F-Zero 99 - ??? (Muted City)
9This was, in fact, the first of the mystery ??? courses to show up in F-Zero 99. However, because there was no official announcement for it, popping up here as quietly as possible, I missed the entire opening week that this course was featured each time it turned up. I actually did learn about it on its first week, but without a reliable way of figuring out when the ??? courses would appear, I couldn’t track it down (no pun intended).
Well, with the four of them all available, now, the ??? courses are randomly selected. Hence, I’ve been accumulating and recording races and hoping they turn up in that random selection. That’s what I did with the previous one (the one I call “White Wind”), and at last, I’ve gotten enough races on this weird version of Mute City to make a video out of it.
Like with “Big Bluish,” this course is horizontally flipped, but of Mute City I. Compared to the other ??? courses, there aren’t that many changes (possibly because it’s the first one), namely with a lot of mines added here and there, as well as the long straightaway about halfway through being replaced with bounce pads. In addition, some ramps have turned up on the track. Together, I’m sure there must be some amazing ways to cut corners here, but I’ll just play it safe. Best to avoid crashing out unnecessarily.
00:00 - Race #1
Course: ??? (Muted City)
Mode: F-Zero 99
Vehicle: Fire Stingray
Rivals: GUCCI, BLT★Cloaky, DBしすぎちゅうい (DBshisugichyuui), shinesurge
Of course, just because there weren’t that many different changes to Mute City I doesn’t mean this isn’t a tough course to get used to. This race wound up being a massacre, with notifications constantly about people having crashed out. I’m sure it’s a combination both of people not accustomed to racing in this layout and people who are VERY accustomed to it and are taking big risks to get ahead or stay ahead, only to fall out or bump into mines and crash. By the end, shinesurge was the only rival of mine to have survived this race.
03:11 - Race #2
Course: ??? (Muted City)
Mode: F-Zero 99
Vehicle: Golden Fox
Rivals: アウィル (Aouille), Itsosan, Juanero, Télu
Regardless of if it’s a ??? course or not, one thing stays the same: the Golden Fox’s low durability means you may sometimes get bumped away from the boost pads at the start if you don’t time your spin attacks wisely. And because if that, I started off in the mid-80s in position. But I fought tooth and nail, and against a much tougher room due to there being way fewer people who actually crashed out. And not only was I able to survive this race, but I finished in a higher rank than in the first race of this video!
06:15 - Race #3
Course: ??? (Muted City)
Mode: F-Zero 99
Vehicle: Wild Goose
Rivals: b⦾rnplayer, m(_ _)m, Dean, ころもちゃん (Koromo-chan)
By contrast, the Wild Goose has the highest durability of all, and while it can’t hold up under a Crash Out, even the mines barely affect this super tough vehicle. On the first lap, I was at the front of the pack, and I figured I ought to risk the offroad mines. Well, it didn’t pay off, but I did do more rank climbing in later laps once other people took out those mines for me!