I wasn't ready for F Zero GX

[@boyvikingYT]

Here's what I think about the whole RPG element in the Story Mode. Typically, in RPGS, you need to grind XP or Experience to get stronger, and this is where the avatar based gameplay comes in. Your character gets stronger the more you play, and sometimes it makes a bossfight/enemy easier. However, F-Zero GX does this completely differently. Due to the extreme difficulty of the chapters, the story mode is based entirely off of player strength, as you are only limited to the one machine, the Blue Falcon. You cannot buy custom parts/stronger machines. It's you, the player, gaining actual experience by playing the other game's modes. While it is your choice on what to spend the tickets on, you still need to play the game. The tickets are almost like a reward for getting better at the game, and they're basically your own personal experience points. I feel like that was the intention behind this.

[@Espen5145]

That’s a really interesting way of looking at it. While I do understand why this is important for a mode as difficult as story, I definitely think this could have been handled differently. If the developers really wanted the story to be difficult and force the player to explore the other modes of the game as a way to improve, I think a good approach would be to have some sort of “achievement” tied to unlocking chapters. Like say, to unlock chapter 3, you have to beat the Sapphire cup on Novice difficulty. This way, the player doesn’t have to grind for tickets, is able improve at the game, and they explore the other modes the game has to offer. Sorry for the long reply, I just found your comment interesting.

[@Djames516]

Same

[@SpicyboyCharlz]

I never beat this game as a kid. I don't remember the ticket system at all so now I'm wondering if I was handicapping myself by not upgrading my cars

[@Surl9596]

Funny enough the blue falcon is one of this games best machines. But if you wanna get something even better you can use the fat shark or black bull

[@denimchicken104]

@@Surl9596those vehicles are really only good if you are already super good at the game. They suck on most tracks for an average player. The hyper speeder is an easily available vehicle that’s about as easy to use as the blue Falcon and is really good.

[@DeviltoGeorgia34]

@@denimchicken104 Little Wyvern is also pretty beginner-friendly. And, oddly enough, after not playing the game for years and starting it again, I beat the entirety of Master Class using Mighty Hurricane.

[@RaymondoPerson]

I think you're relying too much on mainstream knowledge of the games industry as a whole along with the usual game design orthodoxy and too little on mechanically exploring the game and coming to experience-based conclusions. There's also looking up what dedicated players have to say, and you did attempt that, but in the end it just resulted in dismissing high-level mechanics as "jank". Those are why it's seen as "racing SSBM" to begin with. Most of the best games with the highest skill ceilings have what's sadly called "jank" these days. Close-to-perfectly controlling all the decisions players will make just results in a game without longevity. You based a lot of the video around the premise that tickets/"experience points" & making decisions based on stats matters more than execution, then ignored story mode which forces you to just use Captain Falcon's car and nothing else. It's not even accurate for Grand Prix mode; the order in which you unlock cars & characters matters. There's a reason easy-to-control cars like Jody's & Octoman's are unlocked almost immediately while the tough-to-control cars made for challenging high-level play like Black Bull and Blood Hawk are found on the bottom rows. I beat the entirety of Grand Prix with Deep Claw (Octoman) mostly on max speed since it's a very beginner-friendly car, never bothering with customization once. Now, yeah, the subtleties of individual car stats & the acceleration/speed slider (like why Deep Claw feels exceptionally easy to control on max speed) are something you have to either figure out yourself OR learn from other players, but the same applies to games labeled as having "good design" and not being "jank" like Dark Souls. It's not a good idea to make sweeping generalizations about a game based on modern accepted preconceptions of design, especially one as arcadey as this based around a tradition that's often overlooked in popular discourse.

[@allesinallem7]

THIS!

