if you’re fast and technical, you’re still just one racer on an empty track.

[@akc12]

@@user-wl2xl5hm7k And some players prefer to speedrun the game. There is no "right" way to play a game.

[@regpett3730]

Unreal Mark, my brother showed me your channel around a year ago and I knew at some point you would have to make an F-Zero GX review but never thought that wish would come true! While I do love and agree with the review! There is one part i disagree with and I believe you may have missed the point on. That being the games campaign in general and how it relates to earning tickets. The campaign, ironically enough, is a big tutorial for the real game, the Grand Prix. Each level is testing you on some different aspects of the game. Level 1 - General skills controlling the biue falcon Level 2 - Its not how you start a race but how you end it. Level 3 - Skill check (mini grand prix) Level 4 - in racing combat Level 5 - precision in high speed boosted straightaways. Level 6 - maintaing a minimum speed while not hitting obstacles or railings Level 7 - the big campaign skill check Level 8 - learning how to mine boost properly Level 9 - show casing staff ghosts in a purely speed based competition. No railings, no bumping the other guy off, no variables in their speed. Just you and the literal "creators of the world". Its not always super specific but when you beat a campagin level, you wont ever have enough to buy the next campaign level unless you do one of two things. You complete a Grand Prix with the new skills youve acquired or you beat that same mission on hard and prove mastery. After that, the very hard difficulty is just more challenge for the fun of it. Overall, to quote twisted metal, "I just wanted to go faster than anyone ever has".

[@nickogden5312]

A couple months ago I stumbled across an f zero game by chance, and dove down the rabbit hole, getting obsessed with f zero gx in the process. That led me to suggestioning this game in the Patreon and now I have a review from my favorite KZbinr in front of me. What a crazy world we live in. Can’t wait to watch it.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That's super cool!! It's so interesting how this domino of circumstances and influence can end up happening. Where if you hadn't come across an F-Zero game by chance a few months back, this current vid would not exist. Wild to think about that butterfly effect.

[@DragonflySwamp]

Growing up at this time and having SSBM and F-Zero GX mainlined into my spinal column was an incredibly formative experience. The Monkey Ball physics engine explains a lot of the razor-edged margins that I noticed, like how small differences between the angle you take around a pipe can either save you time or careen into the abyss.

[@5liter47]

One of my favorite KZbinrs reviewing one of my favorite games? Hell yeah. Today's a good day.

[@Ocelot93]

Its the first time in recent memory I hear you mention music in a game! Love to hear it!

[@Bazooka_Orze]

Brother, step throat is really sucks, wish you a fast recovery! Really-really good video! Didn't now about arcade cabinet. I have a little dream now.

[@justsayin4632]

I’ve always said, Sega broke F-Zero. They went balls-to-the-wall on GX/AX instead of the typical corporate slow-but-steady gradual evolution of a franchise to keep it “evergreen” for their portfolio. Nintendo can’t top GX so they don’t even try. Sad really. Would LOVE even just a full HD remaster!

[@G-Self]

I think another game like F-Zero GX could be made today if Nintendo could just get out of their own way.

[@RyuSaarva]

X is a better game. They don´t try because f-zero does not sell so they are not wasting their own staffs time on the series.

[@justsayin4632]

@@RyuSaarva Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you’d be hard pressed to ask 100 F-Zero fans which game was better, X or GX, and have more than 10 agree with you.🤷🏻‍♂️

[@GBDupree]

I also don't think we could ever get a port of GX, just an emulated "port". It seems even Sega don't have the engine around anymore as even the remakes of Super Monkey Ball don't use it. So either they don't have the engine, or no one is around that knows how to work on it. And because Nintendo and Sega would have to work together to get the port, that slows things down and is a lot of work for a game that is (to them) unlikely to succeed (it would have to be a Switch 2 launch to even have a chance, since people are more likely to buy anything on a console launch). As for a new game, I think Nintendo is too scared they could never recreate the gameplay/feel and physics to a degree that fans would accept, it would very likely feel watered down. Not only that, but most companies just use commonplace engines like Unity or Unreal, both of which are noticeably bad about physics (this is the reason the new Monkey ball games have such bad physics). So Nintendo would be having to force these engines to run physics better than they are naturally equipped to do, or deal with bad physics which is a guaranteed death of the game, or make a new propietary engine that they wouldn't bankroll for F-Zero of all their IPs. This is one of the reasons that F-Zero is in such a bad spot for a future. If gaming started focusing on physics again, instead of ignoring that entirely (seriously, even games not known for their physics still have worse physics than their predecessors! Just look at Dead Rising for an example) then maybe it would have a chance. But the gaming scene is not in a good spot right now for games like F-Zero unfortunately. Though I do think that it would have a better chance now then it did 10 years ago, if marketed correctly.

[@ssppeeaarr]

it will make a comeback someday... with starfox. those verses will be crossed.

[@djdedan]

FZero GX was a beast! A BEAST! Cool to see a great review and that there's an actual scene for that masterpiece.

