Virtual Console Reviews

I never played this - only the SNES and the Cube Version.
Let's hope it will come out here soon, i would spend 1000 Wii Points on this.

Woooooooooooo

Now this is what i'm waiting for........
About time we are seeing more n64 releases

I found this one better than the cube version, i'm also hoping to see a ds or wii version.

well Johannes you are in for a treat, I won't hesitate spending 1000 points on this game. What it lacks in arcade "WOW" it makes up for in gameplay, including a novel DEATH RACE where you have to bump off all the other riders.

f-zero x is THE future racer,end of. it's better than the snes version and wipes the floor with the (excellent) cube version.i also think it's the last 'zero' to have the classic music tracks for mute city and the like,this is one of the places the cube version fell down,wipeout it ain't. do a proper conversion nintendo and i'm happy.

fantastic stuff,i knew there was a reason i kept my gamecube pads,in my opinion this is one of the best multiplayers,provided everyone playing is goodxD

classic music tracks in gx? big blue? fair enough but it's the only one mute cities track is nothing like the original.

I'm all over this one ... I LOVE the N64 version. All the others (SNES, GBA, Cube) are "meh" to me compared to this game. I don't have a Wii quit yet (should arrive tomorrow) but having this game on hand without having to drag out the N64 will be terrific.

Bring on Rogue Squadron, Tetrisphere, and Goldeneye and I can give up the old machine!

Well, this came out on Japan's VC yesterday. I guess we can expect it to come to the US Monday.

I'd buy this. Incidentally I paid £7 for this many years ago, and £6 for Sonic 2. I find that a funny coincidence, even better if one (or both) were to hit the VC tonight.

I rate F-Zero X 5 Stars. It's an intense and faaaast experience.
And it doesn't seem any slower than 9 years ago when it was originally released... A classic!

this game was a fantadtic sequal to the SNES version, which its self was amazing!
i can remember spending hours on the death race mode because each time you play in that mode, its different and one mistake can ruin your whole overall time.
will deff be spending 1000 when i get back form holibobs!

Hi all. Does the time attack include some ghost mode? I mean, can we compete against our own best time with the related ghost on screen? If yes, is that feature available on that VC version, or is it 'technically disabled' like for the MarioKart64 ghost on the VC? Thanks all.

^ If its anything like the N64 original you can save one ghost to the cart but if you keep playing the same course you can have up to 4 temportay ghosts.

Mario Kart 64 was different as it needed to save the ghost to a memory card...

yeaht, the best in the series. the only gripe i have with this game is that its so good, i doubt any sequel will top it...
the cube versionw as just okay, and the soundtrack was horrible (nothing, compared to the brilliant soundtrack this one has).

bring more like this!

Hope this come to North America this Monday.

Black Bull sucks by the way. Samurai Goroh owns everyone!!

I wouldn't say best, but a very close second to F-Zero GX. That game is amazing in everyway. Only downfall is that its freakin hard!

i read your review daz and what a fantastic review it was.this is probably the best game to ever come out on the VC,hear me out.firstly this is a game that sacrificed graphics for playability and graphics doesnt matter on the VC does it.second its a n64 game that was overlooked by the public so many never have played it so u have to try it out of a measly 1000 points.lastly it has an absolutaly brilliant random track generator so its by far the most replayable game on the VC.this is definatly the best in the series(its just so playable i love the way crafts handle,not slippy like in other f-zeros),and is nintendos finests.download right now people

also its funny u should say that "-k-" because black shadow(black bull is the cars name) is my favourite pilot and i despise Samurai Goroh.i always make sure hes the one pilot that finishes with zero points by destroying him every race,it makes me feel so much better when i see his pansy pink car smashed on the track,the big disgrace.allow me to point out that europe got f-zero x first too so,nah nah

looks like a pretty decent game. although i was wondering should i wait for NOE to bring out the stars conversion to buy this... or go and buy another points card ?

