F-Zero GP Legend General FAQ/Walkthrough Composed by: Kie (could only get KieCloud as a username :D) E-mail: decimation@gmail.com Copyright (c) 2005 Disclaimer If you wish to use information from this FAQ on a site or for reference, please e-mail me, ask and say the purpose of the use of information also. When using this guide, please give me credit for it; saying it's your own is violating copyright laws. Cheers. ******************************************************************************* CONTENTS ******************************************************************************* 1.0 - Introduction 2.0 - Version History 3.0 - The Basics 4.0 - Characters and Vehicles 5.0 - Story Mode 5.1 Rick Wheeler 5.2 Captain Falcon 5.3 Jody Summer 5.4 Jack Levin 5.5 Samurai Goroh 5.6 Lisa Brilliant 5.7 Black Shadow 5.8 Zoda 6.0 - Track Guides 6.1 Bronze Cup 6.2 Silver Cup 6.3 Gold Cup 6.4 Platinum Cup 6.5 Bronze Cup (Expert) 6.6 Silver Cup (Expert) 6.7 Gold Cup (Expert) 7.0 - Zero Test Mode 7.1 Class C 7.2 Class B 7.3 Class A 7.4 Class S 8.0 - Time Attack Records 8.1 Bronze Cup 8.2 Silver Cup 8.3 Gold Cup 8.4 Platinum Cup 8.5 Championship 9.0 - Secrets and Unlockables 9.1 Tracks 9.2 Modes 9.3 Racers 9.4 Misc. Secrets 10.0 - Frequently Asked Questions 11.0 - Acknowledgements ******************************************************************************* 1.0 INTRODUCTION ******************************************************************************* G'day everyone. F-Zero GP Legends(tm) is the second newest F-Zero game released. It is vastly improved from the terrible Maximum Velocity which had no evidence of classic F-Zero tracks or racers in sight. Luckily, GP Legend brings back all of your favourite racers, vehicles and tracks, all new and improved. It also features a new mode called Zero Test which contains 48 missions for you to complete. Of course, the classic Time Attack, Story and Grand Prix modes are still there, and all of the modes...except Master class, which only appears on the 3D F-Zero games anyway so it doesn't really matter, Expert is good enough. This guide was created for the benefit of those diehard F-Zero fans that still enjoy a good challenge on the handheld system but need a helping hand along the way :) Enjoy! ******************************************************************************* 2.0 VERSION HISTORY ******************************************************************************* Version 0.6: Finished most of the basics of the guide. Story Mode, Time Trial Records, Zero Test. Tracks section is still being constructed. I know the Track section is the most referenced part but it also takes a lot of time and i'm swamped in uni work at the moment. ******************************************************************************* 3.0 THE BASICS ******************************************************************************* For those that acquired this game without a handbook (don't worry, we won't say it's a rom), here are some tips and basics of the game. Pad: Left and right move left and right respectively (very important) and press down just before you land from a jump to prevent a rough landing. A button: Accelerate/Select options in menu B button: Decelerate/Cancel options in menu or go back L Button: Drift left R button: Drift right L and R together: Boost L twice quickly: Side Attack to the left Holding Left on pad and L twice quickly: Side-attack turn to the left R twice quickly: Side Attack to the right Holding Right on pad and R twice quickly: Side-attack turn to the right Start button: Pause A lot of that is also explained in the Options menu and can be changed to your liking, but if i refer to controls during the guide, i'll use the default ones. Also, when you begin a race, it is possible to get a boost. I'm not sure on timing, but i suggest trying accelerating as soon as you see the third light. Try it too early and the engine burns out which means you gotta slow down to a stop before it gets fixed. This is easily seen by yellow flames behind your vehicle instead of the usual blue. ******************************************************************************* 4.0 CHARACTERS AND VEHICLES ******************************************************************************* There are a total of 34 characters in F-Zero GP Legend(tm). Each with their own pros and cons (some with more cons than pros however, and vice versa of course), and most of them are not available at the start (you begin with 5). To see how to unlock the rest, see the Secrets and Unlockables section (9.0) The character layout is as follows: Name of character Name of their vehicle Weight of vehicle Body grading Boost grading Grip grading Rating (includes a brief vehicle rundown and a grading of A-E, E naturally being hopeless) ----------------------------- Rick Wheeler Dragon Bird 1850 kg Body: B Boost: B Grip: B Rating: A new racer on F-Zero. A decent beginner's player. Heavy but fast. Easy to control. ----------------------------- Captain Falcon Blue Falcon 1280 kg Body: B Boost: C Grip: B Rating: Another decent character. A little slidey however. Get used to it i'd suggest, his story is necessary to complete. B ----------------------------- Dr. Stewart Golden Fox 1420 kg Body: D Boost: A Grip: D Rating: Slides too much. Remarkably slow for a heavier vehicle. Never really was great. C ----------------------------- Pico Wild Goose 1620 kg Body: A Boost: B Grip: C Rating: He's a bit worse in this game than previous ones. Slides too easily. C+ ----------------------------- Samurai Goroh Fire Stingray 1960 kg Body: A Boost: D Grip: B Rating: Terrible...as usual. Makes story mode tough to complete. Slow acceleration and pathetic turning. D- ----------------------------- Jody Summer White Cat 1150 kg Body: C Boost: C Grip: A Rating: Purrs like a kitten. Grip's everything in this game and she handles well. Similar to Jack Levin (below) but a little weaker. A- ----------------------------- Jack Levin Astro Robin 1050 kg Body: B Boost: D Grip: A Rating: My personal favourite. An excellent vehicle for the tad