[@styckykeys2200]

14:08 How DARE you say Captain Falcon simply isn't enough. I don't care about the context, Captain Falcon is the best fictional character evarrrrrr and will not be slandered like this. You aren't a real F-zero fan unless you've beaten all grand prix cups on master class with the Blue Falcon, a feat which any REAL F-zero fan could do without even thinking about it. /s More seriously, thanks for bringing attention to this overlooked gem. It's not an RPG grind tho. Playing each cup ONCE gives you almost enough tickets to buy every story chapter. Throw in extra tickets from hard story and time attack staff ghosts, and it's very possible to beat the whole game without playing a single challenge more than once. Also, very hard story is the hardest challenge of the game, and you can't use any broken custom cars there anyway. Why are they forcing us to race on every track in their racing game smh.

[@slowbro1337]

I hope I don't die before the successor to F Zero GX exists

[@j8s0nz]

Check out Aero GPX. You won't be disappointed.

[@coffeebean_tamer]

Well if Sega can revive VF then anything is possible.

[@supersmashbro596]

the f-zero anime is a completely seperate timeline to the games. there are anime-only characters (ryu suzaku, miss killer), characters with different origins, it's still really great but the anime (and its two tie-in games, gp legend and climax, the latter of which is the last f-zero game ever and japan-only) is its own timeline.

[@owenmcgrath3696]

first time ive ever heard anyone call fzero gx jank

[@thecianinator]

I loved this video! But what's up with the ending? It just goes blurry in the middle of a sentence. Is there going to be a part two?

[@Kit3k]

It was a joke towards a friend of mine. I was just getting to the part he actually wanted me to talk about, but then I just cut the video. I might make a part two to finish off F Zero GX! I’m working on two other vids right now though.

[@socialkidmusic]

Yooo. F Zero GX is absolutely the melee of arcade racing games. Both GameCube exclusives too! That was a brilliant comparison my dude!

[@wingbeltcreations5455]

I don't agree with your take about GX having an "RPG Grind", but you have made me completely reconsider the vehicle customization. It's a mechanic I completely ignored, as I preferred to spend my tickets on new characters so I could read their profiles, try their machines out, and find a playstyle, alongside finishing story mode. I didn't make a custom machine until after beating Story Mode on Very Hard and all the Grand Prix cups on Master difficulty (I played with the Astro Robin, which is only considered a B-tier machine). I'm not saying this to stroke my own ego, but rather to illustrate that despite only starting this franchise 1 year ago and only knowing the "intended" mechanics (I can't do any speedrun tricks like MTS), I was able to achieve all that, using a default machine. BUT, I definitely should've experimented with it more, as I could have discovered new machines to make my playthrough easier, and allowed for friends to even the gap by designing machines around how THEY want to play. I wholeheartedly believe that GX (and F-Zero as a whole), leans farther in the "Player Strength" direction, but the parts system does allow for an "avatar strength" angle that is very healthy for the game, to allow more playstyles and different routes to victory. I preferred to hone my skills, you seemed to prefer to get better tools, and both of us succeeded. I will definitely be looking into it further whenever I boot up GX again (which happens a lot). As for the "grind," I feel most players will NOT be able to conquer Standard mode GPs when first starting, much less Expert, so most people will have to play Novice mode several times to build the skills necessary to perform in higher difficulties and ESPECIALLY Story Mode, so unless they spend EVERY SINGLE TICKET they have, they will have more than enough to conquer Story Mode. As well, even if they did spend, they now have the skills to do higher difficulties to massively reduce replays with higher payouts. As well, "grinding" is often seen as a menial task, just repeating the same easy task again and again. While you could get tickets by replaying Novice mode (and I won't lie that I did do that occasionally to finish off a character on a busy day), I much preferred taking on more interesting challenges and being rewarded for it. I wasn't grinding my character, I was putting my skills to the grindstone, making the game much more fun. This is a solid video, but I will say, while I see the joke was to prank your friend at the end, it is an INTENSE tease that really hurts the ending as a new viewer, and this video felt more like an introduction to an hour-long analysis than a standalone video. If your goal was to catch the viewer off guard the way the player did, then I suppose you succeeded, but I was partially caught off guard because I felt the video had finally started 10 minutes in. While I know this is rich coming from the guy writing a 4-paragraph long comment, I think the pacing of the video is hurt by how the introduction and meat are roughly the same length. Your editing and sound mixing are great, and I do like your voice, though. I hope you come back to give your thoughts on Story Mode sometime.

