______ _______ ______ ______ ______ | ____| |_____ || ____|| __ || | | | / / | | | | | || __ | | |___ ____ / / | |___ | |__| || | | | | ___| |____| / / | ___| | __|| | | | | | / / | | | |\ \ | |__| | | | / /___ | |____ | | \ \ | | |_| |______| |______||_| \_\|______| ____________________________________________ | | | For Game Boy Advance | |____________________________________________| FAQ/Mini-Walkthrough v1.2 By Olly Dean (nekofever@hotmail.com) F-Zero and GBA, (c) 1992-2001 Nintendo Co Ltd This Document (c) 2001 Oliver Dean THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE USED FOR FREE ON THE INTERNET AS LONG AS THE USER HAS EMAILED PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR (nekofever@hotmail.com) AND THE FILE IS NOT BEING USED FOR PROFIT. IT MAY BE USED IN PRINT IN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, ALTHOUGH IT MAY NOT BE USED IN PRINT FOR FREE. IF YOU ARE FOUND TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THESE GUIDELINES, LEGAL ACTION WILL BE TAKEN. =-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.1 CONTENTS =-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.1 CONTENTS 2 INTRODUCTION 3 FAQ 4 CONTROLS 2.1 VEHICLES 2 TRACKS 3 CORNERING TECHNIQUE 4 OPTIONS TRANSLATION 5 SECRETS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.2 INTRODUCTION =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The original F-Zero was released on Nintendo's 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) very early in the console's lifespan. It was a notable release for two reasons, firstly as the first real futuristic racing game, paving the way for the likes of WipeOut on the PlayStation, and secondly as it was a real showcase for the SNES's pseudo-3D technique, Mode 7 (it wasn't true 3D as all it involved was making the tracks into large images and tilting them to create the illusion of depth, perspective, and 3 dimensions). F-Zero disappeared from the Nintendo ranks until 1998 when the true-3D F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64 (N64) was released. This featured many improvements, the most notable being attacks, 30-craft races, 4-player mode (the SNES version was 1-player only), 3D tracks with loops, hills, and corkscrews, and infinite tracks through a great random track generator. The game was brilliant, not mentioning insanely fast, and was probably the best racing game on the N64, and one of the Top 10 games. This brings us to F-Zero for Game Boy Advance (to be called F-Zero: Maximum Velocity outside Japan). The game is technically the same as the SNES version, but it contains more features such as 4-player mode, multiple layers of Mode 7, and all-new craft and tracks. Never mind the fact that it's PORTABLE. The game launched on March 21st 2001 in Japan with the release of Game Boy Advance. It was one of the first games to take advantage of (albeit limitedly) the GBA's 1-cartridge-4-player mode. =-=-=-=-= 1.3 FAQ =-=-=-=-= Email any questions to me at nekofever@hotmail.com and I'll email you back an answer and post them here. Q. HOW MANY CRAFT AND TRACKS ARE IN THE GAME? A. As far as I know, there are only the 4 standard cars (not the same as in the SNES version) called Hot Violet, Fire Ball, JB Crystal, and Crazy Horse, and 6 hidden vehicles called Dirty Joker, Stingray, Silver Thunder, Falcon Mk-II, Fighting Comet, and Jet Vermilion. I'm not sure of the total number of tracks, but I'd guess around the same number of the SNES game (about 24). Q. WHICH CRAFT IS THE BEST? A. It's down to personal preference. I favour JB Crystal (slow but great handling) or if you've opened it up, Dirty Joker's even better. Q. HOW DOES THE 1-CARTRIDGE MULTIPLAYER WORK? A. After about 20-30 seconds of downloading data, you can play multiplayer with one cartridge. It's disappointing, though, as you can only play one track, only the master GBA (the one with the cart) has music, and all the cars are the same. Q. SO IS 4-CARTRIDGE MULTIPLAYER BETTER? A. Yes, as you can play all tracks, all cars, and all GBA's have music. Not to mention it's as addictive as a very addictive thing. Q. I DIDN'T LIKE F-ZERO X. WILL I LIKE THIS? A. Try it first. F-Zero X was more focused on combat than this or the original F-Zero so you might like it. Even if you don't at first, give it an hour or so before you dismiss it. =-=-=-=-=-=-= 1.4 CONTROLS =-=-=-=-=-=-= _______ _____________ _______ |__L____| |__R____| | _____________ | | | | | | | -+- | | A | | | | | B | | o | | | | o |_____________| | |_____________________________| L: Left Airbrake R: Right Airbrake A: Accelerate B: Brake L+R: Boost -------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.1 VEHICLES =-=-=-=-=-=-= HOT VIOLET MAX SPEED: NORMAL: 422 BOOST: 579 BOOST TIME (secs): 6 BODY STRENGTH: 69 TURN: PERFORMANCE: B BALANCE: C FIRE BALL MAX SPEED: NORMAL: 440 BOOST: 565 BOOST TIME (secs): 6.5 BODY STRENGTH: 82 TURN: PERFORMANCE: C BALANCE: B JB CRYSTAL MAX SPEED: NORMAL: 418 BOOST: 560 BOOST TIME (secs): 9.5 BODY STRENGTH: 63 TURN: PERFORMANCE: C BALANCE: A CRAZY HORSE MAX SPEED: NORMAL: 428 BOOST: 585 BOOST TIME (secs): 5.3 BODY STRENGTH: 50 TURN: PERFORMANCE: A BALANCE: D BEST FOR SPEED: Crazy Horse BEST FOR BOOST: JB Crystal BEST FOR STRENGTH: Fire Ball BEST FOR TURNING: JB Crystal As you can see, JB Crystal has the most in it's favour, but fails on speed as it is the slowest vehicle in the game. Although Hot Violet excels in nothing, it is a great all-rounder. Crazy Horse's name sums it up really, it is insanely fast but is crazy to control. Fire Ball comes into it's own on tracks where you are likely to take a lot of damage or need to eliminate some rivals. Overall, choose Hot Violet until you get used to in intricacies of the gameplay, and then move onto one