[@ssppeeaarr]

ya somethin xbox n playstation fan boys can never have... nevaaaa 🙂🤗

[@spectrazone]

One of my favorite techs, and one of the easier ones to pull off, is where you release the A button right after using boost or hitting a boost pad. This happens throughout the video any time the boosters aren't glowing, and the community calls it "Momentum Throttle" or "MT." While holding A, your vehicle decelerates at an exponential rate, and for some reason releasing A makes it go linear. That alone helps so much with staying ahead at Max Speed, and especially once you dig into the more advanced tech for gaining speed above max. I love this video, it makes me so happy to see people talking about this, and the arcade focus put a spin on it I haven't considered or seen explored as deeply in other analyses. Happy racing!

[@kuma-wamu]

Thanks for making the video. I had GX but I never gave it a proper go. I will have to try it again. It would be cool if you do Virtual-On at some point.

[@tournaline3448]

I never really liked F-Zero until Sega showed Nintendo how to do it. Sega truly were the kings of the arcade, even down to the attract screens - no one ever did it like Sega!

[@G-Self]

*Space Harrier devs see Star Fox using the FX Chip* "Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power!"

[@windup13ird60]

F-Zero GX was probably the first competitive, difficult game I really pushed myself to get better in as a kid. Besides it being really fun to play with friends, there were two main reasons: 1) After seeing the strategy guide a friend had, i discovered what seemed like an endless amount of cool bonus racers locked behind story mode completion. I needed them. 2) I learned about the secret movies when you clear Master with that racer, and about Mrs. Arrow's one. I needed that.

[@De_kaid]

You don't really have to engage with any of the speedrunner concepts to fully beat F Zero GX, the developer ghosts do use them on rare occasions but are still far from unbeatable. you're not even mentioning F Zero X, which had the more difficult Master Mode and much better focus on combat, hell you didn't even talk about combat at all. Downtalking the snes version saying you can constantly s-jet makes me think you never got out of knight league, you compare the game to melee but say mario kart decreases the skillgap with items when both games have items in their multiplayer modes (some developer times in mario kart games are crazy too) and complaining right now about nintendo not giving enough love to F Zero feels kinda weird when they just released a japan exclusive title worldwide and are rereleasing some (nearly) lost media f zero content in f zero 99. (not saying I wouldn't be in for a true sequel, but they're giving the series more attention right now than they have been for the last 15 years) your huge focus on the speedrunning community and leaderboards is misplaced too, arcades were about the 5-15 minutes you got to play the game first and foremost, most people played a few rounds and left it at that. Leaderboard competition is def a part of arcades, but they weren't the reason the skill ceilings were so high. It's also unlikely the devs intended for players to constantly wiggle the stick left and right while alternating the shoulder buttons so the players could speedrun getting rsi (even if one of the later staff ghosts uses it). e.g. if you remember a few years before F Zero GX, Sega released Ferrari F355 Challenge and shortly after a patched version that made nazo drift slower to disincentivize that playstyle. You complain about how unbalanced the ship selection is. Even speaking purely on a time trial basis (which isn't the whole point of the game), you missed the point you made yourself earlier on in the video, easy to use ships have a lower skill ceiling and therefor go slower overall versus the harder to use ships. If easier to use ships are balanced so they have a chance to compete against the more difficult ships, then whats the point?

[@Gantonio865]

Well, that was a GX review, he wouldn't rly need to focus on the other games all that much. Having played years of mario kart, the game's skill celling isn't rly all that high cuz the game design is objectively much simpler, surely you have the items, there's also the drift, but then that's it, you just have to use the drift and then use your items through the races, there's nothing higher than that, the game doesn't rly condemn you for using the wrong items since you can just use anything to beat the enemy, just try your best to not get hit, i don't rly doubt that a newcomer could play and become good at it for like a few hours cuz it's just that plain and simple to understand, so no matter whenever each mode the player the chooses, it's not just really that hard and never was, meanwhile in f-zero GX, it's impossible to beat the game without learning what is a quick turn, maximum throttle, MTS, shift boosting, and so on, every single time a beginner tries to play the game, even mute city without them, its almost unplayable, you can't really beat the game without them, that's why you have experts going on several threads telling beginners to use train these techniques first on forums or on social media cuz the game was actually designed with these in mind, there are even resources make learning these techniques easier like F-Zero Central or the Max Speed Guide, so it's not "just the ghosts that use them rarely", also a battle royale game which was clearly made just to chase that trend and a ridiculous few of stuff which was never released publicly, doesn't rly mean they "care". Also your comment on arcade games is a rather poor analysis and flawed and buys into the "MINDLESS QUATERMUNCHERS" lie/misconception easily arcade games weren't really about the first 15 minutes, they were about beating the game with one credit without any continues, so you have to learn the game, and it's underlying mechanics, enemy patterns, the levels, etc. and that's were the scoring comes in, since if you scored well, the games obviously rewarded you based on your skill and mastery, which is why learderboard competition is a massive part of the arcades and what makes them skill based, since gives the players a propose, a reason to expand and improve the skills further, when the game designers were developing them, they obviously have to take scoring in mind since it was such an important part of them. Your comment about the devs not intending for snaking feels rly disgineous since you just stated one of the ghosts use it, if the devs were aware of these mechanics, you can't rly say the devs didn't intend snaking, surely SEGA discouraged players from using that mechanic in that ferrari game but the team who developed that game was a different one, which were AM2, and their intentions in F355 were different compared to A.V's, this entire comment feels like you just want to be an contrarian prick.