Finally a solid racer on th VC,it would be perfect using Nintendo Wi-Fi connection...anyway i still prefer F-zero GX.

Great game; downloaded it as soon as it came out at midnight and have been playing it all day! I wonder if Nintendo will ever update it to make use of the Gamecube pad rumble feature, or release the 64DD extras as downloadable updates?

So does this game run at the same speed as the 60Hz version, while in 50Hz mode? That would mean some frameskipping, thus making the game less fluid... Or perhaps it just runs at full (unoptimized) 50Hz so it runs with the same fluidity as the PAL original, albeit slower?

It's so sad they don't let you download the NTSC 60Hz versions as well.

ICEknight- it runs as slow as the PAL original. It is not sped up to NTSC speeds.

Now I've found an unbelievable quirk in this game. Wait for it. I got the US ROM of the game (owning both the original cartridge and the VC version I think I'm justified lol)... and the speedometer actually shows higher speeds! Accelerating normally on the PAL version your vehicle will top out at about 700km/h, on the NTSC version its about 850! I think this is because the timer on the PAL version is fixed and actually runs in real time so when calculating the speed in every frame it knows it is going slower. Immense

yap, the 64DD extras would be great to.

Just watch that video and you know what FZX is all about:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iLD3T05YWPU
5 Stars

wow!!!!.that is a brilliant video.thats how the f zero games should be advertised.Amazing,could you imagine a 4 player race with 4 of them.its more like a piloting game XD

gameplay is great, the gamecube just took this game and made it look like a proper game. The graphics look shyte, wipeout on the ps1 looks better on a lesser powered console, but its still a great game.

@Whiteshadow

Black Shadow is lame. He is nothing more than a Deathborn minion. A puppet. Samurai Goroh is well, a Samurai, with a katana. And an awesome ship.

@-k-

with regards to deathborn and the f-zero gx story,i dont think that story was meant to be taken seriously.it was very camp and cheesy and was a cheap way of glorifying captain falcon.if you finished master mode with black shadow you would see it even makes fun of the fact that black shadow was a minion,having deathborn fear him offstage.admit that if you were to judge black shadow on appearance alone you would respect him.Samurai Goroh is ok,but black shadow is falcons true rival and enemy and I can guarantee that he will be picked over Goroh for smash bros brawl.

This game is awesome, I thought the graphics are very good for N64

This game is my favourite racer of all time.

The courses have to be seen to be believed, graphics are trippy and as smooth as silk, and the speed attainable in game makes me honestly fear that my tv is going to get damaged !

The gameplay is fanstastic: I especially like the fact that double pressing L or R (to barge) can also be used as way to help navigate extreme corners.

In total, this is a work of genius - thanks Nintendo.

YEAH!!! You're way out in front!

SO glad to see this on the USA's Virtual Console. I love this game!

I have the GameCube and SNES versions, but somehow I missed this one (perhaps because I was five when it released...) anyway, I am without a doubt going to pick this one up!

I personally believe the GC version is superior, yet, this is not a game to miss. Framerate blows the competition away.

Part of the reasons that the graphics in this game aren't quite up to par of other N64 games is because it ran at 60fps on the N64 itself! In order to make that happen, of course you're gonna need to tone down the graphics quite a bit.

the speed is still inmense
even for a pal game ^^

I enjoyed playing all of my N64 games, but F-Zero X was my least favorite of the first party titles, even though I'm a huge fan of the other two F-Zero games and the racing genre in general. I went back and played it for a couple of hours as well as F-Zero GX just to make sure I wasn't crazy after reading these reviews. It's not like I didn't give the game a chance: I beat the game on Master (not too hard to do, did it again just now after taking a half decade hiatus) and played through a lot of the cups over and over again to get the trophy symbols next to each drivers' names. But I can't say that I was having that much fun doing it. There are two great things about this game:
1. Slamming into the contenders that have the most points, thus eliminating competiton, plus being rewarded extra lives and health for doing so.

