Board 8 > F-Zero 99 is really fun

(+) Yeah! (+)

Of the 99s, this might be my favorite so far

I didn't know this existed and it looks real good.
But I don't want to buy the Nintendo online darn it.

I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. I'm really not a fan of the old F-Zeros, but the gameplay lends itself so well to the 99 formula.

I just got 4th in my first try at a Grand Prix. Silence is such a crazy track, but I definitely got used to it after an abysmal first lap.

I was doing well in the Grand Prix and then placed 20/20 on Silence. That track wrecked me.

Been playing for hours and couldn't put it down. Yeah this could top Mario 35 for the best 99 game. So good. But I disconnected at the very start of my first Grand Prix and was so sad. 3 tickets thrown away :(

Highly recommend reading the full tip list in the settings because there's a lot of stuff I didn't know that you can't Intuit by playing. Like KOs restoring and even extending HP you can learn naturally, but holding down after a jump to land with more speed is not! Pretty sure that was in the original and I just forgot.

And any first place victories yet on here? The one time I'm in first place I crashed literally right before the finish line :(

Highest I've gotten so far is 8

I'll try more this weekend

Was able to play an hour this morning and best I did was 2nd

Just got my first first place finish, on Sand Ocean no less XD

Im not familiar with F-ZERO gameplay so Im pretty bad at it. Not sure if Ill keep playing or not.

Its not as good as Mario 35, and probably Tetris 99 is better too, but it is definitely in the good camp vs Pac-Man 99 which was a bad game

I won a race last night, but it was during a mini-prix, so it doesn't show up in my stats. :(

Just got my first 1st place myself, good ol' Mute City in the Fire Stingray. Craziest part was I was a whopping 2 seconds ahead of second place.

Might have to main the Fire Stingray. I do like how each vehicle has pretty distinct differences. Like the Wild Goose being a tank but recovering so little health always ends up biting me in the ass if I use too much boost, but it's a fun dynamic.

They do nothing special for a first place win though. I was at least expecting them to award me like double points at the end of the race but nope.

E: You do at least unlock a cool new color for the vehicle you're using when you win though.

Yeah, I've been having a ton of fun with it. The gameplay of F-Zero is great, and the added battle royale touches are interesting and fun. I really like the Gran Prix races. They get very intense, especially because if you crash you're out completely. It's funny to see the final race only have like a dozen people left (to the point I was surprised when the race started out on an unmodified track instead of the ones with an "opening" section!)

I wanted to make a compilation of tips and tricks since games like these tend to be hard to learn good strategy for. If you have any to add on, feel free to do so.

• There are two types of starting boosts. If you hold the accelerate button right before the race starts you get a small boost. If you hold it down even earlier, you'll get a bigger boost, but will slow down afterwards. Ideally after you boost you'll want to move in front of another racer so that they bump into from behind and push you forward. Which boost to use depends on how close you are to other racers, and what your position is relative to them.
• The spin attack is good offensively, but is fantastic defensively because you're invincible in the middle of it. I try to save it for situations where I REALLY don't want to be bumped around, like on challenging turns. It's also great at places where everyone congregates, like on jump pads and boost pads. It can also save you from hitting the Bumper vehicles.
• When you land from a jump pad you'll lose speed, unless you hold down before you hit the ground. A lot of people don't realize this, so you can gain a big advantage doing this. This also seems to work when landing from the Sky Track. Additionally, your Spin Attack will instantly recover when you hit a jump pad. Be sure to use an attack before you jump to get extra value.
• Know that there are a lot of different ways to take a turn. You can do a normal turn with the joystick/dpad, you can turn while letting go of the accelerator, you can turn only using the shoulder buttons, or a combination of those options. Each one gives you a different angle, and each one has value depending on the turn you're taking. Experiment and mix things up. Also, if you have trouble with magnets/wind, the shoulder button turn is often enough to counteract them when used properly, and can help you not fly all over the place.
• You can destroy machines by boosting into them. If you see a weak machine, it might be worth a boost. If you get a KO, your energy meter grows and can restore to full.
• If there's a recovery strip directly after the starting line, you can use a boost as soon as you get boost power since you can recover the health immediately anyway. If you have a lot of health, and are about to get enough power for the Sky Track, and you plan to use that immediately, you can boost before you get it to maximize your abilities. Additionally, unless you REALLY want to play it safe, boost right before crossing the finish line, even if you don't have a lot of health. The race is gonna end anyway, and you'll probably survive. (Probably...)
• If you have the Super Boost to get on the Sky Track you can hold onto it and save it for a difficult section that will save you the most time. If you're clever, you can even get an extra time save by using it in the right spot. For instance, driving towards the wall of a corner and then using it might send you flying over the wall. The effectiveness varies from course to course. That said, it seems like the limit for how long you stay on the track depends on where you use it. Skipping big portions seems to tend to make it last for a shorter time. So compare turns and sections you know you can take well despite their difficulty. Additionally, it doesn't seem to really like to just dump you back on the track in a way that will screw you up, so you sometimes get extra time on the Sky Track because of that. If you use it in the right section, timing it so that it would normally "end" in a tricky spot, you can actually end up getting bonus time to let you pass that spot. (Also, ALSO, you can hold onto it to use it to save yourself if you're about to explode).
• If you're just starting out and want to spice up your ID card, do one of the time trials on the Practice Courses. You'll get a nifty background easily. You can also get a quick new vehicle color by doing a Team Battle. You basically have a 50% chance to win, and you get a color for your first victory.