[@De_kaid]

@@Gantonio865 The comment on F Zero X was made bc he does call GX the hardest when that's just not true, X has a way more difficult Master Mode and the Zero Tests already beat GXs Mission mode in terms of difficulty. Mario Kart was brought up bc it was downtalked in the video while comparing GX to Melee, both games have items, I didn't say its skill ceiling was as high as F Zero, but the comparison to one while throwing out the other doesn't make sense. And no, you don't need to learn anything beyond Quick Turn to beat Master Mode, it's genuinely that easy. If you call a worldwide release for whats currently the last true F Zero sequel which was previously only available in Japan for ridiculous prices not caring then idk... Also nah, the skill ceilings and difficulty were high on arcades bc the were quartermunchers, it is that simple. The leaderboards were an extra incentive, but not the main attraction. The dev time using snaking doesn't do it in a way it'll give you rsi, that's why I said it wasn't intended. Instead of alternating L and R the dev time holds both, it can still be called snaking tho. Fair point on the different dev studios, I still believe their aim wasn't tech that'll passively ruin your hands tho.

[@SLAMTUCKER]

@@Gantonio865 I just want to hop in and say maybe arcade games were designed around 1ccs, it is not true that's what people do. Or at least in America. I have never, once, in my entire life, even heard someone I knew who knew someone else that cleared an arcade game in an arcade with one credit. I have never seen it in all my times at arcades. What I do see in arcades is people trying to get as far as they can in a game, maybe put in a few more credits, and then give up usually about 1/3rd through and try another game. Is this true in Japan? I mean maybe I've never been to Japan. In the USA? I'm just gonna call this a myth. Maybe it was true more in the early 90s and earlier before my time? Certainly not true in the mid 90s and later.

[@0rnery0verwatch]

omg dude the staff ghosts on F-Zero X seemed absolutely impossible. I think I only beat 2 or 3 of them before thinking "wtf, they have to be cheating or cheesing... there must be some technique they're using that I dont understand because I CANNOT keep up with them". With the staff ghosts in GX, I was able to just race well and beat most of them. There were only a few where I felt 'cheesy' beating them because I used a faster custom made machine vs a standard machine, but even then, no snaking or other techniques required.

[@roleplayingpain4349]

I really appreciate how you are a consistent voice for arcade style games of old. I think you should 'dig' harder into very tiny game devs of present and you might find some of the magic that was lost 30 years ago. You are trapped in the gloss of old, and the 'safe to like' of today. I guarantee if you truly were to 'dig' into the mass of daily releases on steam you could find dozens of games to talk about that noone even noticed at all

[@chloesmith4065]

Post some examples? And he mentions devil daggers and jamestown often enough

[@FemboyCatGaming]

I mean the Famicom was pretty much sold as being arcade perfect DK in Japan (this was also how it beat out Sega's SG-1000 and all the other shit early 80s consoles which were just repacked colecovisions) and Segas advertising even up to the Dreamcast was about arcade games to the point where segas arcade hardware was just the dream cast and allowed for easy console ports. For Sega the Arcade and Console story are intrinsically linked.

[@gregoryhudson3095]

I bought the Action Replay just for this game. It allowed for other inaccessible car parts to be obtained. And imagine the joy of playing this for a year only to discover the unique arcade tracks are also hidden on the Gamecube disc. Phenomenal game!

[@GBDupree]

Actually, they aren't hidden! IIRC They are accessible once you beat every cup on the hardest (secret unlockable) difficulty. I don't think you even need to get 1st place, just finish at all (1st place unlocks character shorts you can watch though). Another way is to have AX saves on your memory card, but that is very unlikely considering how rare the arcade cabinet was. Though what is hidden on the disc is the entirety of AX, as in the arcade menus and setup and everything, but the actual content can still be obtained in other ways.

[@gregoryhudson3095]

Thanks, I never knew that. The game keeps giving!

[@0rnery0verwatch]

@@GBDupree Correct, the only thing you cannot obtain without a gameshark are some of the custom machine parts. I bought a game shark just to get those parts lolol, I'd fully completed everything else in the game, and just knowing there were parts I couldn't access ate at me too much. I was like "I worked too hard to beat this game only to leave something still locked, I'm getting those damn parts!" lol

[@Gestikulator]

My favourite racing game! 😊 PSA to newcomers: Don't let that talk and footage about speedrunning tech intimidate you. You can enjoy and beat the whole game without it. If you're on the edge, give it a go. Once the base mechanics click with you, you might fall in love with this game.

