F-Zero (video Game) - Gameplay

Gameplay

F-Zero is a futuristic racing game where pilots race inside plasma-powered hovercars in an intergalactic Grand Prix at speeds exceeding 500 km/h. There are four F-Zero characters that have their own selectable vehicle along with its unique performance abilities. The objective of the game is to beat opponents to the finish line while avoiding hazards such as slip zones and magnets that pull the vehicle off-center in an effort to make the player damage their vehicle or fall completely off the track. Each machine has a power meter, which serves as a measurement of the machine's durability; it decreases when the machine collides with land mines, the side of the track or another vehicle. Energy can be replenished by driving over pit areas placed near the home straight or nearby.

A race in F-Zero consists of five laps around the track. The player must complete each lap in a successively higher place to avoid disqualification from the race. For each lap completed, the player is rewarded with a six-second speed boost called the "Super Jet" and a number of points determined by place. An on-screen display will be shaded green to indicate that a boost can be used, however the player is limited to saving up to three at a time. If a certain amount of points are accumulated, an extra "spare machine" is acquired that gives the player another chance to retry the course. Tracks may feature two methods for temporarily boosting speeds. Jump plates launch vehicles into the air for a few seconds providing an opportunity for cutting sections of track and often speed up the vehicle using them, but the user must take care to land properly or his or her vehicle will land harshly which will slow down and damage the vehicle. Dash plates give a very large speed boost to vehicles at the cost of making them harder to steer during the boost. F-Zero includes two modes of play. In the Grand Prix mode, the player chooses a league and races against other vehicles through each track in that league while avoiding disqualification. The Practice mode allows the player to practice seven of the courses from the Grand Prix mode.

F-Zero has a total of fifteen tracks divided into three leagues: Knight, Queen, and King. Difficulty is determined by the league selected and difficulty level chosen. The game has three initial difficulty levels: beginner, standard, and expert. The master difficulty level is available for a given league once that league on the expert class is completed. The multiple courses of Death Wind, Port Town, and Red Canyon have a pathway that is not accessible unless the player is on another iteration of those tracks, which then in turn closes the path previously available. Unlike most F-Zero games, there are three iterations of Mute City that shows it in either a day, evening, or night setting. In BS F-Zero 2, Mute City IV continued the theme with an early morning setting.