F-Zero 99 - Mirror Queen League
5It seems as though the developers of F-Zero 99 aren’t wasting any time, because just a week after the Mirror Knight League Grand Prix was available, and featured over the weekend, the Mirror Queen League was then featured! Naturally, this one goes through horizontally flipped versions of the courses found in the Queen League, though there were some changes made to each of them. You’ll see the first big one right in the first course, Mute City II.
I brought in the Wild Goose for this one, as it’s a sturdy vehicle, taking little damage from collisions and doesn’t get knocked around easily, making it perfect for trying out unfamiliar courses. Of course, I’m going to have to eventually clear the Mirror Queen League (and the Mirror Knight League) with all four vehicles, as each of them have their own color pattern unlocked by finishing those Grand Prix events.
00:00 - Race #1
Course: Mute City II (Mirror)
Mode: Grand Prix
Vehicle: Wild Goose
Rivals: イクス (Ix), Nixon, Mandrax, Memepop
In the regular version of Mute City II, about halfway through each lap is a fork in the road. You can either go left or go right. The mirrored version, on the other hand, puts a jump ramp in the middle of the fork, allowing you to travel directly across to the other side. This is a pretty far jump, however, and while a boost isn’t necessary if you’re good enough, you will need to gain air by sticking your vehicle’s nose upwards (down on the control stick or D-pad). I decided not to take chances by using a boost each time. There are also bounce pads later on, as well as a boost pad if you’d prefer to take the long way around the offroad sections.
03:25 - Race #2
Course: Port Town I (Mirror)
Mode: Grand Prix
Vehicle: Wild Goose
Rivals: Tombo, Core, Matteo, Plutarco
There are no big jumps in Port Town I, but there are a lot more magnets, this time placed on the twisty areas before the magnet qwould normally be, as well as the long straightaway before the last turn of the lap. Together, they make the course way tougher, as you’re now dealing with these magnets as you’re trying to turn. Done right though, the very last magnet could help you make that right angle turn more easily, however,
06:39 - Race #3
Course: Red Canyon I (Mirror)
Mode: Grand Prix
Vehicle: Wild Goose
Rivals: ネコヤンイ (Nekoyanai), ミサイル (Missile), ぬー (Nuu), わいけー (Waikee)
This is another course with a big jump added in as a shortcut, turning up pretty early into the lap. This time, it’s wide enough that you’ll need a boost AND the vehicle’s nose turned up. And that’s where the Wild Goose’s biggest shortcoming makes this one harder: because it regains so little power meter from the pit zone, you really can’t afford to do any other boosts anywhere else. You can see how difficult that jump really is by seeing all the racers with a Crash Out on this one!
09:23 - Race #4
Course: White Land I (Mirror)
Mode: Grand Prix
Vehicle: Wild Goose
Rivals: ネコヤンイ (Nekoyanai), ぬー (Nuu), Core, Ayansh
This is a course I seem to really struggle with. Maybe it’s because it’s the fourth race in a Grand Prix, and thus the entire bottom half must be eliminated, causing even more intense struggles than normal, but that section with the jump ramps and using them to leap over the offroad sections gives me way more trouble than in the regular version. I had to play this one in Practice to really see how to approach that section, and even then, I can’t always do it. Perhaps it’s because the boost pad is on the left, while ideally, you want to go to the right to jump over the offroad stuff.
12:38 - Race #4
Course: White Land II (Mirror)
Mode: Grand Prix
Vehicle: Wild Goose
Rivals: りとる (Ritoru), ぬー (Nuu), Core, Ayansh
Compared to White Land I, there’s a lot less pressure here, because if I’ve made it all the way to White Land II, it means no one is getting a Rank Out elimination anymore, and the biggest thing is to ensure I can make that big jump at the end, which is unchanged from its non-mirrored original self. Aside from that, this has minimal changes, namely the Super Spark stacks, purple bouncy pads, and purple bouncy walls (which are a good way for me to get back to top speed, as I found out later).