[@jk-pc1iv]

But how do I play it nowadays… I don’t own gc or Wii and don’t intend to build a setup with these old consoles 😒

[@richyroa]

​@@jk-pc1iv just download an iso and play it on dolphin. You DO need a controller with analog triggers.

[@BrawlLegendLink]

​@@jk-pc1ivGameCube is easy to emulate with even a mediocre PC

[@brys.3131]

Great topic! Love these videos! It's amazing more and more I keep seeing the influence of arcades in games. Miss those days!

[@seanmcbay]

I’m hopeful for a new mainline 3D F-Zero on the next system and I think it’ll be a good game but I know it won’t top this one.

[@internethistorytrash7464]

F Zero GX is a classic, the soundtrack is awesome too.

[@TheRestartPoint]

Namco in particular made a lot of innovations in their lesser-mentioned arcade games. Your example of Pac Land is one I have also noticed myself. That had a lot of ideas that seem to be regarded as inventions by Mario games that came after Pac Land. You have to partly blame Namco though, for not appreciating and capitalising on some of their innovations as much as they could have done, or as much as Nintendo did. If Nintendo hadn't elaborated on them they have been forgotten.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah namco are so underrated in how influential and important they were, especially in the early arcade era. Nintendo (and Sega to a lesser extent) were much more savvy with marketing and self- promotion, which is fine if it s honestly backed up by quality games. But as time has gone on Nintendo have become more and more self-important (especially with their aggressive legal actions) but these days hardly make anything of actual quality or vision. They ve gone full Disney mode ha. Whereas Sega went all in on their crazy ideas and exploded from their ambition, which I respect I have to say ha.

[@maltsutty]

They also patented loading screen minigames and proceeded to do f all with it until now when load times are non existent lol

[@naturalunnatural]

I knew this game was one of the best I'd played when I discovered it, the title screen by itself caught my attention like "whoa...this is gamecube?" Appreciate your insight.

[@GhibliNova]

I dont think "how do we follow up" is the problem. The only problem F-Zero has, is literally just the fact that Nintendo doesn't understand why the first F-zero remains the most successful, and why it became less successful as time went on (except that one time it improved, I'll get back to that). The reason is because of release window. That's literally it. F-Zero is the perfect game to launch with a console. With a new console everyone wants games to make them feel special about their purchase. F-Zero is the perfect way to give them a tech showcase of what their console can do while being a replayable racing game. Each F-Zero was released farther and father away. F-Zero launched sold 2.8 mil, F-Zero X launched a year after the N64 launched and sold 1.1 mil. F-Zero GX launched 2 years after the GCN launched and sold 600 thousand. Every year the F-Zero game was delayed, they lost 50% of their customers. Then the portable F-Zeros MV launched with Console sold 1.05 mil. (nearly as much as the N64 on the GBA!! Nintendo's worst selling handheld! With the worst playing F-Zero, just because it relased with the launch of the console) then GP Legend came out 2 years after launch and sold 150 thousand... then Climax came out 3 years after launch and sold 5 thousand... F-Zero's success hinges on releasing with the launch of the console when gamers are starved of games for their new console. The only time they had a boost in sales was when they launched an F-Zero with the launch of the Gameboy Advance. If Nintendo understands that that is the way F-Zero can be successful, I have complete faith that they could nail it out of the park.

[@ssppeeaarr]

ya that and nintendo also confirmed sega did it best and they dont know where to go from fzero gx... all they gotta do is hand it over to sega again. but nintendos pride is at stake ok 😟😁

[@GhibliNova]

@ssppeeaarr they are thinking about it from a perspective of "what do we change to make sure it sells" they think there is something wrong with the product. So when they say they don't know what else to do other than GX its because it had everything, and online play and extra tracks aren't enough to be sure it would sell, and they are right, but the problem isn't with the product, the problem is that F-Zero is a franchise created to be the best tech showpiece for the launch of a console. So it fails if it doesn't launch with the console its supposed to be the elite advertisement for. Which is why the only successful F-Zero titles also are also the only ones that launched with their respective console. Nintendo doesnt see that though they just think the product needs to change

[@NIMPAK1]

I think the only slightly frustrating part about this video is how much you downplayed F-Zero X, even if it wasn't intentional. GX shares a lot of its dna from the original X and still has plenty of advanced movement mechanics and even some crazy air movement which. Admittedly I do need to spend more time with both games, but X was definitely no slouch even despite being on a less powerful system without Sega's involvement.

[@0rnery0verwatch]

I dont know, I played both games extensively, and I was just saying in another comment... after GX, I can't even *look* at X, let alone, play it

[@fakydfakefake9515]

Good Job! When I watched this I compulsevly compared F-Zero with Wipeout. And came to this conclusion: Wipeout plays more like a traditional racer with anti-grav physics and more speed. The Focus lies more in getting a feel for the ships (aside from some technical inputs) and combating somewhat random elements like the AI or rescuing a bad move. While F-Zero GX is more technical and trick based. Much like a Shmup, where you route beforehand. The Focus lies in routing and flawless execution, that reminded me somewhat of a more linear style of THPS (which somehow crossed my mind, while thinking about this). Also have you any interests in looking some of the old THPS games (PS1-2) 🙃. I think, they are a good example of good western arcade-like design.

