F-Zero VS - SNES

"Does this game have a multi-player option?" Those chilling words still strike me with dread: how many fine games have simply fallen by the wayside on account of this omission. F-Zero's lack of multi-player support is the stuff of legends (ok my stuff of legends): I have been waiting for over 20 years to play this against my friend and now, thanks to this program, the most anticipated race in all galactic history (yes my galactic history) is about to take place!

F-Zero VS Blog
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Source Code

F-Zero VS is a talented mixture of ROM hack, emulator extension (SNES9x) and network code: enabling up to four players to compete across the full gamut of tracks. So many of these projects fail due to a lack of rigour and a quite understandable overoptimism. This is not some half-done pointless re-working of the original...this is the real deal and a substantial contribution to humanity. Alfred Nobel...are you listening?!

BS F-Zero 2 Grand Prix - SNES

The original F-Zero on the SNES...ahhhhh. Those funky beats, ridiculous lack of a multiplayer mode, hermetically tight bends and the thrill of manically boosting yourself (is this a euphemism?) into oblivion. Truly the crown prince of futuristic racing games (although I have a soft spot for Top Gear 3000). However there was an expansion of sorts released via the Nintendo Satellaview service (essentially a modem you blobbed onto your SNES) which an aspiring Nipponese speedster could download for a fee and access, a not to be sniffed at, whole new league (5 tracks). These are very well designed (by the same team that brought you the classics) and happily cohabit the canonical leagues of the original game.

Article on the Satellaview at Assembler
BS F-Zero 2 Grand Prix Video at Youtube
BS F-Zero 2 World Records!
Download ROM at Edge
F-Zero Fansite - F-Zone

While on the topic of F-Zero a jazz remix album was crafted by some Japanese band. It is even better than the 16bit soundtrack (I know: heresy). Its full of ludicrous sax solos and melodious space bistro stupidity. Download from Kingdom Hearts Insider.

If you were a fan of F-Zero (and if you aren't then you should leave this website and become a troglodyte, i.e a web user without the internet connection), you owe it to yourself to play this delicious F-Zero morsel, baked with all the cuisine and care of the original.

Star Fox 2 - SNES

Perhaps the most important beta leak in console game history. Just as the SNES was reaching the nadir of its reign, this highly ambitious space strategy shoot'em'up was planned: and if released, would have been one of the crowning achievements of the 16bit era. It turned out that Nintendo wanted to concentrate 3D game development on their nascent N64 console and so the ideas in Star Fox 2 were put on hold until Star Fox 64 and the much later Star Fox Command. Despite the magnificent quality of the N64 version this game manages to eclipse it (and while still in the beta stage!).

The changes from the original Star Fox are legion. Firstly there is a tactical world map where you plot your movements in an effort to save you home planet of Corneria from destruction. Andross / Andorf sends exotic missiles, ships and elite pilots with an ever increasing commitment to thwarting your progress. Enemy planets launch tactical nukes and large battleships target planetary beam weapons hoping to unleash a catastrophe of Alderan proportions. Throughout this maelstrom of activity you must find time to plot a course to the enemy planets, destroy their military facilities and regroup at the mothership for some much needed health. The planetary levels are fought out in a free flying mode similar to the one used in Star Fox 64. Your ship can convert into a land based mecha if the urge presents itself, you have a secondary companion who you can switch between when low on health, there are two new characters, new power-ups and a plethora of new enemies. Time passes at the same rate weather you are engaged in battle or plotting on the overhead map...this makes for some nice touches such as new enemies arriving out of the blue suddenly making a small skirmish into a deadly war of attrition.

My favorite quality of this game however are the difficulty modes. Instead of blithely changing a few lines of code in an attempt to enhance the games longevity: the difficulty in Star Fox 2 drastically make the game more challenging for the better. With each increase interesting new levels and enemies are introduced making it seem almost like three games in one.

Download Star Fox 2 latest version with English patch
Wikipedia Article
Aeon Genesis Translation
Youtube Video

You will need the latest version of SNES9x to play without any fear of crashing.

Top Gear 3000 - SNES

Now the first two Top Gear games for the SNES were very worthy 16bit racers; tons of tracks, car upgrades, fantastic soundtracks and more besides, but when all is said and done driving around Sheffield (despite being something akin to a dystopia) was just a little mundane. Enter Top Gear 3000! Released in the twilight of the 16bit era, this racing game pushed the SNES to the limit of its powers. Everything good about the previous two games was amplified and futurised a hundred times: yes! More tracks, technologies, weapons, even better music (one of the best game soundtracks ever) and even a four player split screen mode...all set in the year 3000!

Your career as a cosmic speed freak takes you through many a fantastical alien solar system replete with otherworldly weather conditions and gravities. In between races news flashes keep you up to date with the latest technologies, which you skimp and save for with your hard earned galactic credits. When played in career mode with two players this game becomes a multiplayer extravaganza which no other racing game can match. The speed, the terrible roar of my hypersonic engine, the alien megalopolis flicking madly past my window, the sounds of space funk bleating from my stereo...if this was the year 3000 I would have passed my driving test by now!

Download from Pants Emulation
Download Soundtrack from SNES Music

This game was only successfully emulated in the past year and requires the very latest version of zSNES. Top Gear 3000 makes George Lukas' beloved podrace seem like a drive to the garden center with grandma!