[@noxious_2.06]

Vehicle customization is very fun ^^ When we are playing GX with my friends we usually start the night by random picking the 3 components, then coloring/painting it and then we stick to it and improvise with what we were given. It's super super fun !

[@twaggytheatricks4960]

Wingbelt, I loooooooooooove your comment. Personal experience, formatting, emphasis on the points you bring up, polite disagreement on certain parts but admission of having thought things through in others, it's a _proper_ example of constructive criticism and honestly just conversation ability. I'll be re-reading it quite a few times, until I eventually have something more substantial than this to say.

[@wingbeltcreations5455]

​@@twaggytheatricks4960 Thanks! I've written plenty of scripts, so I've seen firsthand the balance of comedy, information, maintaining your ideas, etc. I was lucky I was on my computer though, typing all that on my phone would've SUCKED.

[@Allplussomeminus]

Other racing games look like molases (very slow) after playing GX for a week.

[@isaachennessy1853]

I can’t help but notice that you use the little wyvern. That’s my favorite machine 🤩

[@noxious_2.06]

Actually me too haha until you unlocked some secret characters it's one of the most "grippy" machine, its corners are very sharp and even at full speed you will not starts drifting and sliding all over the place. It has its drawbacks as it is not the fastest at all but it very beginner friendly and I love it ^^ (My most played machine nowadays are the Pink Spider and Magic Seagull for the same reason)

[@derekmaullo2865]

@@noxious_2.06 No one cares redditor

[@Phos9]

So I feel the need to elucidate something: Sakurai is a huge fighting game nerd and Captain Falcon's moveset is an almost verbatim copy of the one Jin Saotome had in Marvel Vs Capcom.

[@Venom3254]

It was a sight of relief when I was able to say, that I beat this game's story mode.... Even if it was in Medium difficulty. I eventually was able to pass some missions on Very Hard to get 2 AX racers.

[@Silverfox365]

Funny enough without F-Zero, we'd never have Mario Kart to begin with. Watch Gaming Historian's video on the creation of Super Mario Kart.

[@wiaf8937]

god i remember a very specific memory from over 30years back,. thank you.

[@gedu7653]

I was never grinding for tickets, I find it baffling that you speak of grinding at all. The difficulty of the game lead to me racing a lot to get better, honing my skill, thus earning tickets while doing so. And I think the F-Zero GX community will agree that GX has very, very little jank. I found it to be very fair and that whenever I lost I could say that it was bad luck or a skill issue. Interesting viewpoint though that it is a JRPG in form of a racing game, that perspective is new and I think you're definitely on to something there.

[@allesinallem7]

Yeah, i agree. I think he thinks the "exploits" are bugs and not things that make the game more skillfull in a way.

[@0tf850]

Fantastic analysis of the story mode progression.

[@AvertAT]

Got this in my recommended

[@lefthandedscout9923]

I mean, you can get enough tickets for the campaign levels if you beat every chapter on Normal and Hard, but, like, I don't think anyone is going to do that. That being said, one could say that's the equivalent of "under levelling" in the RPG that is F-Zero GX's shop.

[@noxious_2.06]

Beating the Hard difficulty is very doable and I encourage you to do so as you'll unlock one of the best ship by doing so : the Magic Seagull ! And beating any in Very Hard unlocks one ship each (but this is... well... very hard xD) I still can't beat some of them in Very Hard but one day I will !!!

[@DeviltoGeorgia34]

@@noxious_2.06 Chapter 1 on Very Hard is the only challenge in the game I never beat, so I never unlocked the Rainbow Phoenix.