[@RyuSaarva]

No, you don´t need to use these gamebreaking bugs to beat the staff ghosts, you just need to drive well.

[@0rnery0verwatch]

Yeah I came here to say this, the game is super rewarding if you just play it the way it was intended to be played. I'll admit, I did use some of the custom machines (the faster ones that are better than the standard racers) to be some of the ghosts, but I never had to 'snake' or do any of that other stuff. I honestly just feel silly when I cheese games in that manner, anyway. In GX, the ghosts felt like a fun challenge. I remember trying to beat the staff ghosts back in F-Zero X on N64 and beat maybe only 2 or 3 of them? They felt absolutely impossible, like the staff that recorded the run was cheating or cheesing in some way. Being able to beat all the ghosts on GX made me look back on X and think "yeah something wasn't right about those" lol

[@mistermamamia]

I've definitely had the "cup" idea for arcade games. I figured you can do a chapter of levels, or however you want to call it, but it's a 30-40 minute playthrough, and it's leaderboards are all localized to it by itself. As a bonus mode you could do a nightmare marathon of all the chapters in the game, and that could be your big 2+ hour run through. Have a nice curated list of levels to chew into and beat and replay over and over, and then a big marathon for sickos who want it all in one sitting. That's always been my best idea to have your cake and eat it too. Having a short amount of levels is great for pacing, but doing chapters like this is like getting your own sequels packed into the same game. Perfect content maximization.

[@バオバイバー]

The whole premise that Nintendo can't make a sequel to GX because they didn't make GX is really weak. GX was very derivative of X, and the idea that GX is a strictly superior upgrade to X is VERY flawed, and I especially cannot see how that leads to "Nintendo doesn't have the talent." I really think you should look into X more because giving AM4 and "classic sega arcade design" all the credit for GX is doing it a major disservice. Most of the design you praise in GX is directly from X, and the advanced techniques in X are extremely cool and were put in (or left in, since some were originally glitches) by the developers very purposefully. Go try the staff ghosts or master mode grand prix in X and tell me if you still think "only the makers of spikeout could create a racing game that is so difficult." The reason F-Zero died is because they pumped out five outsourced F-Zero games plus an anime tie in in a very short amount of time, none of them sold particularly well, and they felt the brand had gotten diluted, especially with how badly GX messed with the aesthetics of the series. Combine that with Mario Kart selling like crazy and Nintendo repeatedly restructuring to fewer, larger teams working on major titles, and it's just obvious.

[@バオバイバー]

P.S. I gotta call this one out in particular 'cus it's just absurd. At 18:23, "I also love the off course explosions in this game, in the way they're designed. VERY Virtua Fighter, VERY Sega." This is just ignorant at this point. I know you love the game and you love sega but saying stuff like that doesn't help show that. It just makes you look severely uninformed.

[@SylvesterInk]

Glad you mentioned Virtual On. It was one of my first favorite arcade games, and I still pop it in on occasion to this day. (Though it's just not the same as when I played in the arcades...) While the community seems to prefer VO2, I prefer the first myself, probably due to nostalgia.

[@maximilian3544]

I actually prefer F-Zero X.

[@0rnery0verwatch]

By far my favorite racing game as well as one of my top 5 games ever. The 'dark souls' of racing games, but it'll earn your respect and reward you every step of the way for the effort you put in. I've 100%'d this game 3 times now and each time is just as fun as the last.

[@Peachblink]

2:30 I remember a while back making a thread on Twitter about making a list of games that had lock-on systems before OoT, and how what OoT did was an incredibly specific version of lock-on (in fact, I described it as "a true hard lock-on, specifically requiring a button press, that focused on a target while allowing free movement AND displayed a reticle over the enemy without any preconditions for it to work as well as showing a degree of cinematic camera angles"), yet it seems like gaming history has latched onto that as the first lock-on system and has forgotten two full years of advancements, innovation and creativity to just credit Nintendo again over something that is *very* easy to disprove, even if you completely ignore Virtual On and just focus on console games (how about Resident Evil? Megaman Legends? Tomb Raider? They all had different systems of lock-on, automatic or manual, with reticle or no reticle, allowing movement or not allowing it, but they all share a common link with the Virtual On system.) As we move forward, I just fear that we will just group up things and take them for granted in gaming history, and just narrow them down to either "Nintendo did it" or "A black void", and that's just depressing, because it's genuinely interesting to see common links in game design and see how things *actually* develop over time, instead of just attributing everything to a popular console game. It also goes towards the whole "Nintendo saved gaming" mentality lots of Americans have, which is just "No, it didn't", gaming would have been fine without them, it would just have gone on a different direction.

