In this review, we try to avoid ranking out in the Game Boy Advance game, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity. We find out how well this racing game plays.
This game was released in 2001.
We have a small amount of familiarity with this series. We previously played F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64. That game got quite a great score. So, we thought we’d try this game to see if it continues to be a great game.
This game plays much more like the earlier SNES title. It utilizes a third person perspective, though racing is handled on a flat surface.
The main mode is Grand Prix. You have a choice of difficulty: beginner, standard, and expert. You’ll also have a choice of which series to play: Pawn, Knight, Bishop, and, if you can make it that far, an unlockable Queen series.
You have 5 spare machines, so if you die or get ranked out, you lose a machine and have to start again on that track. Lose all of your machines and it’s game over.
Each track features four laps. At the start, you can “warm up” your machine. Too little and you’ll just get a normal start. Too much and you’ll burn out after a bit. Time it right and you’ll get to start the race at maximum speed.
You’ll have 15 opponents for each race. Your goal is to finish the first lap in the top 15. On the second lap, your goal is to get within the top 7. On the third lap, you need to finish in the top 5. After that, you need to finish within the top 3 by the end of the race to advance. Fail to make those qualifications on any lap and you’ll immediately lose the race. Also worth noting, computer players don’t have to abide by those rules.
Like other F-Zero games, there is a strip on the side of the track on every race. Drive over this and you’ll gain power. If you get damage on the track (either hitting opponents or hazards), you’ll lose power. You can recover with this green strip gradually.
For every lap you complete, you’ll earn a boost. The idea is to find a nice stretch of road to use this boost. The reason you want to strategically find a good location is because your grip decreases a lot when you are using a boost.
There are other features on the courses as well. This includes purple boosts along the track that increase your speed, ramps to gain air, mines that remove energy from you, sand to slow you down, ice to decrease your grip, and damage on the track (also damages your machine). Naturally, falling off the track completely means your machine immediately blows up and you lose the race.
The further you can get in the game, the better. There’s no real championship points or anything. The goal is simply to not rank out in the race.
You can also race courses in a separate training mode as well. Through this, you can practice a course and challenge the fastest time.
The first problem is the most immediate: handling. You can get some very good speeds in this game. Unfortunately, the machines handling is generally very bad. You have to very carefully navigate the softer turns. Harder turns require using the “B” for braking. Often, you’ll likely need to use your shoulder buttons on top of it all to make certain turns – assuming you are lucky. If you make a slight error in your line and clip a wall, you’re going to hit three or four more walls. In fact, even touching the walls can mean you’ll be making a minimum of two impacts at least. All this over top of the fact that you lose a bunch of speed, allowing opponents to smash into you as they take off ahead.
Another problem with this game is difficulty. You have to know a bit about the game just to beat the first two tracks. After that, the game just keeps getting more and more difficult after. Really, your big challenge is to see how far into the beginner class you can go before you hit a brick wall and lose all of your machines. After that, you just turn the power off, pull the cartridge, put it back in the box, and shelve it as a dust collector after. This is one of those games that mercilessly beats your into submission.
Generally speaking, there are a number of negatives that significantly holds this game back. The difficulty combined with horrendous controls pretty much ensures that you’ll eventually give up part way through. While the learning curve does permit you to figure some things out, sooner or later, you just give up on this game. This is coming from someone who had loads of fun on this series already.
Graphically, this game really sets a solid standard for other racing games. As this game came onto the scene soon after the launch of this console, the third person perspective graphics winds up being quite an astonishing accomplishment. The effects are quite decent and the frame rate is nicely done. Overall, it’s a great game on that front.
Audio is decent enough. The music offers some good variety and the sound effects are quite decent. While the music may not be amazingly memorable, it shows that handheld games are moving well past the chip-tune styles that defined previous generations.
Overall, the gameplay is what is really lacking in this one. The bad controls makes for a frustrating experience. Combine this with the hard difficulty, this game becomes less of a fun challenge and more of a game that pounds you into submission sooner or later. The graphics are great and the audio is quite decent. Still, I wouldn’t call this a recommended game personally.
Overall
Furthest point in game: Lost on the final lap of Knight 4.
General gameplay: 14/25
Replay value: 4/10
Graphics: 8/10
Audio: 4/5
Overall rating: 60%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
