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Videogame Source : GameBoy Advance |
F-Zero Maximum Velocity |
| Graphics |
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8.8 |
| Sounds |
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8.4 |
| Replay |
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7.9 |
| Gameplay |
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9.2 |
| Overall |
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8.5 |
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Review
by
Andy787 |
Hmmm..... well I'll start off by
saying that this is my first import review (It's actually my
first import game as well, despite being such a video game freak
hehe), and I just felt like ''what the hell, it's coming out in
the US too, might as well write my review before everyone
else.'' So here it is foo!
Graphics: Before I get into the graphics of the game, I
just wanted to mention that there's no story to this game,
otherwise I would've included it in my intro :) Now, about the
actual graphics, put simply, they're great. So great in fact
that I'll go as far as to say they're the best I've ever seen
for a hand held (take into consideration that I've never owned a
Lynx, so there may be something a little better, but I doubt
it). The graphics are a really great example of mode 7, using it
to great effect on the tracks and giving everything a great
sense of speed that would be hard to match using a different
technique. As for the actual cars (or hover crafts, whatever you
wanna call them hehe), they're converted into great looking
sprites from 3-D models. Since they were originally made from
3-D models it gives the cars quite a bit of animation and a
detail, a nice touch indeed. Though the backgrounds, while not
really relevant to the actual score (because they're not too big
and you really don't pay much attention to them), aren't very
nice looking... Considering that's about all I can really find
wrong with the graphics, they are very nice, yes indeed. This
game is probably the best show-off piece of the Japanese launch
when it comes to eye candy. 9/10
Sound: Although I expected a little more from the sound,
what's here isn't bad. The background music is a good blend of
catchy, up-beat songs, but they still sound a little too similar
to the average ''digitized'' sound of Game Boy Color games,
albeit a little more complicated. They're still ok, and I'd
rather have them then no background music at all, but I would've
liked a little something more. As for the sound effects, they're
done quite nice. The sounds of your engine revving, the sound of
your craft rubbing against the side of the track, the sound of
your boost, it all sounds nice, just as you would think a
futuristic racer would sound hehe. It's hard to explain, but
it's well done, and that's what counts. 8/10
Gameplay: The game play is really good here. Don't expect
Gran Turismo, this is no sim, but if you expect an arcade-like
racer in vein of your Ridge Racers or Metropolis Street Racer,
you've come to the right place. The game play is very easy to
pick up and play like most racers, but it really takes some
practice to get super comfortable with the controls and pull off
some of those really tight turns. The control scheme is pretty
easy and what you would probably expect, L and R straff left and
right respectively, you steer with the D-pad, A is gas, and B is
brake. One key thing you MUST know though, is when making a
tight turn (or any turn really), you NEED to press and let go of
the gas repeatedly, that's how you pull off your power slide
which is very similar to Ridge Racer and MSR. On some turns
(such as turns that lead into or are already in snow) you'll
also need to hold the corresponding shoulder button so you don't
slide into a wall. Also, I can't stress enough how much I like
the track layouts. They flow very smoothly and most of them use
all of the game's skills to finish in a decent position, which
is quite rewarding when you get the hang of it. 9/10
Replay: For a racing game, the replay value isn't the
best ever, but it's good none the less. In the one player
championship game you can unlock about a half dozen cars by
completing different circuits on different difficulties, which
is very fun while it lasts. Just to give you an estimate; so far
I've had the game for about a week and have played it
extensively and I'm just getting close to earning my second
secret car. After you've had your fill of unlocking cars, you
can try your hand at the multi-player aspect (provided you have
some friends with a Game Boy Advance which I don't hehe)
Multi-player sounds good though, for multi-player you can play 4
player with a single cartridge, but everyone needs to pick the
same car, on the same track, so that's kind of limiting. Though
if everyone has their own copy, you'll be able to use any car
you want on any track you want (unfortunately, you probably wont
be able to do that if you mix the Japanese version of the game
with an American version, but you never know...). 8/10
Overall: All together I think F-Zero, is definitely one
of, if not the best title for your importing dollar because of
the combination of very fun game play, a great show off title,
and that there is almost no language barrier (the only thing in
the entire game that is Japanese are the menus, everything else
is entirely English). It's definitely worth the money, and I'm
sure you'll have a good amount of fun with it as I did :)
.:. Andy787 |
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