F-Zero: Maximum Velocity

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity[lower-alpha 2] is a futuristic racing video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo as a launch title for the Game Boy Advance.[2] The game was released in Japan, North America and Europe in 2001.[3] It is the first F-Zero game to be released on a handheld game console.

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
North American box art
Developer(s)NDcube[1]
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Isshin Shimizu[lower-alpha 1]
Producer(s)Takehiro Izushi
Hitoshi Yamagami
Composer(s)Masaru Tajima
Mitsuteru Furukawa
Naoto Ishida
SeriesF-Zero
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance
Release
  • JP: March 21, 2001
  • NA: June 11, 2001
  • EU: June 22, 2001[2]
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Maximum Velocity takes place twenty-five years after F-Zero, in another F-Zero Grand Prix. The past generations of F-Zero had "piloted their way to fame", so it is the only F-Zero game without Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Pico, or Dr. Stewart. Players control fast hovering crafts and use their speed-boosting abilities to navigate through the courses as quickly as possible.

Gameplay
See also: Gameplay of F-Zero

Every race consists of five laps around a race track. Players lose the race if their machine explodes due to taking too much damage, or if they land outside of the track, get ejected from the race due to falling to 20th place, complete a lap with a rank outside of the rank limit of that lap, or forfeit. In the single player Grand Prix mode, all of these conditions require the player to possess and use an extra machine to try again.

For each lap completed the player is rewarded with a speed boost, to be used once any time; one of the "SSS" marks will be shaded green to indicate that it can be used. A boost will dramatically increase a player's speed, but will decrease their ability to turn. A boost used before a jump will make the player jump farther, which could allow the player to use a shortcut with the right vehicle. Boost time and speed varies according to the machine, and is usually tuned for proper balance. For example, one machine boasts a boost time of twelve seconds, yet has the slowest boost speed of the entire game. Players can also take advantage of the varying deceleration of each vehicle. Some vehicles, such as the Jet Vermilion, take longer than others to decelerate from top boost speed to normal speed, once the boost has been used up. Players can also take advantage of this effect on boost pads.

The Grand Prix is the main single player component of Maximum Velocity. It consists of four series named after chess pieces: "Pawn", "Knight", "Bishop" and "Queen". The latter of these can be unlocked by winning the others on "Expert" mode. They have five races in four difficulty settings, "Master" mode is unlocked by winning expert mode in each series, the player unlocks a new machine after completing it. The player needs to be in the top three at the end of the last lap in order to continue to the next race. If the player is unable to continue, the player will lose a machine and can try the race again. If the player runs out of machines, then the game ends, and the player has to start the series from the beginning.

Championship is another single player component. It is basically the same as a "Time Attack" mode, except the player can only race on one, special course: the Synobazz Championship Circuit. This special course is not selectable in any other modes.

Multiplayer

Maximum Velocity can be played in two multiplayer modes using the Game Boy Advance link cable, with one cartridge, or one cartridge per player. Two to four players can play in both modes.

In single cart, only one player needs to have a cartridge. The other players will boot off the link cable network from the player with the cart using the GBA's netboot capability. All players drive a generic craft, and the game can only be played on one level, Silence. Silence, along with Fire Field, are the only areas to return from previous games. Aptly, Silence in Maximum Velocity has no background music, unlike in most other F-Zero games.

In multi cart, each player needs to have a cartridge to play. This has many advantages over single cart: All players can use any machine in this game that has been unlocked by another player. Players can select any course in this game. After the race is finished, all of the players' ranking data are mixed and shared ("Mixed ranking" stored in each cart).

Development

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity is one of the first titles to have been developed by NDcube.[4] Like the original F-Zero for SNES, Maximum Velocity implements a pseudo-3D visual technique based on the scaling and rotation effects of bitmap graphics. In this game, this technique consists of a double layer, one of which gives the illusion of depth.[2][3]

Release

Maximum Velocity is one of ten Game Boy Advance games released on December 16, 2011 to Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors, a program to give free downloadable games to early adopters who bought a Nintendo 3DS before its price drop.[5][6] It was also released on the Wii U Virtual Console on April 3, 2014 in Japan and April 17, 2014 in North America and Europe.

Reception

On release, Famitsu magazine scored the game a 31 out of 40.[10] F-Zero: Maximum Velocity went on to sell 334,145 copies in Japan and 273,229 copies in the U.S. as of 2005.[11][12] The game has total sales of over 1 million copies worldwide and has an overall score of 86% on Metacritic and 83.37% on Game Rankings.

Notes
  1. Also referred to as Kazunobu Shimizu
  2. Known in Japan as F-Zero for Game Boy Advance

References
  1. "Product Information". NDcube Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on 10 April 2001. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  2. Harris, Craig (2001-06-14). "F-Zero: Maximum Velocity review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  3. Satterfield, Shane (2001-06-06). "F-Zero: Maximum Velocity review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  4. IGN staff (2003-01-31). "Tube Slider preview". IGN. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  5. Chris Pereira (17 December 2011). "3DS Ambassadors Get Their Free GBA Games Today". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012.
  6. Chris Pereira (14 December 2011). "Zelda: Minish Cap, Wario Land 4 Among 3DS Ambassador GBA Games Coming Friday". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012.
  7. "F-Zero: Maximum Velocity for Game Boy Advance - GameRankings". GameRankings.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. "F-Zero: Maximum Velocity". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. Satterfield, Shane (6 June 2001). "F-Zero: Maximum Velocity Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  10. ゲームボーイアドバンス - F-ZERO FOR GAMEBOY ADVANCE. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.121. 30 June 2006.
  11. "Japan GameCube charts". Famitsu. Japan Game Charts. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  12. "Game Boy Advance Best Selling Ranking". Shrine of Data Sales Database. 1997-11-05. Archived from the original on 2005-04-09. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
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