[@properkroe]

One of the great tragedies related to F-ZERO GX is the game did have a hidden leaderboard feature. In several issues of Nindento Power in late 2003 there would be a code that would take to special time attack preset that would generate a unique 20ish character code that would you could then input on the F-ZERO GX website. It would share your time, ship (even custom ships) and a screen name. You could even compare your time in your region, nation and worldwide if I remember correctly. A very cool feature that was way, way underused. I seem to remember only a dozen or so times in my region. Really shows how GX was destined for more fully featured hardware than GCN. GCN wasn’t even the proble, the hardware was online capable and I played a ton of PSO episode 3. It’s Nintendo that’s the problem. Nintendo always assumes they know completely what players want and innovation that isn’t theirs is misguided. In Nintendo’s eyes only innovation they bring about is valid, any other new concept that originates outside Kyoto is a market anomaly.

[@megamario5599]

Didnt expect to see my art pop out on youtube like this lol, but also great video! gx is my favorite gamecube game

[@TheJgjfg]

Glad to see F-Zero AX brought, because I've never played GX and only AX at a local that have it haha

[@gangofgreenhorns2672]

Algorithm is throwing me GX content, but I'm also happy to see an unusually high amount of people making vids about my favorite game of all time recently. I know I'm going to update all my times soon, and I know it will be a grind lol. Excited and afraid to get back into TAing.

[@Nintendofanboy101-yk8ro]

Yeah, I felt like sega's efforts were underrated in the early 2000's. I remember getting the game back in 2003 when I was 10 years old because of captain falcon. I played quite a bit of mario kart double dash at the time so I thought this racing game would be fun too. However, I had no idea what I got myself into and the game was VERY challenging for me. I only liked one course and that was the very first course but after that, I was caught off guard. I also tried story mode and had no idea why I wasn't progressing after I beat the first mission. I would've played more f zero gx but then tragedy happened and most of my video games got stolen. Had to rebuild and it wasn't until I was in my mid to late 20's that I finally got f zero gx again. With that being said, my jaw dropped when I saw how racers could skip entire sections of the track. I could never do that. The best I can do at my skill level is beat 3 cups on easy and even then that was hard. I found f zero x much easier. I wonder, how would you compare f zero x to g zero gx? Lastly, at first I didn't really care for an f zero gx remaster but looking now, I can see it being beneficial.

[@jinzo664]

The greatest racing game EVER. Hands down! Excellent video :)

[@UndeadReturns-cf6sx]

Man I need to play this game! Surprised to see a racing game review here, but I loved it! I really like racing games, but a lot of the more modern games have big problems or are mediocre, or they focus so much in the "sim" and "esports" model that they stop being fun in general, so it is a struggle to find fun games in this genre, even though it still have some big releases here and there. I also think that racing games and shmups really have a lot to learn from each other, seriously! Racing games I feel that caters really well to that "casual play" aspect of my brain, just pick any random event that is in the game, fire it up and enjoy it, I can do it without too much of a barrier, and each event completed with a podium can be counted as "progress", some games also have features beyond that, but just this simple structure actually still works well enough. Racing games, specially modern ones, usually implement a solid "training mode" in the form of time trials, with PB ghosts, sectors diffs, replays, and in some games even more, like leaderbords with replays and challenge missions for each track. On the other hand, shmups are dense, extremely challenging and fun games that gives you that solid experience the entire playthrough, and that is something that a lot of racing games can fail at today, but on the other hand, shmups tend to be really thin on training features, something that they could benefit from as much as racing games. In summary I feel that racing games adopted the bad aspects of "modern" gaming a little too much, while shmups sticked themselves with the arcade model too much, long beyond they should have. Now that I think about it both genres can also be REALLY competitive, and time trial leaderboards in racing games is basically the same type of competition that shmups have, but measure in time instead of score, so the measure is different but the model is the same. The coop features on shmups can also resemble "races" actually, each player help the other to beat the stage, but their scores are still counted, so in theory if we frame this as a competition it is the same model as a "race" inside shumps! Even more reason that both genres could benefit learning from the other!

[@KevinSchreiner-hx4fx]

Love your show! Slightly off topic but you should try FZero 99...I love the game and would be interested on your take....it is insane I can say that.

[@jaykelley103]

I never would've beaten the single player story mode without learning how to momentum throttle and quick turn lol

[@Anoonymuss1]

When it finally became common to see game footage on KZbin and I first saw these techniques my mind was blown. I've never played another game that somehow managed to feel so fair but also so DIFFICULT

[@michaelfrails]

Great stuff Mark.

[@blackmercury48]

thank you for giving me so many ideas to add to my game

[@MrBroken030]

I always come back to GX, its still the best future racer ever with the richest engine and mechanics!

[@DIOBrando-ij2bp]

I find it so odd that Z-targeting in Ocarina of Time gets pointed to as the first to do the lock-on mechanic. It’s been so many years since I’ve played Virtual On: Cyber Troopers that I can’t remember if it has a true lock-on system, or if it has auto aim like first and third person games did back then (first person shooters still didn’t involve manual aiming when Virtual On came out) with a visual presentation of your weapon systems locking-on. But, I do know AKI’s wrestling games, which were also on the N64, did have a lock-on system before Ocarina of Time that allowed you to cycle through enemies in matches with more than one person. And Tomb Raider on the Sega Saturn had a manual lock-on when you draw her guns. I want to say that Virtual-On just had auto aim like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D would’ve had, and really good twin stick controls that allowed you to circle strafe enemies. Nintendo did give their lock-on in Ocarina of Time a nice presentation though. Back when Ocarina of Time came out that’s what I remember most about it, not that it was doing something new, just that the presentation of it was nicer than previous things.

