F-ZERO GX Review: Story and Grand Prix Strategy

Since buying a Switch 2, the game I've been most addicted to is the GameCube's F-ZERO GX.

While you could play it by buying a GameCube or Wii and picking up used software, this is a title that benefits immensely from save states and load states.

I will discuss some tips for the Grand Prix mode in this game, as well as why a sequel has been so fervently requested by fans worldwide yet never released.

F-ZERO GX Grand Prix Strategy

This is the basic mode that has existed in every F-ZERO series entry. Thirty machines compete and clash across four courses, initially across three cups and three difficulty levels.

I have managed to clear up to the Master class of the AX Cup.

Each machine has different parameters for body, acceleration, top speed, cornering, boost consumption, and boost acceleration, and some machines exhibit unique handling during cornering.

Honestly, it's hard to understand at first, and while there are videos and blogs explaining it, you won't truly grasp it until you pilot them yourself.

Due to the connection with Story Mode and the small number of initial machines, I think most people will keep choosing the Blue Falcon.

From Expert difficulty onwards, I use the AX character's Rainbow Phoenix. The unlock condition is clearing Chapter 1 of Story Mode on Very Hard. Don't hesitate to use manual save and load for this. Even with that, the number of attempts might reach triple digits.

It is a machine worth unlocking even with such difficult conditions, as its performance is essentially an upgrade to the Blue Falcon. Despite being a lightweight machine, it has above-average top speed and boost performance, and it handles cornering with ease even when set to maximum speed.

It is the ultimate all-around machine; the only ones with higher priority might be the quirky Black Bull or the boost-focused Twin Noritta.

Its biggest drawbacks are the difficulty of unlocking it and the fact that once you do, the CPU's Rainbow Phoenix will stand in your way if you start a Grand Prix with any other machine (lol).

Even with manual save and load, I couldn't clear the previous entry, F-ZERO X for the Nintendo 64. The reason is that in every race, the machines that would take 1st and 2nd place were always predetermined.

While there is a way to break that pattern by destroying the rival machines... I couldn't even do it on Standard difficulty.

On the other hand, while there are machines that are strong when used by the CPU in GX, they don't have that same scripted, overwhelming speed found in X.

As the difficulty increases, formidable opponents include the Black Bull, which is difficult to handle like a wild horse but has the highest top speed, and the Twin Noritta, which has a weak body but the fastest booster speed.

In other words, these machines are tricky and difficult for players to use, but they become faster because they are stabilized when controlled by the CPU.

The Black Bull is a particularly tough opponent; its body is strong and heavy, so it sticks to you as a rival, and I've been blown away by it so many times...

The difficulty is high starting from the Expert class, and the Master class above that is an extreme state where you only have one life. However, if you use manual TAS by saving and loading mid-race, you can manage it.

Even saying you can manage it, getting 1st place on every course is quite difficult.

Even the first Mute City is a monotonous course, but precisely because it is monotonous, there is no room for error, and if you don't keep boosting, you will be easily overtaken.

The CPU has clearly defined courses it is good at and bad at. For example, in the Sapphire Cup's Mute City Serial Gap, despite it being a course with many jump ramps and shortcut elements, I often find myself overtaken by the CPU before I know it and end up in double-digit rankings.

Conversely, in the Emerald Cup's Vegas Palace Double Branch, the CPU seems to take the safe route and slow down at the X-shaped hairpin, allowing you to take a significant lead by the first lap.

As shown, there are clear courses that the CPU is good or bad at, and there are also clear strengths and weaknesses depending on the machine the CPU is operating.

The goal of Grand Prix strategy is to get '1st place overall,' not just to keep placing in the top ranks. In extreme terms, if you finish in the top 3 in the first 3 races out of 5, you can open up an overwhelming point lead over 2nd place.

Stages I personally like are:

Ruby Cup's Aeropolis Multiplex

Emerald Cup's Big Blue Ordeal

F-ZERO GX Story Strategy: The Dark Souls of Racing Games

Even on Normal, the difficulty is at the level of Very Hard in other racing games. Since I managed to clear it on Normal, I'll look back at the story walkthrough.

Basically, story modes are usually seen as a tutorial for the Grand Prix, but this game is the exact opposite; the Grand Prix is the tutorial for the story mode.

Once you clear a story chapter, you purchase the next one in the store, but from the middle onwards, you have to earn points by playing the Grand Prix as well.

It requires a massive number of retries and overwhelming precision, and you also need the mental fortitude not to give up. It's often called the Dark Souls of racing games.

Even if you make full use of manual saves and loads, this difficulty doesn't change—or rather, people who cleared this on the GameCube are incredible.

Chapter 1: Captain Falcon's Training

Only this first chapter on Normal has a difficulty level that feels like a story mode. It's tutorial-like content.