2. precise controls compared to games such as Mario Kart 64, which I realized had horrible controls when I went back to it.

Besides that, there is nothing too remarkable about the game. The sense of speed that others mention isn't really there due to sparsely detailed terrain, and pales in comparison to F-Zero GX. To say that the graphics are good for the N64 is very misinformed. Look at any other racing game on the console. Graphics don't usually matter, but it does in this case due to the sense of speed. As for the multiplayer, it isn't the F-Zero series strong point, since it's hard to physically interact with other drivers when there are only three others, unless you have items like in Mario Kart.

F-Zero GX however blew me away. It took all the good aspects of F-Zero X, added huge amounts of graphical polish, added tons of modes and customization, improved the track design, and made the Master difficulty worthy of it's name. The Story Mode at the hardest difficulty is one of the aspects that is constantly mentioned as being perfect for the hardcore. If you aren't that good, you still have the lesser difficulties. In F-Zero X, if you're any good at racing games you'll chew through the game.

Buy F-Zero GX instead for the same price! Please trust me on this one!

Oh, and the X Cup isn't random as advertised. I played that the most since I thought the whole randomly generated thing was cool but then I eventually realized that it was approximately 12 fixed courses that use mirror modes and backwards in order to increase variety. I suppose if they really had randomly generated courses, you'd have the chance of one being impossible. Though there is one cool one that has a section where nearly all of the CPUs die! Anyway, the track design as a whole in this game isn't that inspired except for the 360 degree tunnel and tube ideas. F-Zero GX takes those ideas for it's tracks and improves on it! Sorry to go on and on about that game, but it seriously is a diamond in the rough that needs to be recognized!

Fast, Speedy and not dull! Really like this game but im having trouble getting more cars.

A word of warning about the NTSC version. It does not run at a rock solid 60hz. It drops frames a lot. This is a major disappointment for a game which was written with framerate in mind.

The PAL version is fine - rock solid 50hz.

Nintendo need to fix this ASAP.

At full speed this is clearly a 5 star game.

@P.J Gasca

im sorry but your wrong.you make decent points but i cant agree with you.the mulitplayer was something all my friends rated over MK64 back in the day.it was intense and not fiddely and random.also you must bear in mind that this is a re-release and you must review from that angle,of course f-zero gx will be better,but for 1000 points this is agruably the best game on VC,because of its replayablilty.here is the games deserved 5 star rating

This looks a little like Mario Kart 64. I suppose it would as some of the N64 racing games had a similar style. Looks good. Never really played an F Zero game before so don't know if its any good or not.

its much easier than GX, and it has a random track generator. Together, these two things make it win.

Ive never played this but It looks like the Nintendo version of Jet Moto. and I LOVE JET MOTO!

I will probably be buying this in the near future but right now I have more games that I want more right now. =P

i have never played this before, but after a few hours i just got to say.. damn this is one hell of racing game! puts the f-zero on SNES to shame actually... damn big blue is so trippy with that long pipe and all, cant wait to play this game when im high! good times ahead!

@John Pickford

a solid 60hz? you mean a solid 60fps, you cant have not solid hz

@china Warrior B
I found GX easier, there was more to do so it made it a more draw out difficulty but i found the ships in X are much harder to control.

@P.J. Gasca:

Well, you're entitled to your opinion. I had F-Zero GX for a while and ended up selling it (among many other things) in order to get the money to buy my Wii. GX was good, and the original F-Zero was good, but X was the only one in the series I've played which was really truly brilliant.

I enjoyed the campy story mode of GX, as well as the custom machine idea, but I have to say that F-Zero X gets my vote for best in series at this time. (I still want to buy back GX, by the way)

@Whiteshadow (again)

Samurai Goroh would be picked way before Black Shadow for Brawl. His rivalry with Falcon is greater. He was originally with Falcon on the police force, and only joined F-Zero to destroy Falcon.

