In this review, we go for the boost fire in the Game Boy Advance game F-Zero: GP Legend. We find out how well this racing game plays.
This game was released in 2004 and is the second game to be released on this platform.
We are already quite familiar with this series already. Previously, we played F-Zero X on the N64. That game got quite the great score. After that, we played F-Zero: Maximum Velocity. That game wound up getting a fairly mediocre score. So, we thought we’d give this game a try to see how it plays.
There is a storyline in this game, but it is largely tied to story mode and follows 8 characters. Minor changes occur to accommodate the wins and losses for each character.
As mentioned, there is a story mode. You start off with one character, but as you win parts of this mode, more characters become unlocked.
Each character has a set number of races. The races vary the most in this mode. There is the standard race which features a full compliment of opponents. Added to this is the duel race which pits you against an opponent. There is even types of races that features different racer configurations and has a set number of specific outcomes for you to win. Finally, there is a destruction race which requires you to blow up your opponents.
In the midst of all of this, there are a number of variations the game throws on each race. Sometimes, you have terrible turning or speed. Other times, you cannot use your boost. Some races are point to point instead of circuit.
For every level you beat, you get a set amount of bounty money. Besides possibly unlocking a racer or two, bounty is pretty much useless in this game. So, unless you unlock someone in the main Grand Prix mode, it’s not something you really have to worry about.
If you struggle with some of the races in story mode, well, you’ll be relieved to know that other modes aren’t generally quite as difficult.
The next main mode is Gran Prix mode. At first, all you get is Novice, Standard, and Expert difficulties. Each difficulty will offer a bronze cup, silver cup, and gold cup. If you beat the gold cup on standard difficulty, you’ll unlock the platinum cup.
As you would expect, the difficulties do determine how tough your opponents. If you are decent at racing, novice will allow you to pretty much win every race with flying colours. Standard mode will permit opponents to keep up with you in a pretty decent manner. Mistakes can allow opponents to overtake you, though it’s more than possible to catch up if you have a large amount of track remaining. Expert pretty much demands that you push yourself to stay ahead of the pack. If you get overtaken, it can be very difficult to retake the lead.
In addition to this, different difficulties also have track variations. For instance, in novice, some tracks may seem relatively straight forward. When you take on opponents in expert mode, you’ll see things like added mines, changes to hazards, boost plates are moved, and holes are even added to the track from time to time. So, you’ll have edits to the track to contend with as well as the added difficulty of having tough opponents.
Winning in these championships will mean characters will become unlocked.
F-Zero Test mode is supposed to be a set of training levels. You must complete a certain objective before the time is up. Sometimes, you need to take a turn in a course. Other times, you’ll need to hit every boost plate in a track. The game doesn’t really offer much in the way of instruction, so really, this mode winds up being a test of your skills broken down into smaller components. You can also unlock characters in this mode.
Time Trial allows you to post fast times on unlocked courses.
As for races themselves, you ultimately have to become familiar with different moves to become successful in races. Most of these moves are largely learned through trial and error.
One move is attacking. You have to tap the L or R shoulder buttons twice depending on the direction you want to attack in. Attacking is usually something you do if the opportunity presents itself. It can be great to knock out an opponent rivalling you in grand prix championship points. Personally, I found that attacking is generally more useful for hard cornering. You can use L or R for slightly sharper cornering. However, if you use an attack, you’ll actually nudge yourself over one direction or the other. This can easily allow you to take most of those switchback turns or take sharp turns while boosting. Excellent for making up a small amount of ground.
Another move is nose direction while in the air. On tracks, there are a number of jumps that allow you to take to the air briefly. You can adjust your flight path with up or down. Move the nose down and you’ll get back to the ground faster. Move your nose up and you’ll keep yourself aloft for a little bit longer. Critically is the nozzle direction upon landing. If you land flat, you’ll bounce, lose speed, and take a small amount of damage. If you move your nozzle up at the last second, you can land comfortably without taking any damage. While a seemingly minor thing, this can mean the difference between 1st and 3rd in some races.
Boosting is a major component for success in anything other than the easiest tracks and difficulty. To use a boost, hit the L and R shoulder buttons simultaneous when your energy is not red. Under most circumstances, you can use boosting on the second lap. When you use the boost, it will deduct a small chunk of your energy instantly. The practical effect is that you gain speed while doing so. Try to use these on straighter area’s of the track as you’ll likely smash into the guard rail on sharper turns.
Another move is the accelerator at the start line. If you time your machine warming up jut right, you’ll get a boost right off the start line. Be warned, though: overdo it and you’ll get a “fire” start. This essentially means that your machine will sputter and struggle to get going. Otherwise, you’ll just get a normal start which requires your machine to get up to speed without any extra boost at the beginning.