[@noxious_2.06]

@@DeviltoGeorgia34 Yeah me too ! It doesn't looks that difficult but it is !! Also, "Save Jody" is a nightmare xD

[@ThePhluff]

11:49 You've earned my sub

[@superbnns]

Baka Mitai on an F-Zero video. Perfect opportunity to bring up the fact that right after putting out this game, the same exact team got to work on Yakuza 1. If you inspect closely, you can see, hear, and feel the DNA both games share.

[@jaredorozco3188]

First video i saw from you. Loved it!

[@superbnns]

You put Baka Mitai as the outro song, which is a perfect segue to this comment informing you that F-Zero GX was, in fact, developed by the team that would soon after develop the Yakuza franchise. If you inspect closely you can see and hear the DNA they share.

[@coffeebean_tamer]

I was more comfortable with F-Zero being a massive Wipeout series fan.

[@IAmTheMan9898]

It is an interesting angle to say that F-Zero GX has an RPG grind, but I do not think it is really wrong inherently. Sort of like a training regimen in combining the progression of a statistical increase and a skill increase. Getting tickets to earn everything is not hard and does not even force you to play harder stuff, but it guides people through the game and its hardest challenges making it feel like only after you achieved your mastery that you have earned everything instead of grinding the same thing for a few hours.

[@themblan]

I miss BIOS-screens.

[@NikoSoviet88]

I wasnt ready for this review, GX the goat, cream of the crop, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Glad you appreciate the game as much as us fans.

[@DrewPicklesTheDark]

I smell satire, but I'll give a serious response regardless since it's an interesting hypothesis. Considering you can unlock literally everything in the game except the pilot profiles (beating master with a certain pilot to unlock a short movie for them) with just baseline Captain Falcon, I'm not sure I buy the RPG argument, and if the argument is getting experience as a player, you could then apply it to really any game. All story mode missions on all difficulties have to be completed with C Falcon, and you can win 1st place on every track in every cup in master with him too. I agree with the chapters locked behind tickets though, or at the least, them costing more than completing the chapter gives, I always just assumed it was to incentivize playing grand prix between the chapters, but ultimately only the original devs know. I personally think it was just intended as reward currency and kind of worked out that way.

[@TKnightcrawler]

I definitely think you're wrong. None of the racers are better than the others, or at least they're not supposed to be. In fact, you have to play through the Story mode as Captain Falcon. For me, I usually used Dr. Stewart, who I think is a default racer. It asks for more tickers than you earn so that you'll improve your own skills at the game by replaying previous Story racers on harder difficulties, or by playing Grand Prix circuits. That's how it gets the player ready. But really, none none of the racers or parts you buy actually make your avatar stronger.

[@michielkudova3887]

Whoever told him to play this game, I’m calling you out… You have done your community a great service and I would like to show my appreciation.

[@MrBlitz121]

But... Most story-driven (campign or career also count as story for this distinction) racing games are "avatar driven" like F-Zero GX. Win, to get better gear, to win, to get better gear. I think in racing games alone you can find a plethora of examples like this, let alone in other genres, I'm thinking Master League in old PES for example. The fact that is handled with tickets instead of XP, REP, Cash, License Requirements, or any other type of resource is irrelevant to the point. I don't think being "avatar driven" is an RPG exclusive or RPG defining element, in my opinion. But, nevertheless, I don't think it's nonsense. It's just that if that's the bar, then everything can be an RPG if you squint hard enough

[@F-ZERO]

In regards to the mythos of F--zERO, I know more than any person should know about something like this. Haha, but really, I am a wealth of useless information regarding F-ZERO as a whole. Did you know that there was an official F-ZERO novel released in 1992?

[@Kit3k]

There’s actually an F-Zero book? Did you read it? Is it good?

[@metalhedmeatwad17]

F-Zero is the Tekken of racing games.

[@isaachennessy1853]

Love blueyed-up theme song

[@BlackViperGX]

Never heard someone call gx as jank... It has mistakes but jank is far from it.

