Original F-Zero (and GBA Maximum Velocity to some extent) is kind of an acquired taste, it was kind of a SNES tech demo (from launch, even) and it’s a bit abstract.

Like there were already 30 racers but only 4 are playable and the rest are identical brown machines, and there are rules just for the 4 main characters (you have to place at least 8th before lap 2, then 4th before lap 3 or you’re eliminated, or something like that).

The 3D episodes X and GX are awesome, incredibly fluid and with great zero gravity tracks in absurd shapes. X managed that on the N64 by looking rather rough, but speed and chaos from the 30 contestants make up for it IMO. They’re also very fucking hard, especially unlocking everything in GX. Which includes a lot of tracks, new characters and machine parts for the gimmicky but fun custom machine editor. Technically a lot of that extra content are the characters and tracks from AX, GX’s counterpart game on arcade machines.

3D F-Zero looks a bit like weaponless WipeOut (but still quite aggressive, because you are encouraged to take out your opponents with physical attacks. Especially your current rival on the scoreboard who the UI helpfully highlights).