F-ZERO 99
Following the template of the 99-series games that preceded it, F-ZERO 99 pits you against 98 other players. However, your play area is no longer independent of your opponents where you can only send junk to mess each other up. Now, everyone is churning and burning together on the same track. What actually surprised me the most was how they managed to expand this game's mechanics far beyond the simplistic arcade racer I expected it to be. Balancing your speed with your precision and expertly timing your boosts are only the absolute basics you'll need to survive to see the finish line.
F-ZERO 99 is no Mario Kart. Bumping into anything can pose a serious risk to your prospects of even finishing the race. Your machine has an energy bar that is tied to both its durability and its boosts, and every collision depletes that bar a little while boosting depletes it greatly. If you let it reach zero, your machine will start to smoke, and something as little as bumping the wall will cause you to explode on the spot, ending your race immediately. Thankfully, there are a few ways to protect and refill that bar so you don't need to be afraid of a few tactical sideswipes or boosts. First is a spin attack that protects you from collision damage with other machines, while guaranteeing a K.O. on a smoking opponent. In fact, if your spin attack or boost is responsible for destroying an opponent, your entire energy meter will be recharged. However, spin attacks are subject to a cooldown period that will leave you vulnerable, so they must be used wisely. Your energy bar can also be recharged by running over the charger pad that usually sits right in front of the start/finish line. This charger is incredibly efficient but also tends to be very congested with other racers, which can lead to a big slowdown if you're with the pack.
The developers of F-ZERO 99 thought of everything though, and implemented a means to bypass large crowds and difficult segments of the track if you're falling behind. Every collision between two vehicles during a race creates little sparks that fill up your super-boost meter when collected. If you manage to fill that meter completely, your next boost will lift you up to the skyway that hovers above the track. While on the skyway, your machine will be in a persistent boost, with the occasional option for boost pads to go even faster. The skyway typically doesn't follow a track perfectly either, straightening windy stretches, and occasionally skipping them altogether! Once your super boost meter has depleted, you'll float back down to the regular track, but only once it is safe to do so. If you are outside of the track, you'll stay on the skyway a little longer, and if you know how to time your super boosts, this can earn you a few extra precious seconds in the air. This may have been my favorite feature in the entire game. It acts as a way to keep players engaged when they're falling behind due to its comeback potential, but it doesn't feel like Mario Kart's rubberbanding since you need to work so hard to get the chance to use it.
F-ZERO 99 definitely wasn't how I planned to play the series for the first time, but I'm so glad I had this opportunity. Games like this don't last forever, and the experience inevitably changes over time as the player base evolves, so the time I spent with the game during the launch period is likely unreplicatable. The game's foundation should still be the same down the road, and it's solid enough to make for a great play experience anytime, but the hectic fun of nearly a hundred brand-new players learning the mechanics and racing their hearts out together will probably never happen again. I'm not saying you shouldn't play this game though. F-ZERO 99 offers a lot of fun, especially for something packed in with NSO at no additional cost. It's even regularly receiving new content at the time this review is coming out, so I think it is fair to expect a good amount of longevity. I just want to make sure I remember how exciting it was to play at launch, bringing together series newbies and veterans alike into an accessible, adrenaline-fueled racing experience.
