F-Zero 99 is Fantastic, Challenging Fun!
30th September 2023, 7:49 AM
So Nintendo released the first update to this game a few days ago which, interestingly, did not require an update to the game, so it's just unlocking stuff already in the game. Five tracks were added -- the remaining four from the Queen Cup and one more from the King Cup, Death Wind II. This leaves only three more King Cup tracks to go... except one track has been removed for now, Silence, due to game design reasons that I don't think are very good.
So, in order to keep player counts up in the modes I presume, F-Zero 99 has two modes available at a time -- F-Zero 99 mode and a rotating other mode. F-Zero 99 mode randomly selects two tracks from a selection of now seven, the first four tracks of Knight Cup and the first three of Queen Cup, then the players vote on which one of the two they want to race on. That means that in this mode you may race on Mute City I or II, Death Wind I, Big Blue, Red Canyon, Sand Ocean, and Port Town I. Once the last three tracks are added Mute City III is likely to join this mode, I'd guess. That would make this games' biggest weakness, that if often feels like Mute City 99 instead of F-Zero 99 because most people seem to choose Mute City every time it appears, even worse, but at least each of the three Mute City variants is slightly different...
There are four modes that rotate through the second slot. They include:
- Team Battle - This mode races on the same tracks as F-Zero 99 does, except here the players are broken up into two teams which compete with eachother for points. The two most important sources of points are which team is in the lead during the race and the finishing positions of team members at the end and damage done to members of the other team done with spin attacks during the race. There are also less points handed out for two other categories, including how many members of the other team your team destroyed. This mode is okay but it's definitely my least favorite in the game because the results feel extremely arbitrary, these races aren't really long enough for team tactics. Also, due to the long wait timer you need to wait through between each spin attack, it's not like races are filled with action, it's really about the same as a regular race. This mode would be more interesting if they dramatically reduced the spin attack wait timer for this mode only, I wish they'd do that. As it is though I usually don't play it.
- Mini Prix - A Mini Prix costs one ticket. You earn tickets through play in the modes which don't cost tickets. This three-race championship has preset tracks, you can't choose. It will consist of two randomly selected tracks from the ones F-Zero 99 mode chooses between followed by one final track from the ones in Pro Tracks mode (below). You get points based on your finishing position in each race and the winner is the person with the most points at the end of all three tracks. These are pretty fun.
- Pro Tracks - This mode is the harder tracks that are not the fifth track in a circuit. It currently includes three tracks, which it will select two of to offer the players to choose between. The three tracks here are Port Town II, White Land I, and Death Wind II. Once they add the remaining three tracks Red Canyon II is sure to join this mode. This mode's great and it would be nice if it was available more as opposed to boring Team Battle mode. These are the most interesting tracks the game regularly lets you play on.
- Grand Prix- This mode costs three tickets, so you will need to play for a while to be able to play it. A timer on the main menu tells you how long it is until the next Grand Prix starts; they are every two hours on weekdays and every 20 minutes on weekends. After each race the bottom 20 people are eliminated, so getting to each next course gets more difficult. So, only the top 20 from track 4 of the circuit can challenge the final track. For the first few weeks after the game released, this mode was the Knight Cup Grand Prix, and went through the five tracks of Knight Cup, finishing with a track you can't play in any of the other multiplayer modes, Silence. Silence starts you from a starting grid instead of having a big fan-shaped starting area like the other tracks do because as track 5 of the circuit only 20 vehicles are in the race. Now, however, the Grand Prix mode plays Queen Cup, going through those five tracks and finishing with White Land II.
So, since Silence has not been added to the F-Zero 99 or Pro Tracks modes, it is now inaccessible anywhere other than in the single player practice mode for those of us who raced on it and unlocked it there. This decision, to lock what will be three of the fifteen tracks to only appear as the final track of a Grand Prix, does make those tracks feel more special but it also locks some of the most interesting tracks in the game to barely ever appear or, in the case of the Grand Prix cups not currently in the rotation, to be totally unavailable in multiplayer. I understand why only one cup is available at a time here since the mode modes you offer the greater the likeliness that games won't fill with 99 racers, but the final tracks really should have versions in the regular modes too. I get the idea of making them special, but I'd rather have more tracks to race on all of the time, I think that would be better.