Besides Goroh is muscley and has a katana. He'd be in Brawl first, I guarantee

Great game. I got this Monday and I loved it so I went out and bought F-Zero GX. I think GX may be better but this one still shouldn't be ignored.

How much does a new GX cost and where can I get one new.

You're right, K. But not in the way you expected.

Im actually very annoyed what they did to goroh in brawl,it wasnt really fair because he was a very well known character.Hopefully this does mean Black Shadow is in there because Brawl will really need more than Capt.Falcon

I can appreciate this game for paving the way to F-Zero GX (one of the best games of all time), but now that its GameCube successor is out and available, I see little to no reason to pick this one up. Unlike most sequels, GX manages to do everything its predecessor did, only better, plus a whole lot more.

One of my favorite things about futuristic racers is the scenery. They are traditionally packed with cool futuristic surroundings that really add to the presentation and immersion. This game has absolutely none of that. There is essentially no background at all, just a glorified Hot-Wheels track floating in space. The graphics are bland as it is, and without anything else to look at, you get pretty sick of looking at it after a while.

I was a huge fan of the SNES and GC versions, so I thought I would give this one a try since I never got to play it back when I had a 64. I was pleasantly surprised with how smooth it ran, and how well it has aged.

I feel the game is definitely the best racers on the VC at this moment. Unlike Mario Kart, its very fast paced. There are no items to use, so you win based on pure skill. I recommend the game to any racing fan, mainly because it doesn't get old and you can race with 30 opponents.

Although I love X, GX is one my favourite racer of all time. The controls better and the story offers a fun distraction.

I don't recall x being so hard to control, and it's a bit hard using b on the GC pad to boost.

Can someone help me? If I save ghost data then do another time trial on another track then save that ghost then I can't race my old ghost, can I avoid this?

Saw the review and went ahead and downloaded it. I was once again talked into getting a great game!

Incredible Game! No more moaning and no more groaning!

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00xrO_rYEHo For a Mute City race video.

I must be one of the only people to REALLY not like this game! <br>I thought it was very bland and very boring - same thing every track...

Does anybody know if they will ever bring the expansion pax of this to the VC.Nobody outside of Japan ever got to try it and creating your own tracks would be so brilliant.

If they do bring the expansion pak then i might consider getting this- but otherwise, it's a pretty dull racer thats nowhere near as fun now. It doesn't even feel that fast anymore! I admit it's a classic but GX improved on this a lot and so have other futuristic racers.

Which is better, this or Wave Race 64?

Its a toughie.

Panda, F-Zero X is better. But you can still get both.

Unlike Yoshi's Story, F-Zero X is a worthy N64 sequel to the classic SNES racer. I still have the original N64 cartridge of this game and it was fast. I enjoyed playing Death Race, not to mention the random X Cup never gets old. Times have changed since its N64 visuals are inferior to the Sega-developed F-Zero GX (considering that Daytona USA creator Toshihiro Nagoshi finally had his chance to produce a great iteration in the franchise). Still, if you haven't played this game definitely download it.

Now that Japan-only games can come out are there any plans to release the expansion-kit.
It is so rare but brilliant and Nintendo now have the chance to get it to the whole world, a fully built in track editor.

I REALLY want this game, but I can't get it until I get a Wii points card AND until my USB connecter works!

Much better than GX. The courses were too wide in GX and it took the thrill right out of the game.

Anyone races on the Silence High Speed track multiple times in a row in multiplayer?
The best track for multiplayer is Silence High Speed.
Every player gets tense and to lean the vehicle everyone is not moving their arms, legs asthey are steering with zen patience transfered to their thumbs so as to not cause sliding. The losers and winners want to race again and tweak their vehicle's settings believing that their prefered vehicle (or driver sometimes) can beat the other vehicles. It seems everyone I've played against wants to be able to place first in Silence High Speed in 4 persons multiplayer.
(Hums Mute City theme song).