Some great tips! Regarding the Skyway, I'm pretty sure it's Mario Kart style and the length it lasts depends on how far back you are. I've definitely used it in the top 15 and it's gone in an instant. Could also be that and a mixture of what you said though. But yes, definitely some strategy to when you use it - do you want to use it immediately so you're not wasting resources picking up useless sparks? Or do you want to save it for the most difficult section with the sharpest turns? Tons of depth in this little game.

Think you covered most of the tips I would suggest, but I'll just add that after a jump pad, holding down will also net you longer air time. This can be real useful for avoiding crowds of cars and theoretically for shortcuts, though I haven't found any of the latter in these early stages.

And holding down from the Skyway fall tip is genius. Never thought of that!

Oh and one more thing - I could swear using my spin on a sharp turn makes it more likely for me to slip and lose control. Am I just imagining that? Maybe I'm just instinctively going for hits while doing the spin and that's the problem.

I've been maining Falcon this whole time but man, I think I need to change to Pico. I blow up way too much.

Starting to figure out the sweet spots on most tracks as to when to use the super boost. You can really cheese the thing to run longer than your meter if it ends above an "undroppable" spot like a big turn or a cut corner.

Pro-tip: never use the super boost near the starting line on Silence. The skyway goes the long way instead of the shortcut way with the mines...for whatever reason. Cost me dearly in a Grand Prix, but I was just glad to finish the Knight Cup after ranking out first lap of Silence the first time and crashing out on the last lap of Silence the second time.

E: Wait I'm not sure you can even rank out on Silence. Might have ranked out on Death Wind 1

Man I can't wait for them to add the later tracks. SNES F-Zero gets pretty brutal.

_Blur_ posted...

I'm pretty sure it's Mario Kart style and the length it lasts depends on how far back you are.

That's a good point. It does always seem to end if it catches me up to the 1st place player. It might be a mix of things.

_Blur_ posted...

But yes, definitely some strategy to when you use it - do you want to use it immediately so you're not wasting resources picking up useless sparks?

Actually, that's something I wanted to bring up that I forgot. In theory, for most games, if you hold on to things like these too long you're wasting the resources you build up the power, but I don't think that applies too much here. You gain so much fewer Sparks when you're in the lead of the pack that you're unlikely to get a lot of Sparks after using the Sky Track anyway, and so have more justification to hold on to it for when you really need it. The concern I have generally about holding on to it for too long is that I'm not maximizing my boost usage vs. the health I pick up each lap, since you can't boost when you have it. How much of a concern that is will vary however; that's not going to matter in situations where I don't have a lot of health for boosts, or really need to hold onto to my health to avoid exploding.

_Blur_ posted...

Oh and one more thing - I could swear using my spin on a sharp turn makes it more likely for me to slip and lose control. Am I just imagining that? Maybe I'm just instinctively going for hits while doing the spin and that's the problem.

I don't normally have control problems when spinning, but I did notice that trying to turn into and ram people while spinning often caused me to lose control and lose time, which is one of the reasons I started using it more defensively. At the very least, I feel you get more value from spinning in situations where people are likely to bump into YOU (like tight spaces, corners, etc.) rather than trying to ram into THEM, unless you think you can get a lot of mileage out of the damage you deal (like trying to get a KO).

Grand_Kirby posted...

I don't normally have control problems when spinning, but I did notice that trying to turn into and ram people while spinning often caused me to lose control and lose time, which is one of the reasons I started using it more defensively. At the very least, I feel you get more value from spinning in situations where people are likely to bump into YOU (like tight spaces, corners, etc.) rather than trying to ram into THEM, unless you think you can get a lot of mileage out of the damage you deal (like trying to get a KO).

Yeah I think it was just in my mind after playing a little more. I will say getting bumped out of the healing area by someone spinning is the WORST. It's only happened to me once, but now I'm paranoid and sometimes like to have a spin there both for defense and to ruin someone else's day! Definitely hit quite a few people out of there now.

And I actually do think the skyway is a combination of our theories, as well as that point you made that on dangerous sections you can stay up there a long time regardless of placement. Definitely used it while already near the front of the pack at that part in Sand Ocean where it cuts all those corners and it let me stay up there a while.

Grand_Kirby posted...

* You can destroy machines by boosting into them. If you see a weak machine, it might be worth a boost. If you get a KO, your energy meter grows and can restore to full.

If its a player you will restore to full, but if its a bumper you only get the increase to your max power. A spin will kill if theyre in Power Down state too, but it might be hard to catch up to them without using a boost so thats often the better option.

Also, getting KOs is especially helpful in Prix races, as the increases to your power carry over between races. A couple KOs in the first race can have a big impact on the rest of the Prix.

