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F-Zero X
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto (producer)[1] Tadashi Sugiyama (director)[1] Keizo Ohta (chief programmer)[1]
Composer(s)	Taro Bando[1] Hajime Wakai[1]
Series	F-Zero
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64, iQue, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	Nintendo 64[2][3] JP July 14, 1998 NA October 26, 1998 EU November 6, 1998 iQue CH 2004 Virtual Console JP May 29, 2007 EU / AUS June 15, 2007 NA June 25, 2007
Genre(s)	Futuristic racing game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E OFLC: G
Media	128 Mb[4] (16 MB) cartridge
Input methods	Game controller

F-Zero X (エフゼロ エックス ^?), is a futuristic racing video game for the Nintendo 64 console. Developed by Nintendo's EAD division, it was released in Japan, Europe and North America, in 1998. In 2000, an expansion of the game was exclusively released in Japan providing numerous extra features not in the original game. F-Zero X was later ported to the iQue Player in China in 2004.^[4][5] F-Zero X was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan and in North America, in 2007.^[6][7] To honor the 100th Virtual Console release in Europe, it was made available there on June 15, 2007.^[8]

F-Zero X is the third released installment in the F-Zero series and the first released video game in the franchise to feature 3D graphics.^[9] The game has a steep learning curve and its gameplay experience is similar to that of the original F-Zero title. However, the title does introduce a "death race" mode and a random track generator called the "X Cup". In the death race, the player's objective is to annihilate the 29 other racers as speedily as possible, while the X-Cup "creates" a different set of tracks each time played.^[10]

Critics generally praised F-Zero X for its fast gameplay, abundance of courses and vehicles, track design, and maintaining a high framerate. However, the game has been widely criticized for its lack of graphical detail.^[11]

Gameplay

F-Zero X is a futuristic racing game where thirty pilots race on circuits inside plasma-powered hovercars in an intergalactic Grand Prix at speeds that can exceed 1000 km/h. The game can be used with a Rumble Pak, which allows for force feedback. Taking place after the original tournament was discontinued for several years due to the extreme danger of the sport, F-Zero X begins after the Grand Prix is brought back with the rules and regulations revised under the same name as the video game.^[12] The tracks in the game include hills, loops, tunnels, corkscrews, and pipes.^[13] Some courses have innate obstacles like dirt patches, tricky jumps, and tubes to navigate. The game introduces 26 new vehicles, and brings back the four from the original F-Zero game.^[14] Each has its own characteristics and performance abilities and before a race, the player is able to adjust a vehicle's balance between maximum acceleration and maximum top speed.^[15]

A normal race in F-Zero X consists of three laps around the track. Each machine has an energy meter, which serves two purposes. It is a measurement of the machine's health and is decreased, for example, when the machine hits another racer or the side of the track. If the player has a "Spare Machine" then falls off a track or runs out of energy, the race will be restarted. The game introduces the ability to attack the other racers by either utilizing a side or spin attack. Also, this is the first F-Zero game in which the player can boost after the first lap which greatly increases the vehicle's speed, but also drains its energy. Energy can be replenished by driving over recharge strips, called "Pit Zones", located at various points around the track.^[10] There are also dash plates around the track that give a speed boost without using up any energy.^[16]

Race modes

Graphical detail was one of the sacrifices that had to be made in order to keep the game at 60 frames per second.^[10]

F-Zero X has five different modes of gameplay: Grand Prix, Practice, Time Trial, Death Race and Vs. Battle.^[4] In the Grand Prix mode, the player chooses a cup and races against twenty-nine opponents through each track in that cup. Players get a certain number of points for finishing a track depending on where they placed, and the winner of the circuit is the character who receives the most total points. There are three difficulty levels available at the start: Novice, Standard, and Expert. The higher the difficulty level, the tougher the opponents and less opportunities the player gets to retry. However, there is a Practice mode which allows the player to practice any track with 29 opponents.^[10][15]

Time Attack lets the player choose a track and complete it in the shortest time possible. Racing against a staff ghost or transparent re-enactments of the player's best three-lap performances is possible. In Death Race, the player objective is to annihilate the 29 other racers as speedily as possible on the only course, which is a perpetual straightaway. There is no multiple difficulty levels to choose from, nor is there a limit to the number of laps but the boost can be used right away. Vs. Battle is the multiplayer mode where two to four players can play simultaneously with or without handicap. Those not in use by players can be operated by the computer. If a person ends up retiring before the other players, that person can enter the "VS Slot". A slot machine will appear and depending on what three identical pictures the player manage to match will adversely affect the competitors.^[10][15]

Circuits

F-Zero X has five Cups in total, four of which whose names are based on face cards. Four of them contains six courses each. Initially, only the Jack, Queen, and King Cups are available to choose from and each vary in difficulty from beginner, intermediate and expert respectively.^[10] The Joker Cup can be unlocked by coming first overall in Jack, Queen, and King Cups on standard in the Grand Prix. Beating these four cups on Expert unlocks the Master class difficulty level and the X Cup.^[17] The "X Cup" is actually a track generator that "creates" a different set of tracks every time when played. The randomized track elements can vary from simplistic and straightforward to highly complex and intricate.^[10]

The first course in the Joker Cup, Rainbow Road (subtitled "Psychedelic Experience"), is the very same Rainbow Road track featured in Mario Kart 64, with a different ambiance to match the whole F-Zero setting and the lack of guard rails. In addition, when played with the F-Zero X Expansion Kit, the background music will change to an alternative rock remaster of the same song heard in this track in Mario Kart 64.