This is the Nintendo 64 classic that you most certainly don't remember from your childhood. And if you do remember it, you probably only played it for a couple days, and hated it. This game is not for kids, it is not easy, and it isn't always fun. Exhilarating, yes. Satisfying, very much so. And hard. Hard is a word I have thrown around pretty lightly on this post, because I have the habit of downloading some genuinely hard games. It's not harder than Contra, but the difficulty curve here is very impressive. It is a racing game, the speed of which is nothing like anyone else at the time had ever experienced. Sure, you can simply raise the numbers in the MPH gauge to over the speed of sound and simply call it faster, but what does that really mean? Here, the result meets the hype. The game is, on easy mode, no easy task. On Hard mode, things get nearly impossible by casual terms, but completely doable with a lot of practice. To be successful here, one has to know the tracks, choose the right acceleration to speed ratio, and not be afraid to risk life for the finish line (it is, in fact, possible to be technically exploded and dead while the race is still moving, and careen over the finish line taking the race in any case). The biggest key might be juggling between boosting and staying alive, as your vehicles stamina and boost power are one in the same. This was a very influential concept that would go on to spawn a myriad of copycats, some of which were great, such as Extreme G. It's a hard, hard game. And it's a game for adults, one of the few on the N64 that was actually great.

this is a very solid racer. it's something different. it's very fast, kinda like pod racing from starwars. its a really cool experence when you first try. i wasn't sure if i would like it at first but i was glad i bought it.

I have all three F-Zero's (barring GBA titles) and this the best in the series.
GX is beautiful and super adrenaline pumping, but far too hard to fully enjoy (for me anyway) However GX demands respect and can still hold its own against next gen quite easily. I've even had the good fortune of playing AX and cursing the fact I didnt have my memory card (but who would?)

X is the perfect balance between 1&3 (

I'm one happy game now that I FINALLY have this game. I'll be more happy when the Track-editing thing comes out.

This is probably my favorite racing game of all time. It's simple, easy to pick up and play, and it's incredibly exciting. Nintendo sacrificed visual detail to achieve a liquid-smooth framerate, and it was a good trade. GX is an okay game but it didn't come close to the pure joy of this one.

When the track editing thing comes out, will we have to spend 200 more points? The reason i asked because Japan-only N64 games cost 1200 points.

probably have to buy the track editor seperately as well as the F-Zero X game - you originally had to have both cartridge and disk so I'd suspect if it ever happened, you would have to download both F-Zero X and the track editor just to be able to use the track editor (even if the track editor download itself contains all the data the original disk took from the actual cartridge and nothing from the actual F-Zero X download). Just makes sense really.

The most stunning and engaging game of the era.

This game is AWESOME!
The graphics might not be impressive but the gameplay/music is tons of fun.
Its relative simplicity makes it fun!!!

Highly recommended for fans of SPEEED!! ;]

There's a marvellous feeling of irresponsibility and recklessness to be had from charging up the pack of 29 other racers and trashing everything in your path...quality. If you want an engrossing, challenging racer for the VC - single player and multiplayer - this is what you're after.

GX is better, but this game is still the bomb

F Zero GX for the Game Cube blows, this game is more fair and much better in my opinion.

I truly love this game, its probably one of my top 10 games of all time. Excellent sense of speed and racing, a worthy Nintendo CLASSIC.

This game is very fun to play with friends!

I suggest this game to anyone who likes fast racers.

Excellent game that is in my opinion the highlight of the F-Zero series. The graphics move at a remarkable speed and handling is tight and rewarding. I still get the same exhilaration boosting past an opponent on the finish line as I got when I first played the game on the N64. I love the way your closest rival in the points table is highlighted during the race and the thrill you get from barging him off the edge. Special mention must also go to the death race mode. Highly recommended.

Honestly, I was a bit let down by this one! Sure, it has solid racing (and I love the battle mode), but it just isn't as charming as it's GameCube and SNES counterparts. Still, despite that, I think it earns a concrete 4 stars. Good stuff.

