F-Zero 99.

I know a lot of people are writing it off because it’s not a GX remaster, a full new game, or they’ve just lost interest in 99 games and think they’re all generic, but Nintendo’s been clear that they aren’t interested in giving the franchise another shot after GP Legend, the anime and Climax tanked. I’ll gladly take a small budget F-Zero, and F-Zero 99 is just great.

F-Zero 99 takes every question you’d have about translating F-Zero to multiplayer and just makes it work, with 99 players as well. Rivals and other stat tracking like rank in your machine all gives newer players more achievable goals to work towards instead of just having to flat out lose every round until they “git gud”.

Switching to the boost = health mechanic of the later games was also a great choose, since it’s a more forgiving version of boost, while also adding some risk-reward. You could burn though all your boost and refill when you get the chance, but that puts you at risk of dying. Expanding the boost meter with KO’s is also great, since it encourages the player to actually partake in a death race for the most optimal performance, especially in Grand Prix where the meter gain persists over tracks.

The Sky Rail, while an obvious concession for 99 players, still works great as a rubber banding mechanic since it gives players who are behind the chance to jump the pack and have another shot at climbing the ranks. Meanwhile the bumpers/turbo snails that only spawn towards the from of the rankings ensure that if you do jump you actually have to demonstrate skill to keep that lead and that truly better players aren’t just robbed. Not being able to use your regular boost and keep the sky rail meter is great as well, since it just adds more of the risk-reward in deciding to use it now to get access to your boost again, vs saving it for it’s most optimal spot.

It’s just a fantastically designed game. It really captures everything great about F-Zero, and as a big fan I’m thrilled to have it. I just hope it doesn’t get Mario 35’d, and that Nintendo pays attention to it’s reception and rethinks their stance on F-Zero.