Development and audio

Initially titled "F-Zero 64", Famitsu magazine revealed the project in mid-1997.^[18] Several key Wave Race 64 programmers including the lead programmer made up the in-house F-Zero X development team.^[10][19] The game made its debut at the Nintendo Space World event in late November 1997 where the public was able to play it for the first time.^[15][20] According to GameSpot, F-Zero X became the first racing game to run at 60 frames per second with up to 30 vehicles on screen at the same time, but in order to keep the frame rate, polygon counts on the vehicles, textures and track detail are sacrificed.^[16] The North American release of F-Zero X suffered from a three month delay due to Nintendo of America's policy of spacing the release of first-party games out evenly. The game is programmed with "64DD hooks", which allow it to detect whether the Nintendo 64DD is connected or compatible software is being used. This allows the cartridge to be compatible with add-on disks such as track editors or course updates; however, none of these were utilized outside of Japan due to the 64DD's commercial failure.^[10][21][22]

F-Zero X features remixed music from its predecessor.^[23] Besides the game's visual detail, another setback in order for the title to run well at its frame rate is the quality of its audio. Due to compression, the game only features monaural audio tracks.^[10] Two soundtracks were released featuring music from this game onto CD. The F-Zero X Original Soundtrack was released on September 18, 1998. The F-Zero X Guitar Arrange Edition, which was released on January 27, 1999, contains ten guitar arranged musical tracks from the game. Both the original soundtrack and the guitar arrangement are composed by Taro Bando and Hajime Wakai.^[24][25]

Critical reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	85%[26]
Metacritic	85[11]
Review scores
Publication	Score
Allgame	[27]
Edge	8 of 10[28]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	9, 9, 9, 9 of 10[23]
GamePro	4.5 of 5[29]
GameSpot	7.5 of 10[16]
IGN	9.1 of 10[10]
The Electric Playground	8.5 of 10[30]

Overall, critical reception of F-Zero X was positive; the game has an aggregate average of 85% based on 17 reviews at Game Rankings, and a metascore of 85 at Metacritic.^[11][26] Critics generally praised F-Zero X for its fast gameplay, abundance of courses and vehicles, keeping a high framerate with up to thirty racers on screen at the same time, and track design.^[31] However, the game has been widely criticized for its lack of graphical detail.^[11] Peer Schneider of IGN considered the game to rival Wave Race with its "perfectly fine-tuned controls and a fresh approach to racing".^[10] The title received Game of the Month for November 1998 from Electronic Gaming Monthly. An editor stated "the graphics may be simple, but they're smooth and the action is fast".^[23]

Allgame called F-Zero X as "certainly not up to Nintendo's usual standards" in terms of detail and texture quality.^[27] GameSpot also criticized the games' graphical detail, calling the low polygon count on the vehicles as "particularly uninspiring" and that the "track detail is also very limited, giving the track a spartan feel to it".^[16] Despite its visual setbacks, critics exalted the game for managing to keep a steady 60 frame/s, which some felt made up for the lack of graphical detail.^[10][27] The Electric Playground found the framerate to give "the game a major boost in the feel department" making it "seem like your vehicle is bursting through the sound barrier".^[30] In regard to the music, EGM considered it "really good with some excellent remixes of the old F-Zero tunes",^[23] while CVG called the music dreadful.^[32] The Electric Playground thought it goes hand-in-hand to the simulation of speed in the game, but the reviewer commented "I wouldn't in a million years buy music like this to listen to".^[30]

In GameSpot's retrospective review, they gave it a 6.5/10 calling it "the black sheep of the series" when compared with the other F-Zero games in "visual style and technical flair".^[33] IGN described F-Zero X as an exceptional update to the original game that "only suffers under its generic look". Peer Schneider believed that unlike the first game, F-Zero X "is not about showing off graphics or sound capabilities -- it's all about gameplay".^[10]

F-Zero X sold 383,642 units in North America and 97,684 units in Japan.^[34][35] The game sold 56,457 copies during its first week of sale in Japan,^[19] but sold nearly five times less the following week.^[36]

Disk drive expansion

Track Editor.

