"Back when Captain Falcon was known more for his racing than his punching."

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

When the Super Nintendo released in North America, it launched with a mere five games. It may not seem like a lot, but these games were no slouches. The lineup consisted of Super Mario World, Pilotwings, Gradius III, Sim City, and F-Zero. Quite a strong launch, I’d say.

F-Zero in particular went on to have numerous sequels, as well as play a very influential role in the racing genre. But before all that, there was the original; a launch game for a system now two decades old.

In F-Zero, players pilot one of four insanely fast hovercars as they race across futuristic tracks, often situated high above cityscapes or rugged terrain. The game is light on modes. Either you play the Grand Prix, which is divided into three circuits across four difficulty settings (one of which must be unlocked), or you delve into the game’s practice mode which only contains seven of the game’s fifteen tracks.

Every race in F-Zero consists of five laps. Rather than give you points based off your placement to total up at the end of the circuit, F-Zero only cares if you’re within a “safe” rank. At first, you only have to be within the top fifteen, but with each lap the safe rank becomes smaller until finally it reaches three. If you’re placed outside the safe rank when you finish the lap, you lose a life.

Since there are only four playable cars, every other car on the track uses a single, generic design. Even if you’re in first place, you’ll lap countless generic racers, some of which will be on the verge of exploding. Hitting them can ruin an otherwise perfect lap.

For each lap you complete, you’ll gain a single boost. You can hold up to three of them at once. Unfortunately, F-Zero has some of the worst rubber banding AI I’ve ever seen. Whether or not you just managed to squeeze into first place or you’re setting the world record for the track, the computer controlled players will be right behind you. Because of this, it becomes useless to use your boost if you are already in first (unless the flashing signal indicates you’re about to be passed). That is… IF you’re playing to win against the computer.

But you shouldn’t play to beat the computer. Beating the computer is a moot point when it comes to F-Zero‘s AI.  You could easily have a better finishing time in third place than you did when you finished in first. Rank is incidental. Instead, what makes the game addicting is that after you complete a circuit, all of your lap times and track times get entered into the records section. The reason you should use those boosts is not to pass your AI opponent, but to pass the opponent better known as “the current track’s best time”.

And what makes beating the best time so addictive is that, even today, F-Zero‘s driving controls are solid as a rock. You can use the L and R buttons to strafe your ship or turn extra sharp when using them in conjunction with the d-pad. The silky smooth turning allows you to drift around insane 90 degree, zigzag, and hairpin turns.

But these tracks have more than complex layouts to throw at you. Every wall is lined with a grippy surface that deals damage. There are also plenty of obstacles including mines, magnetic strips, jumps, and ice covered roads (which for some reason affect hovercars). But it’s not without respite. There are glowing strips you can drive over to regain some of your health.

"A machine actually coming over to heal your ship is a nice touch."

Why did I pick this game?

To anyone that knows me, it’s no secret that I am an F-Zero fan. While I’ve never had the chance to play the 64DD expansion of F-Zero X, I have managed to play everything else the series has to offer. That includes the Satellaview sequel, the Japan-only F-Zero Climax on GBA, and even F-Zero AX in the arcade.

F-Zero was one of the only games I owned for the SNES for quite some time. While I still consider its GameCube successor, F-Zero GX, to be the greatest racing game of all time, I wanted to revisit the original game that first made me care so much about racing.

How does it hold up with time?

The controls of F-Zero feel as tight today as they did twenty years ago. Everything about the core gameplay is still great. The Mode7 graphics, while flat, aren’t too bad to look at and the soundtrack is full of very memorable, high energy tunes (one of which can be found in one of our podcast stingers).

However, the AI of the other racers is downright horrendous. The game is also very light on features, probably because it was a launch game. There’s no multiplayer to speak of and there are only four hovercars to choose from. The only unlockable is a fourth difficulty setting.

Still, if you’re looking for a solid racer to perform time trials on, there’s a lot of fun to be had with F-Zero. If only they would patch in online leaderboards to the Virtual Console version on Wii. Then I would be set for life.

Pictured Above: Michiru Yamane

It’s no secret that I am obsessed with videogame music. I even remix it in my spare time. Working a desk job, I end up listening to soundtracks throughout large portions of the day, and I enjoy sharing music with others who might otherwise not hear the songs I love so much. But there are far too many fantastic composers for me to cover in a single article. So to remedy this, I’m going to focus on my one true love… the ladies!