[@allenoconnor9874]

Great video. I have to say that I much preferred Wipeout Fusion on PS2, but I loved F-Zero also

[@hooksnfangs6006]

YESS!! I've been looking forward for you to review the most Sega Nintendo game for a long time! I could say a lot to why I love this game, but you've pretty much nailed everything about why it's legendary status. It would take a real miracle to make a new F-Zero that would take GX's crown.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes my love for SEGA just seems to be growing by the year, it's funny by the time this channel grows to some kind of prominence I'll probably cement myself as one of the company's most vocal supporters. But like I said in the vid a lot of my new found love for SEGA comes from my recent endeavors of digging into their arcade game development and history. Because on the console side of things, I've always liked SEGA, but I think their really special X-Factor emerges from the arcade development history. Like until recent years I had no idea that SEGA pioneered online play in fighting games, IN THE ARCADE, with VFdotnet. Same with all the custom costume stuff that is so popular now, that started in VF4 and its pass system. Then Spikeout and all of their different arcade game divisions. It's wild ha. They went right after creativity and innovation without just thinking about sales in a way their peers didn't (and ultimately paid the price lol).

[@BigB70]

Have this on G-Cube but its absolutely beautiful playing this on a steamdeck oled screen Good show 💪

[@Cartkun]

Great video I love your reviews.

[@ailaxl]

I love the love this game still gets. Beating it as a 13 year old was such a feel for me - best game for GC as far as I’m concerned.

[@antusFireNova]

This game is truly special, a one of a kind

[@davidaitken8503]

Almost your entire focus seems to be on speed running. F-Zero GX is one of my all time favorite racing games but their are two things that really held it back. 1. The AI was awful. They don't drive like an actual player does. They feel like slot cars. This leads to some very uneven difficulty at times. The first track of the second circuit is one of the hardest tracks to get first place in. 2. Multi-player sucks. The lack of even a proper 2-player split screen circuit mode where you and a friend take on a circuit with all of the racers out their is an omission that seemed behind the times even back during the GameCube days. I used to love playing through San Francisco Rush 1 & 2 on the N64 with friends. Hell, I used to love playing Top Gear 1& 2 on the SNES with friends. How is it F-Zero GX manages to only have a bare bones up to 4-player mode with no more than 4 vehicles out their on tracks designed for 30?

[@dancitron7537]

I don't think Virtual-On is a good example of a game that introduced or inspired z targeting before OoT. Z targeting is a toggle that makes your character automatically and continuously face your target and allows your character to strafe and such. At a glance they may look similar but mechanically they are very different. Virtual-On does not utilize something that resembles a traditional lock-on system. There is no toggle for a lock-on state. Your camera and character do not normally follow your opponent and you only automatically face your opponent during a jump or if you attack while dashing. Attacks do track while you're facing towards an opponent, but at any time they can break that tracking by maneuvering outside of your field of view. It's really pretty different from the traditional "hard lock-on" systems like z targeting that most games implement for keeping track of enemies in a 3D space. It's a very unique and fun system to engage with, but I think there's a reason that system for tracking targets hasn't really appeared in anything outside of the Virtual-On series. *Edit because I might need to clarify that I'm not posting in defense of Nintendo or OoT. I agree with Mark's point on Nintendo barely ever crediting their influences. There are examples of games implementing targeting similar to z targeting before OoT and I just don't agree with Virtual-On being one of them. Since it is such a niche game that so few have played I feel like I need to speak up before people start parroting it. (Virtual-On is cool and people should play the first game and its sequel.)

[@quackstack4246]

Virtual-On's Z-Targeting locks onto an enemy and let you move around them while facing them, that's most heavy lifting done. OoT being the first game to allow to use this already existing mechanic in neutral rather than tying it to a specific state isn't quite as sexy of a claim, it means the revolutionary mechanic was an iteration of something they were already most likely aware of. But do they say this? No they don't. And that's the entire point and problem with Nintendo talking about their influences, they pretend like they came out of a vacuum rather than being a particularly polished or generalized version of existing trends created by more innovative developers.

[@pppp-by1bq]

That's right. This guy's logic is a mess. (The rest of the review is great, about 70%-80% of the time.) In fact, companies like Sega, Capcom, and Tecmo have all acknowledged that Ocarina of Time was a revolutionary in the action genre, and have cited its influence in many of their games.

[@dancitron7537]

@@pppp-by1bq I'm not necessarily saying I think OoT was the first implementation of that kind of lock-on system. Obviously it's the most well known and the most cited example because of Nintendo's status, but games like Gundam Blue Destiny for the Sega Saturn had what was essentially z targeting before OoT's release. I'm just saying that I think Virtual-On in particular is a bad example and if anything future developers probably looked at it as an example as what not to do when implementing their 3D targeting systems.