The F-Zero X Expansion Kit, released in Japan on April 21, 2000, was the first add-on disk for the Nintendo 64DD.^[21] The Kit will only operate in conjunction with the cartridge of the original game, however all of F-Zero X's regular features are accessible plus twelve new tracks, a car editor and a track creator. Since the Expansion Kit has a larger amount of storage than the original cartridge, it includes new soundtracks in stereophonic sound as well as the entire collection of monaural audio tracks from the original game.^[13][37] In addition to the two new cups, it is also possible to create custom cups. The disk can save up to a hundred tracks and up to three ghost racers per course.^[21][38] IGN singled out the track creator as the Expansion Kit's strongest feature since it is virtually the same tool the designers of F-Zero X used for themselves to create the original circuits.^[21]

The Car Editor offers a variety of options when creating a vehicle. Using a set of pre-existing parts, the player must balance their creations' settings and performance abilities before the machine is finished and named. The Track Editor is a detailed track creator that allows the player to design their own racing circuits. Using a cursor, the player can determine the basic layout of the track and also add points to it to create track elements such as curves and hills. Furthermore, numerous different properties like half pipes and cylinders, as well as numerous road surfaces, such as slip zones, can be added. The player also can test their creation at any time and run practice laps.^[21]

References

External links

• Official Japanese F-Zero X site
• F-Zero X at Nintendo.com (archives of the original at the Internet Archive)
• F-Zero X guide at StrategyWiki

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

F-Zero X
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date(s)	Nintendo 64  July 14, 1998  September 30, 1998  November 6, 1998 iQue Player  2004 Wii Virtual Console  May 29, 2007  June 15, 2007  June 15, 2007  June 25, 2007
Genre(s)	Racing
System(s)	Nintendo 64, iQue Player, Wii Virtual Console
Players	1-4
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: All ages ESRB: Everyone PEGI: Ages 3+ OFLC: General
Media	256Mb cartridge
Input	Gamepad
Preceded by	BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2
Followed by	F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
Series	F-Zero

F-Zero X is a video game for the Nintendo 64 console. The game sold 56,457 copies during its first week of sale in Japan. The North American release of F-Zero X supposedly suffered from a three month delay due to Nintendo of America's then release policy of spacing the release of first-party games out evenly.

F-Zero X is the fourth title in Nintendo's F-Zero series, and the second to be released outside of Japan. Although it failed to match the sales success of the original F-Zero, the Mode 7 Super Nintendo F-Zero game, F-Zero X is the first 3D release and fully polygonal game in the series. The F-Zero X team was made up of several Wave Race 64 key programmers (including the lead programmer).

The Expansion Kit for this game was released nearly two years later in Japan. To leave the field open for future, Nintendo added 64DD features into F-Zero X that would allow for add-on disks such as track editors or course updates. The 64DD was never released outside of Japan, unless imported, these features were never taken advantage of elsewhere in the world.

This version is now available in Nintendo Wii Virtual Console in which you get to download it for 1000 points.

Table of Contents

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Portal: Sports and Racing		F-Zero X at F-Zero Wiki

F-Zero X
Developer(s)	EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date	October 26, 1998 (NA)
Genre	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Age rating(s)	ESRB: E
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64
Media	Cartridge
Input	Nintendo 64 Controller
Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough

Among fans of the F-Zero series, F-Zero X is considered one of the best available. It is a high-speed Racing game set in the future, and home of the character Captain Falcon who would later make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. and it's sequel.

F-Zero X itself is a sequel to the SNES game F-Zero. There are over two dozen tracks to race on, and over 30 futuristic cars to race in. The tracks twist and turn in arcs and loops at high speeds, while the cars can be customized & have their stats tweaked.

A typical race involves 30 cars on the track at once, as they skid and sideswipe each other, while you try and maneuver your way through without getting damaged too much. You can drift around turns, or divert energy from your defense shields into a boost. You can drain enemy cars enemies or use a spin move to do some damage. There are no projectiles like a kart racer that you can use to easily get rid of competition.

The modes of play available are:

Practice - Test out your customized car.

GP Race - Race in Jack, Queen, King, Joker and X-Cup Grand Prix.

VS Battle - You & friends race.

Death Race - You & 29 other cars try to destroy each other on a track.

In Japan, a track editor was also released for the N64DD, but it never made it to the west.

See also:

• F-Zero X Expansion Kit

someone needs to get nintendo to make the expansion for wii ware, i know alot of people who want it, includeing me.

Similar Games

• Extreme G
• Wipeout Pure

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F-Zero series
Games
F-Zero | BS F-Zero 2 | Zero Racers (never released) F-Zero X | F-Zero X Expansion Kit | F-Zero: Maximum Velocity F-Zero GX | F-Zero AX | F-Zero: GP Legend | F-Zero: Climax
Misc
Locations | Planets | F-Zero GP Legend
Characters
Captain Falcon