Michiru Yamane

An obvious choice to highlight is Michiru Yamane. Though the first Castlevania title she scored was Castlevania: Bloodlines, it wasn’t until Symphony of the Night that she became known as a crucial element to the franchise itself. You just can’t have a modern Castlevania game without her music.

Michiru is a talented pianist who takes her inspiration from composers such as Ravel and Bach. These classical influences are very apparent in her work. Her ability to seamlessly change time signatures so many times within a single song while maintaining a perfect sense of flow never ceases to astound me.

Kumi Tanioka

I was first introduced to the works of Kumi Tanioka through Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. The world music styles throughout the game reminded me of Yasunori Mitsuda’s ever famous Chrono Cross, one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. Needless to say, it clicked with me.

But before Crystal Chronicles, Kumi made some very notable contributions to Final Fantasy XI. Years later, she performed in The Star Onions with Tsuyoshi Sekito of The Black Mages (among other musicians) on the game’s widely diverse arrange album, Music from the Other Side of Vana’diel.

Yoko Shimomura

It’s hard to even know where to begin with Yoko Shimomura. Her discography is huge and full of hits. In her early career, she composed nearly all of the Street Fighter II soundtrack and even performed arrangements of the songs from it and other games in Capcom’s in-house jazz band, Alph Lyla.

As time went on, she has focused more on RPGs than anything else. By the time she worked on the Mana (Seiken Densetsu) and Kingdom Hearts series’, her style had become very established, often featuring rapidly sweeping piano accompanied by choir and string ensembles. In fact, her style became so recognizable that I was able to guess that the Smash Bros. Brawl rendition of Tetris A was arranged by her without looking it up.

Akari Kaida

Akari Kaida spent most of her career working for Capcom. Her jazz piano roots show forth in her score for Breath of Fire III.  What I like about Akari though, is her versatility. The very underrated soundtrack to the original Mega Man Battle Network is among my favorite scores on the Game Boy Advance platform. The combination of chip tune sounds and electronica infused beats mesh together perfectly.

But the variety doesn’t stop there! Akari also worked on the Okami soundtrack which was made in the vein of traditional Japanese music from ancient times. The music in Okami was beautiful, perfectly complimenting its breath-taking visual style.

Ayako Saso

Finally, we have Ayako Saso. While trying to dig up all the arrange albums Yasunori Mitsuda worked on, I unexpectedly found that my favorite track on each of them ended up being Ayako’s. Thanks to that unusual discovery, I had found a new artist to follow.

Though she started learning piano at an early age, she later studied the Electone, even winning Yamaha’s Electone Festival contest before finally joining Namco and working on titles such as Ridge Racer 2. What draws me to Ayako is the hybrid style of rock and electronica that she often uses. Her Chun Li remix on the Street Fighter Tribute Album is a perfect example of this.

Despite all that, what actually gives me the most respect for Ayako is her arrangement of “Big Blue” found on the second disc of the F-Zero GX-AX Original Soundtrack. I’m a big fan of the F-Zero franchise, but as much as I love “Big Blue”, the theme is sadly done to death. Each remix I heard, while adequate, had the same “paint by numbers” arrangement. Ayako took the overdone theme and created one of the best videogame remixes ever made. Give it a listen, you won’t regret it.

This isn’t a comprehensive list of every female videogame composer of note, but it does contain some of my personal favorites. I hope this article introduces more people to the fantastic music they made over the years. Did I miss somebody you’re especially fond of? Feel free to comment below and let us know who!

"It brings kings to their knees!"

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love videogame soundtracks. Over the years, there have been many influential and just plain incredible soundtracks. I would like to take a moment to recount some of my favorites in no particular order.

Mega Man X (SNES)

Everybody celebrates the soundtrack for “Mega Man 2″. Don’t get me wrong, Mega Man 2 has a great soundtrack. I love it. But I very rarely see recognition for the soundtrack of “Mega Man X”. After continually pumping out sequels with recycled assets on the NES, Capcom decided it needed to take things to the next level with the blue bomber’s jump to 16-bit. They decided to go all out and make an entirely new kind of Mega Man. The result turned out to be my second favorite game of all time. They didn’t throw soundtrack duty at just one person. This score was made by a total of 5 people: Setuo Yamamoto, Makoto Tomozawa, Yuki Iwai, Yuko Takehara, and Toshihiko Horiyama. I have the feeling this was a big factor in making it so great. The stage themes have such a high energy. I could listen to them all day, and honestly, I have before. Yuki Iwai returned to score X2, and although it was a decent OST, it couldn’t hold a candle to the original.

Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse (NES)

Few argue against the quality of the music in the Castlevania series. Ever since the first game, its become known that with a new Castlevania comes a new brilliant soundtrack. “Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse” took the stylistic groundwork laid down from the first game and took it one step further. The OST is bursting at the seams with memorable tunes. “Out of Time” (The Clock Tower) will always stay fresh in my mind.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)

Symphony of the Night ushered in an entirely new era for the Castlevania series. The open map structure, widely referred to as Metroidvania, breathed new life into the series. Michiru Yamane had already scored her first Castlevania in 1994, the Sega Genesis entry: Bloodlines. But it wasn’t until SOTN that her name came to be synonomous with Castlevania. Yamane’s classical influences fit the series like a glove and songs like “Wood-Carved Partita” would push gaming soundtracks to a higher level of prestige.

Chrono Cross (PS1)

Let me get this out of the way: Yasunori Mitsuda is my favorite composer. I try to collect every piece of music this man does. The man puts his soul into his work and it shows. After all, he developed stomach ulcers working so hard on his very first soundtrack, Chrono Trigger, and now it’s one of the most popular RPG soundtracks of all time. But Chrono Trigger, though it is my favorite RPG, I feel had its soundtrack actually surpassed by its sequel, Chrono Cross. From the intense opening song “Scars of Time” to the ending theme “Radical Dreamers”, this is an OST that has got me through my share of rough times. Mitsuda took inspirations from music all around the world including Mediterranean, Fado, Celtic, and even percussive African music. “The Dead Sea / A Tower in Ruins” still sends chills down my spine and its following track, “People Imprisoned by Destiny”, I can simply lose myself in. I’ve spent many nights just soaking in this magnificent soundtrack.

Xenosaga (PS2)

Yeah, yeah. I put two Mitsuda OSTs in here, so I’ll be brief. The score of Xenosaga was almost a 180 degree style change for Mitsuda in many regards. Instead of world music, a symphonic style was used. Many of its tracks were even performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. “Nephalim” is pure catharsis. If you’re going to pick this one up, just make sure to get the Sleigh Bells edition instead of the DigiCube release. Trust me on this one.

Super Metroid (SNES)

Super Metroid is still my favorite game of all time. I make an effort to beat it annually. The very atmospheric soundtrack conveys the eerie sense of loneliness on planet Zebes perfectly. “Maridia 2″ will creep you out to the core.

F-Zero GX (GC)

Putting this Nintendo IP in the hands of Sega was the best thing that could have happened to this series. Sega’s own Hidenori Shoji provided the bulk of the game’s soundtrack which consists mostly of a rock/techno hybrid. I couldn’t be happier with his rendition of “Red Canyon” and new original works like “Shotgun Kiss” prove that it’s worth it to put the money into an original soundtrack over a licensed one in the racing genre.

Guilty Gear XX (PS2)

Refining songs from previous entries while adding some new ones led to not only one of my favorite videogame soundtracks, but one of my all time favorite rock albums. Seriously. Every performer on this OST does an outstanding job. They never let any section get stale. The guitar will rock your socks clean off, the bass goes all over the place, the keyboard will never leave you bored, and the drums… oh lord, the drums. I’m not usually a fan of the double bass kick, but never in an album have I heard it used in such a perfect amount. Not too much, not too little. Just perfect. If you like rock, listen to this album.

Okami (PS2)

This game is beautiful and the soundtrack is no exception. The OST is five discs of songs inspired by classical Japanese works. I am still floored that a soundtrack this large can be of such high quality throughout. It is truly an impressive feat.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Though it consists mostly of arrangements rather than original material, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a very notable soundtrack. Not only is it the largest soundtrack I’ve ever seen, it has the most people involved as well. Treating every game as if it’s the last, they spared no expense in the music. Great composers from all over the videogame music spectrum came together to arrange famous Nintendo tunes. This soundtrack’s existence is hardly even believable.

I could go on. In fact, I actually trimmed this list down a bit. There are plenty more amazing videogame soundtracks to mention. But what about you? Which soundtracks are your favorites and why?

