F-Zero GX is a GameCube game that is part of the F-Zero series of games. It is a second party game, with Nintendo licensing development out to Sega's Amusement Vision department - the same studio that developed the Super Monkey Ball series of games.

As with all F-Zero games, GX is about futuristic racing: pilots race rocket-powered hovercars in an intergalactic Grand Prix. The emphasis is on speed and creative racetrack design, with tracks looping through all three dimensions like roller-coasters. Each of the 30 GX vehicles have their own handling characteristics, with varying top speeds, armor values and traction values, but all cars have an Energy meter. This Energy powers not only the car's protective shields (a necessity at 1000 km/h), but its boost, which provides a burst of speed; using either, however, drains the Energy bar. Energy can be regained by driving over special recharge strips in the road, but an unwary player can easily drain it, which can result in instant death: a collision with track walls or enemy cars at zero- or low Energy levels will total the player's car, necessitating the use of an extra life. Unwise players can also fall off the tracks, which are shown to be several miles up in the air; this too results in the player "retiring." Finally, the game's controls are fairly sensitive, and the cars sometimes skittish, making it easy to drive into walls and drain one's Energy bar. The end result is a game with a fairly steep learning curve. Fortunately, the game's visuals are highly impressive, and the sheer visceral impression of speed was virtually unmatched for its time.

The number of tracks in GX is smaller than F-Zero X, and GX does not have a "X Cup", but it does have a large number of other features. The new Story Mode provides a highly challenging adventure, in the form of various non-standard racing scenarios--for instance, in the second of Story Mode's 9 missions, the player races a nemesis through a canyon and a rain of falling boulders. (The other car, however, cheats: it has infinite energy. This only sets the tone for the Story missions.) You can replay these missions in "Hard" and "Very Hard" mode to unlock new parts and driver-specific vehicles from the arcade version. The new Customize Mode allows you to use a variety of parts to create the machine of your dreams, ranging from extremely heavy cars to extremely light ones. The game also has unlockable "staff ghosts" that you can try to beat - these ghosts do particularly good runs on tracks, and are exceedingly difficult. All of these things, once unlocked, are purchased using "tickets", which the player wins by completing one of the four Grand Prix Cups (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and Diamond) or Story Missions, or by achieving specific minimum times in Time Trial mode (which also unlocks that track's Staff Ghost).

The game's memory cards can be taken to an arcade with F-Zero AX, the game's arcade counterpart, to download a fifth cup-the Arcade or AX Cup--a number of new custom machine parts, and nine new vehicles. The AX Cup can also be unlocked by completing all the other cups (Ruby, Sapphire, Elemerald and Diamond) on Master difficulty, and its vehicles by completing Story Mode missions on Very Hard difficulty. The parts can only be otherwise obtained by use of a cheating device.

Courses

Ruby Cup

1. Mute City - Twist Road
2. Vegas Palace - Split Oval
3. Sand Ocean - Surface Slide
4. Lightning - Loop Cross
5. Aeropolis - Multiplex

Sapphire Cup

1. Big Blue - Drift Highway
2. Port Town - Aero Dive
3. Green Plant - Mobius Ring
4. Port Town - Long Pipe
5. Mute City - Serial Gaps

Emerald Cup

1. Fire Field - Cyclinder Knot
2. Green Plant - Intersection
3. Vegas Palace - Double Branches
4. Lightning - Half Pipe
5. Big Blue - Ordeal

Diamond Cup

1. Cosmo Terminal - Trident
2. Sand Ocean - Lateral Shift
3. Fire Field - Undulation
4. Aeropolis - Dragon Slope
5. Phantom Road - Slim-Line Slits

AX Cup

1. Aeropolis - Screwdrive
2. Outer Space - Meteor Storm
3. Port Town - Cylinder Wave
4. Lightning - Thunder Road
5. Green Plant - Spiral
6. Mute City - Sonic Oval

Initially only the Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald Cups can be played. Diamond Cup can be unlocked by coming first in Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald Cup on standard difficulty in the Grand Prix. Individual AX tracks can be unlocked by placing first on the tracks in the arcade (F-Zero AX) version of the game and saving progress to a memory card. Placing first in the other four cups on the Master difficulty setting also unlocks all six AX Cup tracks for purchase using tickets.

Links

• Official F-Zero GX Website
• Cheats & Codes for F-Zero GX