Game description
F-Zero is a futurist racing game made exclusively for the Super NES. It was a lunch title in all region, coming on November 21, 1990, in Japan, on August 23, 1991, in North America and in 1992 in Europe.
As explained in the Super NES manual, the story is set in 2560. Due to human race’s countless encounters with alien life form through the Universe, the framework and the market was expanded to a cosmic proportion. Through this, multibillionaires who took advantage of intergalactic trade, wished to bring fresh in the universe.
This wish manifested as a big project. Based on the simple idea of reproducing Earth’s F-1 racing competition, the rich jumped into the idea to create an intergalactic racing competition. They invested money on remote and unhinbaitable environments to build many racing circuit. Most of them are located as high as 300 feet above the ground and anti-gravitational guide beams were placed to avoid falling. The catch here is the vehicle itself. Instead of Earth’s F-1, the latest technology available to allow them to construct a vehicle that can ease to 400 km or more in a few seconds.
Initially, controversy around the brutality of the competition (such as traps and obstacles) sparked, but then became part of the tournament. The first Grand Prix was thus created and named F-Zero.
A futurist racing game, F-Zero was notable for its use of the then latest technology of the Mode 7, which allowed pseudo-3D environment and smooth transition.
You play as one of the four racers. There are referred by their machine’s name, but in the Super NES manual, a short profile for each character is shown. In the series, this is the debut of Captain Falcon, Dr. Stuart, Pico and Samurai Goroh. Falcon is considered the main character and gained considerable popularity because of his inclusion in every Smash Bros. games as a playable fighter.
Then, you take part to one of the three cups: Knight, Queen and King. After a set of 5 races, a winner is declared based on his position on each of the race.
The player’s vehicle has a health bar. It decreases when it hits opponents, electrified walls or mine placed around certain tracks. However, each circuit has a repair zone located near the end of a lap to restore the lost health. If you lost it all, it will explode, costing you a chance. Some track features jump, increasing the risk to go out of bound, also causing a life lost.
After you complete a lap, you are given a boost power. You can carry as much as 3 boost power. Using one cause your car to go much faster for a short period. Some circuit feature booster pad directly on the track, briefly giving incredible speed to your car.
F-Zero playthrough
The playthrough use the USA version of F-Zero. The goal of it is to win every race in first position and avoid crashing. It also aims to show the four characters in action and avoid any collision. F-Zero also feature a score system, based on the time to take to complete a lap and which position you were. The Knight, Queen and King cup are played twice. Before playing, the attract mode is shown.
Boost and speed arrow are used and sometimes combined together to maximize time saving.
The first time, they are played at hard. Completing the three cups at that difficulty unlock the expert mode. Then, the three cups are played again at that difficulty to show the true ending.
Practice mode is not shown because the mode plays the same way as the Grand Prix mode, except that you race a single circuit instead.
No cheats are used in this run. TASing tools were used to offer a high quality playthrough.