[@derekmaullo2865]

F Zero Gx is a game with many design flaws

[@BlackViperGX]

@@derekmaullo2865 i know but straight up jank i don't think so (the machine stadistics are complete lies though)

[@derekmaullo2865]

@@BlackViperGX F zero Gx is a janky and clunky game that even Sega just rushed this game and put on hacks mode 9000 to the CPU. This game is unplayable

[@BlackViperGX]

@@derekmaullo2865 unplayable? Don't make me laugh 😂

[@derekmaullo2865]

@@BlackViperGX I bet you taste the garbage that Sega gave you. Lol. Too bad for you. 🤣

[@maegnificant]

Please give remake nintendo

[@NikoSoviet88]

This tbh

[@derekmaullo2865]

Never. In your dreams

[@orangeslash1667]

@@NikoSoviet88 I recommend Victory Heat Rally and Aero GPX as F-zero successors.

[@NikoSoviet88]

@@orangeslash1667 they are great in their own ways, but I know in my heart they will never be F-Zero

[@orangeslash1667]

@@NikoSoviet88 The problem is that Nintendo would have to find a third party company to make the game, since Sega made GX. Nintendo can't make everything in house anymore once hardware improved in the 6th generation. Not helping matters is that GX didn't sell well compared to Mario Kart. So we may have to except alternative options.

[@mouthfulacoque3580]

reminds me of early super eyepatch wolf. keep covering this niche shit

[@denimchicken104]

Damn, dude! Opening up the video like a legal text document… save some charisma for the rest of us!

[@jocoolio1355]

I can't help but say that you are helplessly wrong in your opinion that the majority of modern racing games have taken influence from F-Zero GX. Least of all the abomination that is Mario Kart 8 (like seriously not only is your favorite racing game the worst in the series, but it's been butchered into a party game for babies). Most of the examples you pointed out try to emulate "real" racing, comparing the mechanics of Forza to F-Zero is like comparing a boat and a Tesla. They both get you from A to B but in much MUCH different ways. F-Zero GX took a "Dark Souls" approach to a racing game like a decade before Dark Souls came out. It is a game that forces the player to respect it, and master it to receive your rewards (characters, parts, tracks, etc.). It's a game that has perfectly fine controls that is bold enough to tell you that if you're not good enough or you haven't put in the practice you don't deserve to play the game. That entire concept is almost entirely absent in games today, not just in the racing genre. This is pretty much the most insane take on one of the most unanimously praised racing games of all time. Start with the Grand Prixs, get a feel for it, then git gud, and conquer the campaign. After all isn't every game a challenge of sorts?

[@jocoolio1355]

Dude I had to stop at the 2nd act. Your artism about the ticket system is so overstated (unless you are just really trash at the game and cant finish a grand prix which only takes roughly 7-10 min). Most racing games have a money system to upgrade or unlock tracks. Did your brain just check out while making this vid. Like you're bringing up all these 'historical themes in games' and missing the ones right in front of you. I bet you can't even beat Star Wars: Pod Racer lol

[@0rnery0verwatch]

Yeah I agree entirely and also refer to F-Zero GX as the "Dark Souls of racing games". I think the majority of the reason why people like this game so much is BEACUSE of the difficulty. Like you said, it makes you respect it, and because of all the work you put in, when you finish, you feel exhilarated and honestly quite confident when you look back and think "wow this game was so damn hard, but I still did it!" I remember spending over a month trying everyday to beat mission 7 on the hardest difficulty. Now it only takes me three of four tries (I learned how to kill black bull right at the start of the race lol).