One final skill is knowing the track hazards. Mines can knock you around and deliver a large amount of damage to your machine. Jump’s can help you shave off a few seconds, but can be extremely risky at times (fall off track and you instantly die). Red squares add gravity to your machine (watch for these while in the air). Boost plates add speed for a brief period of time. Damaged track can slow you down and damage your machine a little. Dirt slows you down. Water/ice decreases your grip (may mess with using attack for sharper angles!).
That is a good idea of what the game is like.
At first, it sounds like the idea of writing and story being added to the game can sound exciting. It is assuming the writing is any good. Unfortunately, the writing is quite weak in story mode. Characters are generally quite flat and the events are pretty clunky.
The races themselves range from moderately difficult to extremely tough. It might be an idea to have the story mode be the last thing presented to the player, but in this case, this mode is one of the first modes players encounter. Comparing it to the grand prix mode, you basically start off with standard difficulty and the tougher races are, well, tougher than expert mode. So, if you only complete a few races in the story mode, try not to be overly discouraged because some of the toughest races in the whole game come from this mode.
Grand Prix mode is surprisingly reasonable. I say this after taking on story mode. Novice easily allows you to get used to handling and track layout. Standard mode adds some challenge to your racing. Essentially, this mode says that the training wheels are off. Expert mode pushes your skills to the limits. You may have no spare machines, so one death can mean the end of your run entirely. On platinum cup, that can be especially infuriating given that you have a whopping 8 races to contend with. Generally, the difficulty in this mode is just right.
The test mode comes off as something that was seen in a number of the early Gran Turismo games. Hey, other games have it, then this game simply must have it too! Well, in this case, it comes off as something tacked on at the last minute. Without any real explanations of what the player is supposed to learn, it’s basically an incomplete feature.
The same can be said for the bounty system. Throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at the player seems like a waste of time and effort. I could see this being used as a feature to unlock new features or even machine upgrades. As it stands now, though, this feature simply winds up being another incomplete one as it just looks like a random set of numbers thrown up on the screen. You really don’t have any stated goals and the bounty is not even cumulative between the characters. The developers were better off just stating “get to this mission and unlock this character”. The bounty money could very easily have been pitched entirely.
The physics can be a bit wonky at times as well. I have found myself slipping backwards in specific circumstances. Naturally, since I’m aimed the right direction, I just use a boost to avoid losing more time. Instead of moving forward, I actually go faster the other direction. Sometimes, I even get sucked into the guard rail on certain slippery corners while cornering.
On a more positive note, this game has a lot of content. It can take quite a while to get through everything to begin with. So, the fact that there is a lot to do in this game gets a thumbs up from me – especially for a handheld game like this.
Overall, this game plays quite decently. It has a lot of content going on in it and the difficulty of the Grand Prix mode is well realized. Unfortunately, there does appear to be incomplete features such as the test mode and the bounty system. There is a bit of a learning curve where you are, at times, left on your own to figure out. For me, I did rely on past knowledge of other titles in the series to get me out of a few jams. Additionally, some of the physics can be a bit wonky at times. Also, the story mode is a bit too difficult at times for my taste. Still, the gameplay is otherwise fairly decent.
Graphically, this game is decent. This is by no means the first third person racer I have ever played on this system. While the fact that it is a third person racer is a pretty interesting accomplishment, this game needs to rely on other things to impress me. With no hills to speak of, there is, at least, a number of different environments to work with. There is even an added condition of the track (fog). So, I’d say this game is a decent effort on this front.
Audio is also pretty decent. The game does rely a lot on the N64 title to do a lot of the music heavy lifting. Still, this game does offer some new tunes such as the music for Illusion and Volute. Other tracks during racing can be a bit hit and miss, though. The announcer is good for a handheld system, but that is it for speech samples. Sound effects are a bit dodgy because the recharge sounds like a phone ringing. hilariously enough, it was re-used as a phone ringing in one of the cut-scenes. So, an overall decent effort, but nothing to get overly excited over.
Overall, this is a pretty reasonable game all around. The physics can be wonky, and there is a bit of a learning curve involved here. Story mode is a bit on the difficult side and features like bounty and test mode seems incomplete. Graphics are quite decent and the audio is decent all around. So, a pretty reasonable game all around.
Overall
Furthest point in game:
Story mode: Beat Rick Wheeler, Captain Falcon, Jody Summer, Jack Levine, and Lisa Brilliant. Unlocked level 3 of Samurai Goroh and unlocked level 5 for Zoda (8th character remained locked for me).
Managed to beat all cups on all difficulties.
Got a silver and a bronze on the test mode, but didn’t really bother with it after.
General gameplay: 18/25
Replay value: 7/10
Graphics: 7/10
Audio: 3/5
Overall rating: 70%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
