F-Zero -- Experts Only!
1Wait, what? Didn't I already do this?!
...what's more, THIS video was supposed to be an add-on follow-up to the unasked questions about F-Zero now that we've got 99 to compare it against.
Gotta go fast! ... ... ...unless you really just don't feel like it.
(This video might've been SLIGHTLY more interesting if it went live when the Queen League wasn't yet out in 99, huh?)
Please complain about this thoroughly:
twitter.com/yuugijoou
discord.gg/bKT9pRW
At least the video quality is significantly less... crunchy? Bleeding? Blurry! The original "playthrough" was also from before YouTube supported 60fps!
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So, one thing that makes me exceedingly glad that F-Zero 99 exists is the fact that... well, the original game's content isn't fully... um... the most... ... ... enjoyable?
Your enjoyment of a 99-player free-for-all is open to interpretation and debate of many factors, but one thing that isn't exactly so open-ended is... ... ... um... F-Zero on its original platform was... kinda atrocious?
That is, you've got the five or so vehicles on the track that "matter"... the top three of which will be the other playable choices you didn't pick. Then goofy blue and green renditions of all the nondescript "extra" cars just to make sure you knew that coming in fifth or fourth wasn't going to cut it come checkered flag time.
Don't get me wrong. You can avoid any and all of this... IF you play on Standard or lower. Because the real appeal here is the speed and the tracks, not the other players, which are barely a figment of the game as a matter of needing a fail condition.
The fact is that Expert just decides that any mistake at all will be met with immediate loss of ranking, and not every track can afford you a chance to make up for lost ground against the rubber-banded ones who perfectly follow their prescribed routes without error or deviation. Mess up even a little on Master? You're gonna be starting over again, for sure.
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Speaking of courses, Queen League is home to my favorite track in the game, bar none (except maybe the II variant, of course), Red Canyon.
Mute City II has the best gimmick of the tracks in THIS game to bear the name. It has all the hallmarks of the original, but with a nice twist in the middle. (Mute City III's only claim to fame is an exceedingly arbitrary minefield by comparison.)
Port Town I... sucks. Honestly.
It introduces the magnet bar hazard, a much more localized and directly damaging version of the Death Wind effect, which in this version of the game is totally unadvertised and untelegraphed outside your controls suddenly not being the only thing affecting your heading.
But it completely lacks all the legitimately interesting course design! The whole back half is just chopped out and replaced by a straightaway that takes you directly back to the starting line.
Which is immensely problematic if you need to make up some ground after the gimmicky stuff. And because of how the rubber-banding works in this game, you can't exactly "stock up" on good performance throughout the race, as the very second you hit a snag is when the other racers around you will zip on past.
I honestly like White Land in both its flavors... I just wish they weren't back-to-back like this...
I don't know if it's an anti-frustration feature, but F-Zero 99's take on the big White Land jump is significantly less... innately deadly. It's just a much shorter hop, and you don't have to worry nearly as much.
Not like here, where you MUST understand the totally arbitrary function of adjusting your jump trajectory to achieve greater hang-time or else... um... die. Yep.
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Point of order, especially since this counts as a source of unforced errors in both this game and in F-Zero 99... it wasn't until sometime between now and when this was recorded that I finally recognized that I've been handling my landings all wrong. You're supposed to hold DOWN, i.e. direct your nose upwards, if you want to land more smoothly.
Oops!