"I just died and went to racing heaven"

This is a little belated as far as news goes, but Monster Games, the team that made Excite Truck, is “nearly complete” on their next Wii game. Apparently it’s been in the works for about 2 years already. Their new project is under quite the “hush hush”, as they are dimming their monitors down when the water guy comes to drop off his latest batch of life juice. The obvious answer would be Excite Truck 2, but would that really require such secrecy? Seeing as how the company only seems to have racing games under its belt, speculation (and another year old rumor) points to Monster possibly working on a new F-Zero game.

As my bio page shows, F-Zero GX is my favorite racing game of all time. Also, I’m a huge fan of the series as a whole. In fact, the only F-Zero game I haven’t played is the add-on for the 64DD. I have even played F-Zero AX (Arcade), F-Zero 2 (Satellaview SNES add-on) and F-Zero Climax (Japan Only GBA). Because I hold the series in such high regard, the development possibly being in Monster’s hands, despite actually really liking Excite Truck, leaves me with some mixed feelings.

Though I don’t give numerical scores in my reviews, if I did I would definitely give F-Zero GX a “perfect 10″. Not the kind of score I ever see attributed to racing games, but it’s just that good. The amount of polish this game has is simply incredible. Graphically, its one of the best looking GameCube games out there.

Nintendo handed the development over to Sega, or more specifically Amusement Vision, for the next entry in the beloved futuristic racer series. This marked the first time in history Nintendo and Sega worked together on a project. The results were fantastic. Sega brought a lot of great things to the table. They were able to expand on the physics engine of their Super Monkey Ball series to make a really great feeling racer. Also, a large portion of the soundtrack was made by Sega’s Hidenori Shoji, who I often refer to as “The Freakin’ Man.” In other words, I love this guy’s stuff. Using a high energy Rock/Electronica hybrid style, I don’t think I could ask for a more appropriate soundtrack to accompany the gameplay. And there is so much of it, coming out at a whopping 82 tracks, all of which have very high production values.

This game is bursting with content. The standard Grand Prix mode has 26 unique tracks spanning 4 difficulty levels. Sure, some of the tracks are on the same planet, but unlike games like Need for Speed, every one of these tracks are built from the ground up; no re-used turns. There are over 30 different crafts to pilot. If you aren’t satisfied with that, you can use parts and actually build your own as well. You can even draw emblems and put them on the various parts of your custom craft. There’s also a story mode (with 3 difficulty levels) and, though the actual story is laughable, each of the levels in it are a unique track (not part of the other 26) made specifically for that mission with a special objective. It’s a lot of fun and a real challenge (even harder than Grand Prix mode).

But all that would be nothing without that sweet, sweet core gameplay. F-Zero GX is the most fair racing game I have ever played. One of my biggest pet peeves with this genre is when playing Grand Prix. There are so many games where, if you don’t get first place, that same guy always will. This is not the case in GX. There are 30 crafts on the track at the start, each have their AI setup and ANYTHING can happen. The CPU isn’t afraid to actually destroy the crafts of other CPU. Unlike Mario Kart, every time I have lost in F-Zero GX, I knew it was my own fault for simply not driving well enough.

Now, back to Monster Games. Let me start by saying I bought Excite Truck with my Wii and still throw it in once in awhile. It’s a really good launch game. The turning can be a bit hard to handle sometimes, but the wide open tracks more than make up for it. The game itself is loads of fun. However, it seems to lack polish. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that it is a launch game. I’m sure if they had more time to work on it before releasing it, they could have made it even better. But Monster Games is only made of about 20 people. Amusement Vision is made of about 60, 3 times that of Monster. F-Zero GX left very large shoes to fill for a sequel, and I’m just not sure that Monster Games would be up to it. Takaya Imamura, who worked on the F-Zero series both past and present, even stated, “Having worked on the F-Zero series, and seeing the results of the collaboration with Sega, I found myself at something of a loss as to how we can take the franchise further past F-Zero GX and AX.”

I consider this to be “The Ocarina of Time of racers.” How do you actually surpass this game in a sequel, with a team a third the size of its predecessor? I’m just not sure it can be done. I really want a new F-Zero (obviously), but I also want it to be done right. It will be interesting to see whether or not Monster Games’ new Wii project is in fact F-Zero, Excite Truck 2, or something entirely different altogether.