Anyway, though, that's the modes in F-Zero 99. This game is really really amazing and addictive and I'm looking forward to its future updates. I really hope that they don't stop with the 15 tracks from the original game and also add the courses from BS F-Zero Grand Prix, that would be amazing...
So, in order to keep player counts up in the modes I presume, F-Zero 99 has two modes available at a time -- F-Zero 99 mode and a rotating other mode. F-Zero 99 mode randomly selects two tracks from a selection of now seven, the first four tracks of Knight Cup and the first three of Queen Cup, then the players vote on which one of the two they want to race on. That means that in this mode you may race on Mute City I or II, Death Wind I, Big Blue, Red Canyon, Sand Ocean, and Port Town I. Once the last three tracks are added Mute City III is likely to join this mode, I'd guess. That would make this games' biggest weakness, that if often feels like Mute City 99 instead of F-Zero 99 because most people seem to choose Mute City every time it appears, even worse, but at least each of the three Mute City variants is slightly different...
There are four modes that rotate through the second slot. They include:
- Team Battle - This mode races on the same tracks as F-Zero 99 does, except here the players are broken up into two teams which compete with eachother for points. The two most important sources of points are which team is in the lead during the race and the finishing positions of team members at the end and damage done to members of the other team done with spin attacks during the race. There are also less points handed out for two other categories, including how many members of the other team your team destroyed. This mode is okay but it's definitely my least favorite in the game because the results feel extremely arbitrary, these races aren't really long enough for team tactics. Also, due to the long wait timer you need to wait through between each spin attack, it's not like races are filled with action, it's really about the same as a regular race. This mode would be more interesting if they dramatically reduced the spin attack wait timer for this mode only, I wish they'd do that. As it is though I usually don't play it.
- Mini Prix - A Mini Prix costs one ticket. You earn tickets through play in the modes which don't cost tickets. This three-race championship has preset tracks, you can't choose. It will consist of two randomly selected tracks from the ones F-Zero 99 mode chooses between followed by one final track from the ones in Pro Tracks mode (below). You get points based on your finishing position in each race and the winner is the person with the most points at the end of all three tracks. These are pretty fun.
- Pro Tracks - This mode is the harder tracks that are not the fifth track in a circuit. It currently includes three tracks, which it will select two of to offer the players to choose between. The three tracks here are Port Town II, White Land I, and Death Wind II. Once they add the remaining three tracks Red Canyon II is sure to join this mode. This mode's great and it would be nice if it was available more as opposed to boring Team Battle mode. These are the most interesting tracks the game regularly lets you play on.
- Grand Prix- This mode costs three tickets, so you will need to play for a while to be able to play it. A timer on the main menu tells you how long it is until the next Grand Prix starts; they are every two hours on weekdays and every 20 minutes on weekends. After each race the bottom 20 people are eliminated, so getting to each next course gets more difficult. So, only the top 20 from track 4 of the circuit can challenge the final track. For the first few weeks after the game released, this mode was the Knight Cup Grand Prix, and went through the five tracks of Knight Cup, finishing with a track you can't play in any of the other multiplayer modes, Silence. Silence starts you from a starting grid instead of having a big fan-shaped starting area like the other tracks do because as track 5 of the circuit only 20 vehicles are in the race. Now, however, the Grand Prix mode plays Queen Cup, going through those five tracks and finishing with White Land II.
So, since Silence has not been added to the F-Zero 99 or Pro Tracks modes, it is now inaccessible anywhere other than in the single player practice mode for those of us who raced on it and unlocked it there. This decision, to lock what will be three of the fifteen tracks to only appear as the final track of a Grand Prix, does make those tracks feel more special but it also locks some of the most interesting tracks in the game to barely ever appear or, in the case of the Grand Prix cups not currently in the rotation, to be totally unavailable in multiplayer. I understand why only one cup is available at a time here since the mode modes you offer the greater the likeliness that games won't fill with 99 racers, but the final tracks really should have versions in the regular modes too. I get the idea of making them special, but I'd rather have more tracks to race on all of the time, I think that would be better.
Anyway, though, that's the modes in F-Zero 99. This game is really really amazing and addictive and I'm looking forward to its future updates. I really hope that they don't stop with the 15 tracks from the original game and also add the courses from BS F-Zero Grand Prix, that would be amazing...
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