[@0rnery0verwatch]

I don't believe Mario Kart's success is the reason we haven't seen a new F-Zero. F-Zero simply doesn't sell well, if it did, they'd make more. I hate even saying that because F-Zero GX is one of my top 5 games of all time. But Miyamoto tries to take this stance of "why, why do you all want another F-Zero? What else could we do that it would make a new version worth buying?" And it's like shut up with that crap lol, you guys pump out Mario Kart after Mario Kart with barely any changes between the titles (Double Dash not withstanding) and why? Because they $ell baby! Where as F-Zero numbers, at least on console, have declined with each new iteration, which says a lot... because GX is *by far* the best title, and it sold less than any of the others. Granted, it was on the GCN which was lagging behind it's competitors at the time, so that likely had a lot to do with it.

[@codybaier]

Hate to say it, but you're 100% wrong about the JRPG avatar strength thing. As someone who played this game to death and beat/unlocked everything there is in the game, yes, it is all on you and your skill as a player. The latter difficulties are not some insurmountable obstacle requiring leveling up or better stats, you need to make full use of everything the game gives you. You can't just race like it's Mario Kart, you need to know the track layouts, hit the boosts just right, and most importantly learn to take out your opponents. In Master difficulty you absolutely need to learn how to body check your Rival into a wall to kill his score and get those left ves for more retries. If you can't do it with Captain Falcon, that's not the game being a JRPG, that's you not having the skill necessary to do it.

[@saucygoat8287]

If GX is their grandpa, these youngins need to stop skipping leg day lol. I don’t think I’ve played a racing game that exceeds the speed of a modern vehicle since F Zero GX. Going 0-60 in 2 seconds just isn’t as fun as destroying the sound barrier within one second lmao. In my opinion at least.

[@PsychoJosh]

Somehow from this video I can just tell you were born after 2000. I just get that vibe from you with this wannabe Dunkey bullshit. What made F-Zero on the SNES special is that it was a launch title, and at the time, we had never seen any game like it before. Not only was it showing futuristic racing in 3D with Mode 7 but it actually delivered a thrilling sense of speed and control that we just couldn't see on the NES, and all the Mode 7 racers that followed in its wake were riding its coattails. Race Drivin' was a garbage port of a mediocre arcade game.

[@Changanator]

Didn't he literally say in the video that he was 11 in 2003 when F-Zero GX came out?

[@positivevibrations5103]

great video thought provoking!

[@Kit3k]

Thank you!

[@megumin_enjoyer]

The payoff of u calling this an abstracted JRPG was worth watching the video that made me laugh. It's true!

[@THEBIGCHULETA]

Midnight club? Anyone?

[@Coffeemancer]

?

[@michielkudova3887]

It is my assessment that that video title is very accurate… The symptoms you are complaining of denote a lack of skill at the game rather than any kind of inherent difficulty… credit where credit is due, this game is very hard, but that is because it demands respect. it demands that you master the mechanics that you can’t see in the instruction manual . It demands that you attempt to learn the “secret” movement techniques that weren’t intended by the developers, but still are used to this day. And it demands that you leave behind any preconceived notions you have towards conventional racing games. Because this is not a conventional racing game. Welcome to the world of 2000 km/h. adapt or die, that is what this game is telling you.

[@0rnery0verwatch]

By "secret move techniques" are you referring to snaking? You don't have to snake at all, as in, not even once, to fully complete this game. I 100%'d it three times before I even heard what snaking was. For me, the fact that you can more easily drift in this game was all I needed. It was so refreshing compared to the crappy drifting in F-Zero X and how loose and unpredictable it was.

[@michielkudova3887]

@ I was referring to drifting itself… I have beaten the game without “snaking” multiple times. That being said sneaking in mini turbos definitely help.

[@topazlynx2228]

F-Zero GX is the Melee of racing games? HA! More like the SNK Fighting Games. GX will grab you by the balls and force you to learn how to race, and if you dare try to go too hard at the beginning, it will willingly remind you to get your ass together and learn the game cause you aren't going anywhere without learning how to play.

[@Patralgan]

What

[@jumpmadmadness1222]

Sounds like a skill issue

[@phaZonJJ27]

Baka…i’ll subscribe

[@EnheTook50Benadryl]

bruh