Platform	GameCube
Specifications	DCharlie takes a quick look at the GC version of FZero GX... and ends up losing his dinner...
Price	5800 yen
Genre	Racing
Developer	Sega AV

Casting my mind back several years to the original FZero, I recall it being one of those games that I simply couldn't get enough of. The mode 7 graphics were really neat, and the game play was fantastically addictive. Come the N64, come the sequel. Whilst a little disappointing, it was still a great game. And now... the NGC version is here.

Put simply : this game is a roller coaster. The track design is absolutely stunning - providing a good challenge whilst show casing some of the best graphics seen this generation. Undulations, twists, turns, drops, jumps... this game has everything in terms of thrills and spills. Infact, after 5-6 hours of play, I ended up hurling from the constant motion of the game.

The graphics are superb, with an unflinching 60fps and some of the best texturing work ever displayed in a game. Fire Field, the forest levels and the lightning level stick in my mind as jaw dropping, pant wetting, finger lickingly amazing. The lightning level and the port town level give a great feeling of depth as they are situated high above a cityscape below. The lightning levels occasional bursts of lightning, illuminate the whole scene below you in a stunning fashion.

Sonically, this game is no slouch either. A couple of remixes of the original music tracks with a kind of "Rez soundtrack" feel to it that I can't quite put my finger on. Some tracks veer off in a sort of underworld style, some have the guitar-techno feel. It's all good and it's one of the best original soundtracks that I've heard in a long long time.

In game FX are good, with the whoosh of passing racers particularly satisfying. We even have the obligatory cheesy voices that add a certain familiar feeling including a Sega-style "THANKS FOR PLAYING!". It seems that there are quite a few light hearted touches throughout the game. On completing a Grand Prix, you get to have a totally pointless, yet mildly amusing mini interview with your driver. You take the lead of "Mr Zero" , the Zero-TV presenter who wraps up "today's grand prix". I got to ask "Why did you become an F-Zero racer" to which the reply was "I was BORN to be an F-Zero racer!!"... fantastic stuff, pointlessly fantastic.

The Grand Prix mode itself is structured much like the N64 version, with each race requiring you to just finish the race rather than be placed within the top 3 a la the Snes version. Points are awarded for you finishing position and your overall reward is determined at the end of the 6 races.

The Story mode fills in a lot of the back story to each racer, which fleshes out the series (and the game) nicely. The Story mode challenges add a little bit more longevity to the overall package, and it's almost tongue-in-cheek cheesy styling gives a B-movie feel to the proceedings.

As of yet, I've not tried the multiplayer modes, but will update as and when these are tried.

Couple of "downsides" so far (these are very VERY minor) - on some of the later tracks you get easily thrown off the track .

Unlike the arcade version, that's race over. Ontop of this there are jumps that you have to make, if you fall short or overshoot, its race over. Now, in some cases, you have to hit a turbo ramp (or hit boost if you are on the 2nd or 3rd lap) in order to make these jumps... but some times the cpu cars nudge you off, consigning you to your doom. Whilst this is listed as a gripe, it's actually a matter of skill and timing.

The second gripe is the quality of the FMV cut scenes. Its pretty ropey to say the least, especially going from super crisp Progressive scan to blocky video.

A third minor gripe is the combat. The F-Zero series has (for me) never been about the combat element - it's always been about racing. Although you can deflect opposition craft out of the way (and destroy other racers), it seems that it is now rendered pointless.

A note for importers: although all the menus and a lot of the text is in Japanese (actually menus are in both english and japanese), all the cut scenes in the story mode are voiced in English. It's a fairly accessible game and the tasks in the story mode are fairly easy to figure out.

-David Coyles