It's uh... old school F-Zero. With a bunch of players!

I've been doing ok so far. Usually finishing in the top 10, top 20. When I don't explode.

Downloading….

It's fun! I hope they don't pull the plug in a half-year's time a la Mario 35, but for now I think it's a good mix of skill and chaos. The catch-up mechanic is clever.

F-Zero is my Nintendo white whale. I've always wanted to get good at it, but I've never gone all-in! So I've been having a ton of fun with this. And I love the UI.

My initial strategy was to spam the attack button and play the game like bumper cars, which typically landed me in the Top 50. Then I did the practice mode to learn how the game's physics work in a controlled environment, completed all the time trial challenges, and now when I go online, I can treat it like a single player time trial and typically get in the Top 25.

It seems like the essence of F-Zero is learning how to merge fast racing with the vehicular combat mechanics. Any tips for this? I've never understood how to use the spin attack in F-Zero, it's so imprecise. In general, it feels like there's a lot outside of my control when there are 29 other cars on the track, let alone 98.

I love the first day or two of these 99 games being out, where everyone is still figuring out how to play them! This one has much better onboarding than the others, but it still has that awesome live energy.

I love how the game looks and sounds. Would love to see other games from the same era get the same overhaul, like Pilotwings, Super Mario Kart or other, non Mode-7 type games. But then I would want them to be the actual original games, and not any live service horsewank.

I liked Tetris 99 and Super Mario Bros. 35, but despite liking F-Zero a whole lot I'm not enjoying this very much. I think it's just too cramped and chaotic for me.

I actually played a lot of this yesterday. And I had so many 1st places!

...or rather, was in 1st place leading into the end of the races. Where I would subsequently crash out. EVERY TIME.

What can I say, I push it to the limit.

Like the other 99 / 35 games I'll probably get bored of this fast but I do think it is my favorite of the games so far.

@Secret_Tunnel I don't use the attack much at all unless I'm in the middle of a bunch of cars on a straightaway. Otherwise I just seem to screw myself with it.

Has anyone figured out how the leaderboards work yet? It looks like our scores are getting reset every day.

Finally finished a cup without exploding. Almost won my first race too but that last quick 90 degree turns part of Silence f-ed me.

I thought I was pretty decent at F-Zero.

This game is proving that I am definitely NOT decent at F-Zero.

From 2020:

PogueSquadron said:

I'm hoping for F-Zero 99, the ultimate battle Royale death race.

One small gripe, voting on which track to race on... everyone just votes Mute City I. This is Smash Bros Final Destination all over again!

I thought I was terrible at F-Zero.

This game is proving that I definitely am terrible at F-Zero.

I'm having kind of the reverse experience. I'm usually really mediocre at online games! But I'm doing very above average in this one! I guess I did play a TON of the SNES F-Zero back in the days.

Anyone beat the time trials for the three hard tracks yet? The first four were a piece of cake, but I can't for the life of me figure out the harder ones. Silence's corners are nuts.

r_hjort said:

I liked Tetris 99 and Super Mario Bros. 35, but despite liking F-Zero a whole lot I'm not enjoying this very much. I think it's just too cramped and chaotic for me.

I feel this. I at least like this game, but it does not scratch the same itch that normal F-Zero does. What does high level play for this even look like? Like, when you're in the middle of a crowd of people, getting jostled around- what is a "good move" in that scenario? I was able to get through story mode on F-Zero GX, but this feels like a different set of skills are being asked of me.

For one, you need to use the shoulder buttons a lot less often on sharp turns.There was a learning curve there for me, as I was cutting too close to the inside of turns that I would have been taking wide on the SNES version. And you can't really maximize boost while hanging on with a shred of health. In the other games, that's possible if you're good enough. But with this many people, there seems to be an unavoidable damage tax you're gonna be paying each lap.

I'm struggling to wrap my head around this one. My standard F-Zero framework isn't really applying here. But it's nice enough if I turn my brain off and lean into the chaos.

Hero_Of_Hyrule said:

Like, when you're in the middle of a crowd of people, getting jostled around- what is a "good move" in that scenario?

Depends on your machine.

Blue Falcon, maintain your lines as well as you can while letting the random forces usually balance themselves out to neutrality, and collect super sparks to get past it.

Golden Fox should never be in the middle of the crowd. Be constantly boosting from the very beginning of the race to get ahead of the pack, drive flawlessly, and maintain your lead.

With Wild Goose, being in a crowd isn't an issue; you're the one jostling them around. Go for kills.

I'm not too good with Wild Stingray yet, but I think its strategy is similar to Golden Fox's, but with less boosting and fragility. Get a lead and maintain it.

A handful of new tracks are available now! They've "dropped," as the kids say.

This is easily my favorite in this line of retro battle royales so far, which is a bit surprising as I've never taken too strongly to F-Zero. But it's really fun even when I'm finishing in the middle of the pack, or crashing out in an ill-advised sacrifice boost towards the elusive 1st place finish. It just fits better into the battle royale mold than any of Tetris, Pac-Man, or Mario.

Secret_Tunnel said:

Anyone beat the time trials for the three hard tracks yet? The first four were a piece of cake, but I can't for the life of me figure out the harder ones. Silence's corners are nuts.

I managed all of them pretty easily within a couple tries except for Port Town II, which I can't even get within two seconds of.

@nate38

You find Port Town II harder than Silence? I can't even get within six seconds of Silence. What's the trick for those sharp turns? My never-ending battle with F-Zero is how many different ways there are to turn your car! It seems like holding L/R first and then moving the stick turns you more sharply than vice versa?

The magnet part on Port Town II is tricky, but if you can even manage it partially, then smart boosting will get you the win. I got it with Wild Stingray, boosting at the straight section after the last turn, and right after the jumps to fly around the first bend.

nate38 said:

A handful of new tracks are available now! They've "dropped," as the kids say.

Nice! I've been waiting for this!

/EDIT Damn, the competition seems much harder now! Maybe all the casuals left already and it's just the diehard fans left or something. I used to regularly finish in or around the top 10, now I'm finishing around 30-50.

@Zero

I've noticed this too! Except for me, I've been playing the game continuously and constantly improving (because my rank keeps going up and I keep getting matched against better players), but overall I don't place any higher than I did when I first started...