... F-Zero! Allow me to deviate from current gaming to put on my rose tinted glasses and lament the lack of a current gen F-Zero. The home console titles in the series are easily the fastest racing games I've ever played, providing a satisfying sense of extreme speed missing from other arcade racers.
My first experience with F-Zero was with the N64 title. It's soundtrack is one of things that I always remember about this game. The second you flip the power switch, a kick-ass guitar riff blasts out your TV speakers and the metal starts playing.
In case you have missed out on the series. The main gameplay is racing against 29 other competitors on incredible twisting tracks that can include half-pipes as well as the inside or outside of pipes! Each race is 3 laps long, on the 2nd lap you are given the ability to boost, trading your health for a speed increase. At the end of the lap there is usually a healing zone allowing you top up your machine's health. Of course the first across the line is the winner, but you have to survive battling with your opponents to get to there.
The N64 multiplayer has an interesting slot machine mechanic, which I've never seen in a game since; probably because it was simultaneously incredibly unfair and hilarious. Dead players get to constantly play a slot machine were the results will reduce the health of the remaining players, often creating sudden death scenarios and desperate players trying to make it to the next health recharge zone.
Sadly the multiplayer was never popular with friends, because it wasn't as easy to pick up as Mario Kart and it lacked weapons; for me they were both features that added to the game. Mastering how the machines handled and attacking your opponents by barging them off the track or crushing them into the barriers. Unfortunately the 64DD expansion never made it too the EU. I always hoped I would get my hands on the track editor it added and create absolute madness to race around, but it was not to be.
GX took the series and turned everything up to 11, except for the music which was turned down a few notches (also the Captain Falcon song should be buried in the sands of time). The game was graphically stunning at the time, really showing off what the GameCube was capable of.
A story mode was included in the game, adding 9 difficult racing challenges and unlockable machine parts that would allow you to create your own racer. I spent hours unlocking everything in this game only to get caught out by a horrible save game bug that would corrupt everything on your memory card; that was a dark day.
The Wii's life cycle is coming to an end, so it's unlikely there will be a sudden shock announcement of a title, but hopefully the Wii U will see a return of the series.
