F-Zero: Maximum Velocity is fun, futuristic racing you can keep in your back pocket! Good times.
To review this incarnation of F-Zero I will as usual start at the main menu of the game. After creating your profile on this game you will come to the main menu, which gives you three options. The first option is "Start". This is where you go to start exploring this game, all racing is undertaken by going to this option. I will explore the full details of this option a little further on. The second option on the main menu is "Rankings". As you complete races on F-Zero: Maximum Velocity your best times will be stored in the cartridge's memory. To view your best race times (both total race time and best lap) on any of the unlocked tracks in the game, this is where you go. The last option is "Options". This is where you go to adjust a few changeable game settings. You can change the number of spare racing machines you can carry in to your races, alter the controls configuration, and toggle the game music on/off.
Now to explore the "Start" option in more detail. When you first go to this option there are four game modes available to play. The first game mode is called "Grand Prix" and this is the staple mode of the game where you will do the bulk of your racing. When you first start Grand Prix mode there are three different racing circuits available to compete in: Pawn, Knight and Bishop. Each of these circuits consists of five different races you must complete in order to win the overall circuit. To advance to the next race within each circuit you must finish in no less than third place in the previous race. If you don't finish high enough or crash out, you continue and start said race over, this is where the spare machine game setting comes in to play. Within each of the three racing circuits there are three difficulty levels you can play on: Beginner, Standard and Expert. Also when you first start out on Grand Prix mode there are four racing machines you can choose from, which are called: Hot Violet, Fire Ball, J.B. Crystal and Wind Walker. As you compete in Grand Prix mode and start winning the various circuits on the various difficulty levels you will start to unlock certain items. You can unlock a fourth racing circuit called the Queen circuit, an additional level of difficulty called Master, and at least five additional racing machines. Also while competing in Grand Prix mode you will unlock a fifth game mode called "Championship" mode, which I will discuss later on.
The second game mode under the "Start" option is called "Training" mode. Here you can choose any of the tracks you have unlocked so far in the game and just go out and practice on them. You can choose to do it solo or test yourself against one other competing racer.
The third and fourth game modes are called "Multipak Link" and "Single-Pak Link", both of which are multiplayer modes. I not knowing anybody else who cares about GameBoy Advance was not able to test out either of these game modes!
The fifth game mode that I mentioned earlier is the "Championship" mode . . . and it doesn't make any sense at all! When you choose this mode you are given two choices. The first choice is called "Time Attack". When you choose this option you are taken to a race track that does not appear anywhere else in the game for a one-off race against a person named Megan, who pilots the Hot Violet vehicle. I'm not sure what the point of this mode is and I'm not sure I ever will know as I can't seem to beat her for the life of me! The second choice makes even less sense though. It is called "Championship Replay". When you choose this option you just sit and watch as "Megan" completes the course by herself! I didn't spend too much time investigating Championship mode as it didn't seem to be all that much fun.
As for the game itself, overall it was really well done. With regards to the graphics and sound it was virtually like they took an F-Zero game from a Super Nintendo cartridge and just plugged it in to a GameBoy Advance cartridge. They did a really good job at keeping faithful to the original vibe of the game when transferring it to the handheld format. The fun factor is on the higher end of the spectrum and the controls make sense and are easy to use. As for the controls they are pretty simple. I don't believe I went with the default option, I may have gone with the second or third configuration. What I used was as follows: the B button was used for acceleration, the A button was the brakes. The directional buttons of course steer your race craft (don't forget to hold the down direction when landing a jump!). As for the L and R buttons, press the appropriate one when you want help making a tight turn in either direction. Lastly, every time you cross the start/finish line you will earn yourself a turbo. To engage the turbo function hold down the L and R buttons simultaneously for a second or two.
As for the bad things about this game, there really aren't any. The only thing I wished they would have done was if they had to put another mode in the game like they did with "Championship" mode, I wish they would have made it more substantial than it is. It's pretty much a wasted game mode in my opinion. I would have preferred a fifth racing circuit in "Grand Prix" mode in exchange for this goofy option. But other than that there is virtually nothing to complain about with this game.
Lastly, as for tips and tricks I might give you, first I would make sure you complete every circuit available on every difficulty level available as this is the way you unlock all the extra goodies the game has to offer. Start from the bottom and work your way up though, to make sure that your racing skills evolve on pace with the increasing difficulty of the game. Second, don't get too angry when you start losing races. Usually there are a couple of tricks to navigating each track in the game that will eventually help you place where you need to be. Finding out what those tricks are is the hard part! If it's not going well head to "Training" mode so you can search for the tricks of each track without worrying about other racers bumping you all about. Last, don't even bother using the brakes! I never used them once. To get around tight corners all you have to do is feather the throttle. Once you get used to doing this it quickly becomes second nature.
All in all this is a fantastic entry in the GameBoy Advance library and although they maybe could have added a bit more to the game, that doesn't take away from it how good it is as it is. This is an excellent racing game.