Boy, these were the days.
Remember these days?
Not the GBA days, and not the future.
I'm talking about when Nintendo actually acknowledged that F-Zero was a thing.
As opposed to a former thing.
Those were the days.
And playing this one...it's a reminder of why people miss this series.
Even in its slightly outdated 2D form...F-Zero was awesome, you guys.
Anyway, back when we didn't talk about it in the past tense, Nintendo liked to use F-Zero
to show off new hardware or technology.
The Super Nintendo got the first F-Zero as a launch title, to show off its crazy new
scrolling technology.
And eight years later, there was F-Zero X, which ran at crazy speeds on the Nintendo
64 without sacrificing the framerate.
Then, three years later...there was this.
Handheld games never used to look like this.
Then, handheld games got falcon punched.
Maximum Velocity was a launch title for the Game Boy Advance.
And it's weird to think this, given how rapidly handheld games have evolved, but...that was
only about a decade ago.
This was mind-blowing, in 2001.
Obviously, that's not really the case now...but where other games that were once technically
impressive tend to not age well, this one really has.
F-Zero: Maxmium Velocity is as fun to play now as it ever was, and that shows why people
really embraced it all those years ago.
Yeah, it looked amazing...but it played even better.
Of course, before you come around to the whole "it plays so well" thing...there is a little
barrier with Maximum Velocity.
It is insanely tough.
And I mean, all F-Zero games are tough, right?
It's part of what makes F-Zero F-Zero.
But this one's different.
I mean, in other F-Zero games, it's hard to win.
This one's hard to play, and there's a big difference.
In fact, you'll probably hate this game at first.
It's super slidey and drifty...it seems even more than usual for F-Zero.
You'll be slamming into walls and losing just about every race...until you figure out the
game's secret.
Holding down the shoulder buttons to lean into turns?
Worthless.
You'll still slide into the walls.
What you want to do is...hammer the acceleration button.
The sharper the turn, the more you tap it.
Suddenly, you actually stick to the track.
That's when those frustrating turns get easy.
And when Maximum Velocity's retro magic starts to hook you.
So once you figure out how to play it, and once you start to adapt to its learning curve,
the racing really starts to shine.
Now, on the one hand, this is so similar to the Super NES game, Maximum Velocity might
as well be a remake.
But on the other hand...it's so similar to the Super NES game, it might as well be a
remake.
Which means it's good.
It's very good.
I will say, though...if you've been introduced to F-Zero with the 3D games, like X and the
amazing GX, you might not dig this one as much.
The 2D games are still great, but they really can't compare to the 3D games.
One, the sense of speed isn't as great.
Two, the track design can feel repetitive in the 2D games—they all kind of look the
same.
And three, the games obviously aren't as rich in content.
You have 20 tracks, and a lot less vehicles and gameplay modes.
Compare that to the GameCube's GX, for example.
But for me, the real drawback is that...I really love the presentation of the 3D F-Zero
games.
The way the characters look like super heroes, the ridiculously over-the-top designs...for
me, that character's sorely missing in this one.
But you know, one thing that's definitely impressive for its time...is the game's approach
to multiplayer.
Not only does it include four-player multiplayer with the GBA's link cable, which was a first
for F-Zero...but it also includes a single-cartridge option.
On the DS, this would become known as download play, and Maximum Velocity was doing it years
earlier on the GBA.
And that's pretty cool.
There's obviously some bumps in the road.
The repetitive track design, the high difficulty...the fact that every race seems to go on two laps
longer than it needs to.
But all in all, this is another solid F-Zero game, and given the series' current state...I
feel like I should cherish it even more.
Thanks to our friend Kevin from Jersey City, New Jersey, for sending us F-Zero: Maximum
Velocity...and for, like us, refusing to forget Captain Falcon.
Come on, Nintendo.
Join us.
PLEASE.
GODDAMMIT, PLEASE.
I'M ASKING NICELY.