In one word, I would sum F-Zero X up as "Intense". It is not the best racer around(the Mario Kart series will always have a place in my heart), but it is definitely one of the top racing games on the N64. The game is so fast, that some gamers may be a bit turned off, especially if they enjoy games a bit slower(i.e. Mario Kart).

I'll rate it with 4 very solid stars. Its very fun to play, enough of a challenge to keep you coming back for more(even after you finish all of the Cup races), and there is no shortage of tracks and racers. Also, I would like to note the audio is pretty well-done as well (who doesn't love the Big Blue theme?!).

D/L this one if you want something that is frantic...if you want something ever MORE frantic, pick up F-Zero GX for the Gamecube.

This game is outstanding. After 10 years the speed still makes my eyes bleed. Brilliant!!!

Loved this when it was first released but it pales horribly in comparison to the great GX. Bring on WX.

Yeah, I like this game, but I have GX and basically have no reason to play this one.

Truly one of the top games of the N64-era, and worth a download if you loved it then, or need a great feeling of speed. The tracks can range from simple to nuts, and the same goes for the difficulty (Think you were hot stuff playing Standard? Try Expert.)

With tons of tracks and racers, there is no room for boredom in F-Zero X. I rate it 4-5 stars.

Here's a question- can you use both the Classic Controler and a Gamecube controller to play multiplayer?

This was my most recent purchase and it was a good choice. The graphics aren't that great but graphics aren't what makes a game great, it's the gameplay, which is brilliant. The controls work so smoothly and the music is a joy to listen to. Definetly worth the points

A way more depthful racer than Mario Kart 64. The game runs silky smooth, even at mach speeds on the N64. While the game's visuals are improved on Wii, a lot of the textures just stink. The classic controller reigns supreme over the 64 controller in this game, and yes, I do recommend this game. However, if you're looking for a racer to play with a bunch of friends, than Mario Kart 64 is the way to go. -Scott L (4/5 Stars)

this is by far one of the best races i have ever played...in 1P mode. In comparison with this one, the 2P mode seems to be weak and gives it an unfinished touch to it.
1P mode = racing against 29 other racer and you can select the difficulty.
2? mode = racing agains 3 other racer without a difficultysetting at all.
If you like fast paced racer, this is worth the download, but if you look for a good multiplayer-racing game you will have to stick with mario kart 64 (heheh, i have both )

All the F-Zero games were equally good for their time. Choosing between the four just depends on which system you like the best.

Just played this game for a bit with a buddy. It's rather ugly and plain looking, the theme is really cheesy (like in a westling game almost) and the sense of speed isn't that great, though it is increased by some decent level designs.So overall it's a minor disappointment for me.

Okay, I went back and played this again, and I think it deserves better than I said before. I could sit my machine at the start line at Big Blue and listen to that music ALL DAY. I still think the Death Race is great. The first time I won was when I desperately took out the last guy by sacrificing my own machine; he died only seconds before my machine asploded. That was an "oh, snap" moment. I still have to say that, out of F-Zero, X, and GX, I still like GX the best, probably because it was the first time I experienced F-Zero awesomeness outside of Smash. The tracks are incredible on GX and X, but the original requires the most raw talent, I think. I truly cannot wait for F-Zero Wii, or whatever they call it. FALCOWN PAUNCH!

the best racer Ever! almost as good as ocarina! but i sooo need that expansion pak, even if it costs more. can someone tell me how to input the unlock everything cheat with a GC controller?

I just love the music never really played but god that song is awesome

needs to on every game just so they have it to listen to

This is one of the best racing games out there imo and I hope Nintendo references this when making F-Zero for Wii.

If they basically make the same game with added wiimote control options and the car and track editor from the 64DD version of the game, as well as a decent online mode, then this game could be something very special.

"This is one of the best racing games out there imo and I hope Nintendo references this when making F-Zero for Wii."
They did that when Sega made F-Zero GX. I'd rather see a sequel to one of the GBA games, storywise.