This may be a dumb question, but if a car is flashing, does that mean it's close to death, or does that mean it has a full meter and can go to the skyway? I assume the former, but I've crashed into some flashing cars and not gotten a KO.

Full meter. They're just smoking if they're low on power.

Wait, do they really not flash at all if they're low on power? No wonder I keep thinking I should get a KO and they jump to the skyway

I think the bumpers will flash if they're low, but players just have smoke coming off their car

Okay so yeah, can now confirm: you'll flash white (and have a ton of smoke coming out) when you're literally zero power, but the more pronounced red flashing means a super boost is active.

I absolutely stink at this game. 24 games, 11 have ended in crash outs :(

Man, there's something really compelling about finishing a race and having the camera linger on the finish line and seeing how many people explode right before they reach it.

Damn! Missed out on getting first place in the Knight Cup by 2 points...

I keep losing on Death Wind 1 in the grand prix, I'll usually get ranked out. But I sucked at that lvl 30 years ago so....

I can make it to the end of the Grand Prix about every time now (if I don't get greedy with my boost and crash out early), but Silence always wrecks me and I never do well in it. Pro-tip: don't go for the shortcut with mines your first lap. Also gotta get better at hitting that jump after the shortcut. That's so tough.

I always go for the shortcut just fine, but Im using Fire Stingray which has the best handling

_Blur_ posted...

Also gotta get better at hitting that jump after the shortcut. That's so tough.

You don't say.
https://twitter.com/MrSmartGuyB8/status/1703182240363221308

Don't try this, apparently

https://twitter.com/authorblues/status/1702873031633215926

Lmao at both of those. Man that second clip, messed up. If you can land that, you absolutely deserve the shortcut imo

I can take the shortcut even on the first lap, but I ALWAYS save my Spin Attack for it. Getting bounced around there is not fun.

I don't like taking the ramp though. It's tricky, but doable. The problem is there's a chance you'll miss the ground, and blowing up on the last race of 5 does NOT feel good. I just boost through the dirt instead.

There's not many places to boost on Silence so that makes sense. Just wish the boost let you go at regular speed Mario Kart style. That only works on the smaller patches of dirt here

I really like using one boost every lap right after the insane triple-turn in the middle. I don't always ram into the wall at the end, but I'm usually stuck up against the wall, so I like leveraging my power to get back to speed, since there's a pretty lengthy straightaway afterwards.

MrSmartGuy posted...

I really like using one boost every lap right after the insane triple-turn in the middle. I don't always ram into the wall at the end, but I'm usually stuck up against the wall, so I like leveraging my power to get back to speed, since there's a pretty lengthy straightaway afterwards.

Yeah, I do that too. Generally speaking I only really choose two places to boost per course. I could probably push it further, but I'm more concerned about my health in most races, especially in the Grand Prix.

I won a GP! I went 1, 3, 2, 1 in the first four so I could coast in Silence. Won by 40 pts lol.

Still don't have a win outside GP though, both my wins have been in those races

MrSmartGuy posted...

I really like using one boost every lap right after the insane triple-turn in the middle. I don't always ram into the wall at the end, but I'm usually stuck up against the wall, so I like leveraging my power to get back to speed, since there's a pretty lengthy straightaway afterwards.

Yep, same exact strat I have. I let go of accelerate well before the turn so that boost is a nice help

Lmao I think I just blew up AFTER crossing the finish line. Still counted as a clear though.

Grand_Kirby posted...

Lmao I think I just blew up AFTER crossing the finish line. Still counted as a clear though.

Done that one before as well!

Man, I wish this game had a replay mode, because I really want to see how these guys took each other out:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/0/8/AABtbFAAE2jI.jpg

I tried out a lot of Golden Fox recently. I really like it, the way that it basically regains its entire health bar in the recovery zone even from nothing is really great, and it completely changes my racing strategy because of it. But its lack of top speed kind of kills it for me. I was pretty much always in the back of the pack. It's hard to tell if the extra Super Boosts help make up for it, but it didn't yield as good results for me. I'm already constructing tier lists in my head...

Also, I became a Lucky Bumper for the first time, and holy hell did I ruin a LOT of people's day. That was a ton of fun.

this game OWNS

got 5th in my first grand prix, got 2nd in my first mini prix. they were so exciting!

i need to practice Silence more for sure, so hard.

Yeah I'm really curious what vehicle you guys are maining. I feel like the Fire Stingray has the most potential, but I just always seem to crash out in Grand Prixs with it. I use it a lot in the single races but switch to the Blue Falcon for the Grand Prix

never played F Zero in my life but thinking about playing this since its trending often

probably not a good idea to jump straight into something like this blindly haha

Punnyz posted...

never played F Zero in my life but thinking about playing this since its trending often

probably not a good idea to jump straight into something like this blindly haha

You won't! There's a brief tutorial before it pits you against actual humans. Also recommend reading up on the tips. You'll find it in the menus. And the tips here are great as well when you get to that point.

I stink but im having a ton of fun punny so go for it