F-Zero GX
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F-Zero GX is a GameCube video 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. In fact, F-Zero GX/AX runs on a heavily modified version of the engine that powered Super Monkey Ball.
Gameplay
As with all F-Zero games, GX is about futuristic racing: pilots race plasma-powered hovercars in an intergalactic Grand Prix at speeds that can exceed over 2000 km/h. The emphasis is on speed and creative racetrack design, with tracks looping through all three dimensions like roller-coasters.Each of the machines have their own handling characteristics, with varying top speeds, armor values and traction values. All of the machines in the game have an energy meter – this energy powers not only the machine's protective shields, but a boost which can provide a burst of speed. If a machine loses all of its energy, it will explode on contact, causing the player to lose a life or the match. However, energy can be regained by driving over special recharge strips in the road. Players can also fall off the tracks, which are shown to be several miles up in the air.
Finally, the game's controls are fairly sensitive, so players may have to practice with a given machine before diving right into the Grand Prix. The game's visuals as well as the level layouts convey well the immense speed of the game, and GX is notable for its intense action and high level of difficulty.
Though GX has more tracks than its predecessor F-Zero X, there is no longer a code to unlock them all, which means that some will never see more than the first 15 tracks. Furthermore, the "X Cup" (which randomly generates tracks) was removed in GX.
However, it has other new features. The new "story mode" provides a scripted 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 rival through a canyon and a rain of falling boulders. It is possible to replay these missions in "Hard" and "Very Hard" difficulty levels to unlock new parts and driver-specific vehicles from the arcade version. The new "customize mode" allows the player to use a variety of parts to customize a machine, ranging from extremely heavy to extremely light ones. The game also has unlockable "staff ghosts" that players can try to beat - these ghosts do particularly fast 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 five Grand Prix Cups (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond,and AX) or story missions, or by achieving specific minimum times in time trial mode (which also unlocks that track's Staff Ghost).
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A curious aspect of the game's physics modeling is that, when coming out of banked turns (using a shoulder button to lean), cars sometimes get a boost of acceleration, especially if it has high Grip, high Acceleration and/or heavy weight. Players can exploit this by bank-turning back and forth at a high rate of oscillation (several turns per second), achieving speeds of over 3,000 km/h. This controversial technique, called "dakou" or "snaking", has been known to reduce race times by a factor of three or more. It is not cheating, as Nintendo have confirmed that this feature was introduced into the game deliberately (and others as well; it can be duplicated in most Mario Kart games, most notably Mario Kart DS, as well as in Sonic Riders by constant use of power slides), and several of GX
F-Zero AX connectivity
The game's memory cards, on which saved games are kept, can be taken to an arcade with F-Zero AX, the game's arcade counterpart, to download special data. Players are meant to use the AX arcade cabinets to unlock permanent access to the fifth, Arcade or AX, Cup; a number of new custom machine parts; and nine new vehicles. This is easier said than done, as AX cabinets are extremely rare; according to the fan-maintained [F-Zero AX Locations] database, less than twenty are available to the English-speaking world. Thankfully, the AX Cup can instead be unlocked by completing all other cups (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and Diamond) on Master difficulty, its vehicles by completing story mode missions on Very Hard difficulty, and its custom parts can by completing Story Mode on Hard difficulty.Circuits
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 five of the six AX Cup tracks for purchase using tickets. The sixth, Mute City: Sonic Oval, can be unlocked by placing first in the AX Cup on any difficulty level.
Ruby Cup
Sapphire Cup
Emerald Cup
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Diamond Cup
AX Cup
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See also
External links
| Main series: | F-Zero > X | ' | GX/AX | ' | Climax |
| By chronology: | F-Zero > X | GX/AX | |
| Re-make: | BS F-Zero series > F-Zero X Expansion Kit |
| Unreleased: | Zero Racers |
| Locations: | Mute City > Port Town | Planets |
| People: | Shigeru Miyamoto > Toshihiro Nagoshi |
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