F-Zero 99
It wasn't in my plans to cover an F-Zero game at all but today's Nintendo Direct made me morbidly curious about something I never knew anyone would ask for. F-Zero 99 is the latest "Battle Royale" style game to release on the Nintendo Switch and it feels like both a relief and a slap in the face.
The "99" series began with Tetris 99, a Battle Royale-style game developed by Arika. Ninety-nine players fill a room and play a game of Tetris, with players being able to target others and eliminate them from the game. The player who survives at the end and eliminates the final player, wins. Players who are skilled at Tetris would find success in 99 but being strategic and simply "surviving" until the end was also a valid strategy. The game proved to be a success, kicking off titles like Pac-Man 99 and Super Mario 35.
This time, it's Nintendo's own in-house studio behind the revival of F-Zero. The racer that Nintendo forgets exists because they put all of their eggs in the Mario Kart basket. It has been over two decades since there's been a new F-Zero game, with the last console game being F-Zero GX. The team behind GX were the same ones behind the Daytona USA series and it's often considered to be one of the best arcade racers of all time. Rather than give the fans a new F-Zero or even a remake, we get this.
I have mixed feelings of vitriol because as a fan of the arcade anti-gravity racer, I want more from the series. The Metroid fans finally got their share, when are F-Zero gals getting theirs? Alas, I suppose a "99" game is better than nothing, but how does it play? Fortunately for me, it plays like a dream. If this was the online multiplayer F-Zero game I never knew I wanted, F-Zero 99 would be that game to scratch every single itch that has been missing.
Before the game begins, F-Zero 99 forces the player to learn the mechanics of the game as most would have never picked up the series before. While the veterans would enjoy the hard work that Nintendo made into what's essentially an accurate HD remaster of the original F-Zero, there are several generations of players who may have never played the original. There are three tutorials that the player must finish each race in before they can race against ninety-eight other drivers all fighting for first.
Most of the tracks from the original game exist, with the notoriously tricky courses reserved for the challenging ranks. Depending on how a player finishes in each of the preliminary tutorial races, they will be assigned a rank. I was given a C- initially, which is far greater than what I imagined I'd get. It's been years since I played the original anti-gravity racer that many, like Aero GPX, had found inspiration in recent years. Fortunately, the game does a good job of teaching the player how to strafe, drift, and release the accelerator to ease into a turn.
The most important factor in F-Zero is the boost meter, which plays a bit differently in 99. Usually, the player will start the race without access to boost. After the first lap, the famous BOOST OK will appear, allowing the player to use it to their advantage. Here, the player immediately begins with a boost for all four laps, increasing the intensity of the races. Boost in this game doubles as your ship's health meter and the more you use it, the more it drains. If the player's meter is emptied, a warning will appear and the next hit will eliminate you from the race.
Therefore, the objective is not so much to win the race but also to survive. Many human drivers will use any tactic necessary to win. Anyone who has played an online racing game will know how dirty drivers can be online and in this game, it was no different. Eliminating enemies from the race will refill your boost meter completely, as well as extend the boost as well. KOing an opponent will mean the difference between becoming a causality and having that second wind to make it through the race.
Even if players tend to lag, there's a hyperboost meter dropped by golden ships. Collecting enough energy will access a hidden road, similar to the Yoshi's World circuit in Mario Kart 8 that acts as a shortcut with boost panels. This can also be a strategy to avoid tricky sections of a track altogether, adding another layer of strategy to F-Zero 99. As with the other 99 game modes, there are practice modes for players to get an understanding of how the tracks work. Attaining achievements will also unlock new ship colors, emblems, and bragging rights.
Despite my disdain, F-Zero 99 is a very solid experience much like all of the other 99 titles that Arika had developed, but this time it's more fleshed out. Almost as if Nintendo is aware that they haven't been giving this series the love it deserves, hate to sound like a broken record. This one hit a bit close to home for me simply because I believe Nintendo can bring this franchise back. Mario Kart can and should be Nintendo's main racer, but F-Zero birthed an entire genre of "high risk high reward" gameplay.
Players who are confident in their skills and race while pushing their ship to the absolute limit will feel the intense adrenaline in achieving victory with seconds to spare. Adding the chaos of a battle royale environment makes F-Zero 99 the perfect wake-up call for Nintendo to get their act together and give us a new and proper F-Zero.
Please?
F-Zero 99 is now available on the Nintendo Switch