Description

When used with Nintendo Power Memory carts, this game takes up 1 block for the game and 1 for the save file. The Nintendo Power cost is 1000 yen.

Reviewed By MO of Super Famicom Central (R.I.P.)
The Story
F-Zero takes place in the year 2560 when humanity's countless encounters with these alien life forms throughout the Universe expanded Earth's social framework to astronomic proportions. Trade, technology and cultural interchange are carried out between planets. The multibillionaires who earned their enormous wealth through this intergalactic trade were satisfied with their rich lifestyles. However, they also yearned for new entertainment to stimulate their lazy lives, so a new entertainment based on the old F-1 races was founded. People were at first outraged with the brutality of the competition, but eventually demanded more excitement. They soon after called these Grand Prix races simply, "F-ZERO."

Let me first of all begin and state that F-Zero was one of the Super Famicom's first launch titles and a precursor to Mario Kart. It surpassed people's expectation during the time of its release. F-Zero influenced many Amiga 500/Mega Drive loyalists to sell off their systems and buy the Super Famicom.

So, you play the role of our hero "Captain Falcon" but you are not restricted to just playing him as you can select from 3 other characters with different crafts. Each craft has different capabilities, for example - speed, weight, handling and shield strength varies according to which craft you use.

There are a total of fifteen tracks divided into three leagues with 3 difficulty levels to choose from. As you progress through the game the tracks start to change and become more difficult. The tracks become extended and obstacles start to appear in awkward places of the track increasing the challenge. Your rivals become more difficult to beat especially when they are tail gaiting you! Watch out for all those hazards and tight corners. During each race you must finish in the top 4 in order to progress through to the next stage so watch the energy bar and remember to top-up your shield on the energy strip.

The time challenge can become an obsession as players can always try and beat their best lap records, I used to franticly try and beat my records and my friends too. During game play you cannot help and notice the amazing visuals and backdrops. The speed of this game complements the entire experience, both music and sound adds to the excellent atmosphere and you really feel you are living in the F-Zero universe.

Availability
F-Zero is a very common title and easily available from Ebay. Expect to pay around £14 for a (MIB), £10 (CIB) and about £3 for a loose cart.

Glitches
Remarkably the game only slows down a few times when there are a certain amount of crafts on screen.

Ratings
Graphics: 91%
Sound: 95%
Playability: 95%
Lastability: 90%
Fun Factor: 90%
Total: 92%

Final Thoughts
At the time of its release F-Zero was truly the ultimate race game. There was nothing similar at the time, I remember my friends quote at school; "F-Zero is a game of epic proportions." For those that are below the age of 22, I cannot even start to explain what this game did for the industry and the impact it made on millions of kids, teenagers and adults around the world, it was revolutionary in every sense. F-Zero very quickly became the defining title for the Super Famicom showcasing the Infamous "Mode 7" effect. It was one of the most graphically/visually stunning games of its time. The game influenced Toshihiro Nagoshi head of Sega's AM2 who later on developed Daytona USA. F-Zero is nearly 18 years old and it still looks good even for today's standards.

References

• Nintendo Power 公式遊び方 Book Vol. 0, pages 72-73
• Nintendo Power 公式遊び方 Book Vol. 1, pages 128-129
• ファミコン通信 No. 576 (1999-12-31), page 216 (Nintendo Power Sub Feature)

ROM Information

Country USA
Internal CRC C92E
CRC32 AA0E31DE
MD5 6F334790120E1FE1A972FF184D2CFC50
SHA-1 D3EFD32B68F1FE37A82DB9D9929B7CA7CC1A3AF4
SHA-256 BF16C3C867C58E2AB061C70DE9295B6930D63F29F81CC986F5ECAE03E0AD18D2
ROM Speed 200ns (SlowROM)
ROM Size 4 Mb
ROM Bank LoROM
ROM Type Normal + Battery
SRAM Size 16 Kb
Internal Title F-ZERO               
Common Filenames
F-Zero (U).sfc (GoodSNES v0.999.5)
F-Zero (USA).sfc (No-Intro 2011-12-24)
F-Zero (NTSC)(Eng)(1.0).sfc (Zapatabase 2011-01-30)

Country Japan
Internal CRC C6BA
CRC32 7681EFC1
MD5 2656D9781A90440E2C5BE39F512A80C4
SHA-1 54D06D143383DE0354788B07314C7DC238575DD0
SHA-256 592614CA2ADA6AAA9098A614C185D5F9DEAD90D9A16178A52498151ECB2D8995
ROM Speed 200ns (SlowROM)
ROM Size 4 Mb
ROM Bank LoROM
ROM Type Normal
SRAM Size 16 Kb
Internal Title F-ZERO               
Common Filenames
F-Zero (J).sfc (GoodSNES v0.999.5)
F-Zero (Japan).sfc (No-Intro 2011-12-24)
F-Zero (NTSC)(Jap)(1.0).sfc (Zapatabase 2011-01-30)

Country Europe
Internal CRC C2FC
CRC32 F1D8F5DA
MD5 13808B9B12B0627F7F1E29C6CB303911
SHA-1 DE475924BAE6CBE7CABDC84AC4CB8AEEC58F076E
SHA-256 DDDACAE010766C1201F50810FCF15DFF7C0F6D41AC1A1004C8EEA4873A71DB12
ROM Speed 200ns (SlowROM)
ROM Size 4 Mb
ROM Bank LoROM
ROM Type Normal + Battery
SRAM Size 16 Kb
Internal Title F-ZERO               
Common Filenames
F-Zero (E).sfc (GoodSNES v0.999.5)
F-Zero (Europe).sfc (No-Intro 2011-12-24)
F-Zero (PAL)(Eng)(1.0).sfc (Zapatabase 2011-01-30)