I liked F Zero GX.
Having said that, the game wasn't perfect--which is something that could be said about almost all games. The physics were weird on jumps and collisions--almost as if the cars had no mass/inertia. The story mode kind of sucked. The brutal difficulty could be offset by snaking--which kind of ruins the fun of racing since no cpu racer could actually compete with it.
I know it's already been mentioned but I think Nintendo could learn a lot from the Burnout series on how to make a really cool F-Zero GX sequel without having to attempt to reinvent the wheel. Nintendo saying crap like the need to do something "new" to justify a sequel seems arrogant. The game was instantly brutal to new players and provided no sustained challenge to anyone that could snake worth a damn--the game is FLAWED and that's WHY it didn't sell. I'd like to see Nintendo address the glaring mistakes they've made and fix them before deciding that they can't continue a series unless it's "new".
I don't know how to snake. I suppose there might be some kind of video's for it on Youtube but I never looked it up. I always believe that a game is made so that you can beat it without having to take advantage of some kind of glitch or cheat. So, I beat F-Zero GX without snaking.
I beat the story mode and all its chapters on highest difficulty. I beat all cups on the highest difficulty. I used every racer and won a cup on the highest difficulty with them unlocking their driver video. I unlocked everything except for the three vehicle pieces you had to get by putting your memory card in some arcade version of the game. I beat the staff ghost on about half the time trials although it is said that some staff ghosts actually snake so I don't know if I could have ever beat them. I played this game for months.
Yeah, the difficulty could be brutal at times but man, when you succeeded at something and overcame, it always felt so fist pump worthy. And the game just seemed to keep giving you so many challenges. Always wanted to hear every racers response to every question that is asked at the end of winning a Grand Prix but that was one thing I never did accomplish either. I loved the little extras like that.
Great thing was that as you kept getting better and better at the game, things that were difficult at first could be beat with relative ease later. There was a definite skill to learn in this game. Such a great experience. I'd never played an F-Zero game before this one so I was a new player but I wasn't deterred by the difficulty. The game was still enjoyable enough and I could see myself making progress that I had no problem sticking it out and learning it.
The biggest problem from the difficulty for me is that it was impossible to have any decent multiplayer with anyone. I was around the intermediate stage and had some skill but still had much to do to master the game. But I was loving it and wanted to promote it to all my friends and would bring it over but I could smoke them too easy at the game since they hadn't put it in the time I had. Then I played one kid about 11 years old who did own the game and had unlocked the AX cup and was disappointed I hadn't done so yet. And he smoked me consistently since he was far more skilled at it than I was at that point. That was a frustrating experience. Later, after I had mastered the game, I always craved a rematch but never saw him again. But that was the biggest problem for me. If they can find a way to keep the difficulty and open up the multiplayer aspect, it might help the franchise really take off. As of right now, it is really a single player only experience.