You have to collect capsules within three laps. Sometimes it feels like the hit detection for the capsules is off.

Chapter 2: Samurai Goroh's Revenge

A one-on-one duel with Samurai Goroh. You have to reach the goal while avoiding falling rocks. The trick seems to be using boosts repeatedly right before the goal, but if you skimp on boosts along the way, you'll get left behind, and if you pass him too early, he'll use his boost with demonic speed to overtake you.

The balance of whether to use your boost to pull ahead or save it is a skill that comes in handy for the Master class.

Chapter 3: High Stakes in Mute City

A 12-car race. The story mode features almost entirely original courses, and while you can apply Grand Prix techniques, you have to refresh your knowledge.

There are consecutive 90-degree hairpin corners, requiring the technique of taking the inside line, drifting, and then quickly transitioning into a slide turn to get through the corner without losing speed.

Also, you need to boost before hitting jump ramps to gain distance and take shortcuts.

Even on Normal, they have speed at the Expert class level.

Chapter 4: Challenge of the Space Biker Gang

You must destroy the leader of the biker gang and also finish in 1st place.

Destroy enemies other than the boss to earn boost gauge, boost forward, and eventually aim for the boss.

Even if you ignore the small fry and boost repeatedly, the boss keeps running at around 1600 km/h, and you have to hit it during the few hundred meters at the very end when it slows down and lets its guard down.

It seems you can reach the boss earlier by wiping out all the small fry or defeating them efficiently to boost, but I was saved by the boss letting its guard down.

Attacks include the spin attack and side attack. The spin attack allows you to attack in all directions while spinning, but you cannot choose the direction to knock enemies, and the damage is low.

The side attack is a move that pushes in your preferred direction to the left or right, and you can deal massive damage by slamming enemies into walls.

Honestly, it has strong elements of a luck-based game, and I struggled with it even more than Chapter 7.

Chapter 5: Save Jody

Even on Normal difficulty, it is difficult unless you pass through the closing doors without any mistakes and collect the boost recovery capsules.

This can be cleared with a certain number of attempts if you have manual save and load. I was saved by the Switch's features.

The highlight of this story is Jody's dynamite body in the cutscenes, and the comments in playthrough videos are overflowing with remarks like 'so hot.' No wonder Captain Falcon risks his life to save her.

However, Jody herself is a very strong-willed woman, and in her Grand Prix victory interview, she says, 'It was only natural that I would win.'

Chapter 6: Black Shadow's Trap

If your machine drops below 700 km/h, it explodes and it's game over.

If you crash into a wall twice in a row, it's an easy game over. If you make even one mistake on the long highway, it's game over.

Towards the end, there is a dirt area that you cannot pass without a boost, which is a trap for first-time players. The regular cars along the way also get in your way.

However, you just need to avoid making mistakes, and there is zero need to win the race, so you benefit the most from manual save and load.

Chapter 7: F-ZERO Grand Prix

Personally, the hardest part of Story Mode.

The speed of Blood Falcon and Black Shadow is abnormal. I heard you're supposed to knock them off, but there's no time for that. The other machines are also naturally fast.

There are many elements unique to the story mode, such as damage floors, and the track width is narrow; if you use up your boost, you'll be destroyed by the aggressive machines.

In the end, I just spammed boost out of desperation and accidentally came in first. This story was so difficult that I felt no sense of accomplishment upon clearing it; from the middle onwards, I was just aiming to clear it through sheer trial and error while talking to a friend on the phone (lol).

Chapter 8: The Secret of the Champion Belt

A one-on-one duel with the evil mastermind, Deathborn.

Deathborn doesn't have a boost, but his top speed is at a cheat-level, so if you mistime your boost or hit any of the three hairpin turns on this course and slow down, defeat is almost certain.

Furthermore, even though he challenges you to a Death Race, it seems he just keeps coming back even after you defeat him...

You need to be careful of the damage zones, find straights to boost as much as possible, and figure out the right angle and speed to drift through the hairpin turns.

Since Chapters 8 and 9 have many hairpin turns, if you set your speed settings not to max top speed, but slightly towards acceleration (around 60% to 70%), it becomes much easier to turn.

Chapter 9: Final Battle with the Creator

He's the final boss, but if you use manual save and load, I felt he was easier than Chapter 1.

It's a battle against a player ghost, and on Normal, you can win if you just play normally.

The problem is that, like Rainbow Road in Mario Kart, there are no guardrails at all, and if you go off-course even a little, it's an instant game over. If I were playing this on a GameCube, my hands would be sweating like crazy.

On Normal, you don't need to worry about speed that much, so a setting more focused on acceleration might be better.

So, while the Grand Prix has more volume in terms of total completion, some of the story chapters took me an hour each... I've never seen a story mode this difficult anywhere else.