[@dancitron7537]

​@@quackstack4246 I just think Mark could have pulled a better example for Sega coming up with a mechanic that Nintendo later utilized or was influenced by in some fashion. I know this is a video about Sega (so Virtual-On seems like the obvious choice for this particular example) and I agree with the point Mark is making about Nintendo acting like they come up with all of their stuff in a vacuum, but I feel like Virtual-On is a poor fit for this comparison when it uses such a different way of handling its automatic targeting in a 3D action game.

[@pppp-by1bq]

@@dancitron7537 I don't think you quite get it either. First, Blue Destiny is a great system, but it is not z-targeting. And there is no such thing before Ocarina of Time. The system was innovative in that it kept the object you were gazing at and the character you were controlling on the screen in optimal perspective. Ocarina of Time not only captures the opponent, but also shifts the camera and its own behavior to be centered on the opponent. It has influenced most of the 3d action combats since then. Virtual-on is indeed a fairly innovative 3D robot fighting game, but, his claims in this video reveal his utter ignorance.

[@thiagoaraujos]

I know you had great taste beyond shmups, and this is the proof!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you my dude!! Yes I have a pretty refined pallete beyond shmups as well, at least I like to think so ha. Especially the arcade genres, which are a huge interest of mine.

[@jotun1022]

Totally agree - I've been saying this for a while. Nintendo says they don't know how to "innovate" this series, but we all know they don't need to do much to make an absolutely KILLER game. Even an HD X or GX would be so amazing, and GX was just SO good that I think they are having trouble even replicating it, let alone expanding on it, which is absolutely insane for a game that's 20 years old. I think they are trying, and the recent SNES-level releases like 99 are Nintendo's way of testing the waters to hopefully make a new version. I say JUST CALL SEGA

[@PixelatedCatMan]

Pretty confident you’re my favorite gaming channel I wish more gamers and developers thought like you.

[@RealSoyZombie]

24:18 HUNTDOWN's arcade mode is a lot like the run 'n gun version of a Gran Prix mode. It basically divides the story mode stages into 4 parts, so you are only ever dealing with a quarter of the game in a single run. It means the game can have enough stages for the normies without having a 3 hour arcade clear.

[@drspod]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Redout (2016) yet. I'd like to know what you think of it as a spiritual successor to F-Zero GX and the wipEout series. I had a lot of fun with it, and it has a huge amount of content. There was also a sequel, Redout 2 released in 2022.

[@HydrogLox]

Both the F-Zero and WipEout franchises have an avid (yet niche) following which often suffers from fanboyism. Neither of them are “easy” so attaining any modicum of competence is usually accompanied with a certain amount of pride. But when looking for their “next” game they are looking to maximize the transferability of their existing skill set. Redout doesn't give them that, as it has its own unique control system where you have to manually control steering, strafing, pitch, roll, boost and hyperboost while simultaneously managing heat and hull to support boosting. On the other hand “Redout 2 is a tribute to classic arcade racing games” sets up the mainstream gamer for disappointment. Arcade racers (e.g. Ridge Racer) are expected to have a much shorter time-to-initial-fun delay compared to racing simulations-but Redout 2 (and the original) is a skill-based game and depending on aptitude, the initial experience can be quite frustrating and just as hard as coming to grips with an unfamiliar simulation. Mind you, once you build a certain level of competence, the play experience becomes immensely rewarding. The level of repetition that is required to master the controls and memorize the tracks for optimal performance is way beyond what many are willing to put up with.

[@TheOneAndOnlySame]

Have you tried Fast RMX? It's one of the finest wipeout/fzero like of the last years.

[@Catinthebag1513]

You should totally review UFO 50, its a collection of 50 amazing new arcade games and its made by the devs behind Spelunky and downwell. I would love to hear your thoughts on that game! I've been craving arcade games recently and it hit the spot very very well. There's even a few shmups lol, i feel like you'll be really impressed with the project (it took them 8 years to finish it....)

[@SandshrewGarfield]

I don't think GX was hampered by not having online play. Barely any console games had that in 2003.

[@davidaitken8503]

Online play, even today, would only be possible in F-Zero GX with dedicated servers, like with F-Zero 99. The problem with those is once the company decides to pull the plug, its' done and you're out an excellent component to the game.

[@De_kaid]

@@davidaitken8503 nah, the only thing a dedicated server is needed for in games is matchmaking, most online games (that aren't mmo rpgs) even nowadays still use p2p for online gameplay. even if they make you pay for the service on a console, that service does nothing but allow you to match with other players...

[@zuffin1864]

You can see in what entertainment centers like Dave& Buster's have, that an over the top fzero arcade machine is actually what the modern market calls for! The most played games are all over the top. Racing games have a problem with steering wheels breaking though

[@ZackSilver77]

Comparing it to melee was accurate. These games will live forever 😊