of the others when you develop your own playing style. =-=-=-=-=-= 2.2 TRACKS =-=-=-=-=-= BIANCA CITY: This will give you very little grief. The only potential sticking points are the long corner before the ramp, the turn after the second black section (before the area with gravel on either side), and the turn before the zip pads. These will be easily negotiated using the proper turning technique. STARK FARM: This track may cause beginners problems because of the sharp, constant chicanes and right-angled corners. Once again, use the proper turning technique to breeze through it. LAPUTAN COLONY: This track is a lot of fun if you've got a vehicle that's good for cornering. The right-angles and double-right-angle hairpins are no problem if you're good and the section where the track splits (both sides are the same) has 5 zippers to hit. If you get all 5 you'll have no problem winning. STARK FARM 2: This has Stark Farm's trademark right-angled turns, but with the added problem of oil slicks at the track sides. It's not hard if you use the left and right airbrakes. CLOUD'S CARPET: This is tricky as there are some tough corners and the track is narrow. The big jump is fun though, and as long as you're in a fast vehicle, boost before the jump, and use the left-hand zipper you may be able to cut off some of the hairpin. I've never done it but I've seen the CPU vehicles do it. EAST TEN SIDE: There's nothing too difficult here, but there is a nasty 180 degree turn and a couple of double-90 degree chicanes. Intelligent use of the brake and tapping the A button during turns should see you qualifying. BEACON PORT: Most turns on this track outside the figure-8 section are 90 degrees, but if you're this far they should be no problem. The major part of this track is the aformentioned figure-8. Both directions are the same and if you hit all the boosts and don't collide on the crossroads you should breeze through this. SYNOBAZZ: The layout of this track would be easy if it wasn't for the mines dotted around. They will deplete your energy if hit but once they're gone they'll leave a hole in the track. If you run over these holes you won't be damaged but you will drastically slow down, which may ruin your chances of winning if you're just ahead of the pack. Sometimes the holes are also on fire, which will both slow you down AND damage you. ANCIENT MARE: This track can be incredibly annoying due to the icy section. Using the accelerator-tapping technique will give you a little bit of traction but not much. Just have a few practice runs until you get the hang of it. The last turn of the ice section can also be annoying, but just turn as much as you can and hit the booster which will send you in the right direction. STARK FARM 3: This is easy but there is a split in the road with 2 different routes to choose from. The right-hand route is shorter but has patches that will slow you down as well as a jump. However if you go left it is easier to maintain your speed and you will therefore come out of it faster than someone taking the right route. BIANCA CITY 2: This is VERY easy. If you've played this far on your own you could almost do this with your eyes closed. ANCIENT MARE 2: Most of the track here is icy. There is another split in the road but it doesn't really matter which way you choose. There are also 2 180 degree turns that can be annoying. CRATER LAND: This track has 3 splits. All are the same length, but you can choose between a boost and a power recharge on the first and third ones, adding a little strategy to the race. The first has a boost on the left and a recharge on the right, the second has 2 boosts, and the third has a recharge on the left and a boost on the right. Later on there are also some strips that pull you to the left or right. Look at what direction the first one pulls you and drive through it's source. i.e. If it pulls right, drive into the left of it. CLOUD'S CARPET 2: Like the first Cloud's Carpet, this is hard to negotiate. There are 2 jumps, and if you're going fast enough on the second you'll clear the 180 degree hairpin ahead. BIANCA CITY 3: Like the other Bianca Cities, this is not very difficult, but this has more chicanes, hairpins, and damaged track than the others. CRATER LAND 2: This track is basically an oval with some broken track. Just use the ramps provided to leap the broken parts. EAST TEN SIDE 2: There are about 5 jumps in this track. You'll have to align yourself in the air to land back on the track in one piece. Nothing too taxing, though. LAPUTAN COLONY 2: This can get very confusing, due to things on the track that spin you around to face the wrong direction. Especially annoying after boosters as you'll probably be going too fast to avoid them and correct yourself quickly. FIRE FIELD: This can be downright frustrating as you try to avoid mines that leave flaming holes in the track to damage you and slow you down, whilst negotiating a double 180 degree hairpin. FIRE FIELD 2: This is pretty similar to the previous track except the mines are all lined up so that you can use the ramps to leap over them. SYNOBAZZ 2: This is for the championship! You'll open this track in another mode when you finish all the other tracks in Grand Prix mode. See the secrets section for more info. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2.3 CORNERING TECHNIQUE =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This allows you to take corners much tighter and shave precious seconds off your time. There are a few methods here for different types of turn. (i) Small Chicanes: ------------------- If you come up on a small chicane like the one below, you can just double-tap the relevant airbrake (A) to nudge just inside the corner like below: | ^| | || \ | \ \