more experienced who can compensate for slow top speed by mastering the cornering. A ----------------------------- Zoda Death Anchor 1620 kg Body: E Boost: A Grip: C Rating: Too fast to handle well. Slides dramatically and the weak body doesn't help with that. Makes some story levels of his a little tricky. I'd suggest getting used to side-attacking left or right at corners to stop the sliding. C- ----------------------------- Lisa Brilliant Panzer Emerald 1900 kg Body: A Boost: D Grip: B Rating: Another new racer on F-Zero. She's a heavy girl. Turns slightly better than Goroh but not that great still. D+ ----------------------------- Mighty Gazelle Red Gazelle 1330 kg Body: E Boost: A Grip: C Rating: Basically get tapped a few times and you're dead. Doesn't handle too well either...not recommended, which is a shame cause he used to be good. D+ ----------------------------- Baba Iron Tiger 1780 kg Body: B Boost: D Grip: A Rating: Very good machine here, contrary to previous apprearances. A favourite of mine, but a shame he loses a lot of speed if you hit anything. B+ ----------------------------- Octoman Deep Claw 990 kg Body: C Boost: B Grip: C Rating: A bit slidey. A fairly decent all-rounder but that grip lets him down a lot unfortunately. Makes a certain A-Class Zero Test mission near-impossible. C ----------------------------- Clash Crazy Bear 2220 kg Body: A Boost: B Grip: E Rating: Oh boy...NOTHING is good about this guy except the fact that he can survive just long enough to annoy the hell out of you. Speed is bad, boost is fair, but useless in the end. Look at that grip, speaks for itself...he can't turn and he slides everywhere. Makes some Zero Test tracks harder than they really should be. E ----------------------------- Bio Rex Big Fang 1520 kg Body: B Boost: D Grip: A Rating: Good racer here. Quick off the mark, no sliding, survives pretty well. Fast as well. Boost isn't too helpful but his base speed makes up for it. Does lose some speed on sharp turns however. B ----------------------------- Billy Mad Wolf 1490 kg Body: B Boost: B Grip: C Rating: Eh, if you want a great challenge without impossibility then this guy is alright. Fairly good pickup, loses speed easily however and most turning requires a few side attacks which slow you down even more. C ----------------------------- John Tanaka Wonder Wasp 900 kg Body: D Boost: A Grip: D Rating: Loses control too easily. Decent speed on straights with boosts but really can't turn too well. I'd suggest this guy if you want a challenge. C ----------------------------- Michael Chain Wild Boar 2110 kg Body: A Boost: C Grip: C Rating: Good base speed combined with a fair boost makes this guy an alright player for the experienced. If you think you've mastered the double L and double R (side-attack) turning method, this guy will prove you wrong, just barely allowing you to do it successfully without sliding out of control or going too slow. B- ----------------------------- Kate Alen Super Piranha 1010 kg Body: B Boost: C Grip: B Rating: Fairly decent racer. Nice turning (except on jumps so be careful) and a good all-rounder really. Could do with quicker pick-up for her weight though. B ----------------------------- Roger Buster Mighty Hurricane 1780 kg Body: E Boost: B Grip: B Rating: If only this guy didn't take a year to get about 900kph, he'd be fairly decent. Also, his speed drops very fast after boosting, and you don't wanna hit a corner too much. Not only does his speed suffer too much, but you're likely to die without notice. C- ----------------------------- Leon Space Angler 910 kg Body: C Boost: C Grip: A Rating: This guy is let down heavily by the combination of a weak body and boost. The turning and general speed is great (though he skids a bit if you turn too sharply due to his weight) and the pickup isn't bad either, it's just that the boost takes a real chunk of health away and doesn't really do much... plus he doesn't gain much health in the green restoration strips, making opponents tough to keep up with. C+/B- ----------------------------- Draq Mighty Typhoon 950 kg Body: C Boost: A Grip: D Rating: Much better when at high speeds, and with a boost like that, he sure can get to them. The turning is better than at first glance, however i wouldn't take a jump with this guy. Everything else about him is decent though, just don't take sharp turns. C+ ----------------------------- Antonio Guster Green Panther 2060 kg Body: A Boost: B Grip: D Rating: Ah another Crazy Bear. Ok so he's not as bad, but close. Good pickup but a crap top speed for his size. Baaad turning as expected. Loses speed way too quickly on anything and just all-round bad handling. D- ----------------------------- Blood Falcon Blood Hawk 1170 kg Body: B Boost: A Grip: E Rating: Wow, this guy slides way too much. Good speed but it doesn't do much if he can't take a corner. Makes certain Zero Test courses near-impossible. C- ----------------------------- Black Shadow Black Bull 2340 kg Body: A Boost: E Grip: A Rating: Turns very well on normal corners at normal speed. If he gets a little faster he drifts to the outside of the corner and then you're in trouble. Also, he slows down from boosts very easily, as expected from an E rating in boost. Only good for easy tracks. C+ ----------------------------- Mr. EAD Great Star 1870 kg Body: E Boost: A Grip: D Rating: Basically just annoying. He turns poorly as shown, and has a slow pick-up, however he is half-decent if you keep using your boost, turns a little better too at that point. C ----------------------------- Gomar & Shioh Twin Noritta 780 kg Body: E Boost: A Grip: C Rating: Very good for experienced players who know the tracks and can handle the average grip. Very fast with boost. You'll find them breaking your old lap records with ease. Just don't get hit too much. A- ----------------------------- Mrs. Arrow Queen Meteor 1140 kg Body: E Boost: B Grip: B Rating: Another decent racer here. Handles very well but watch the jumps; drifting in mid-air helps. Doesn't use much health on boosting but don't hit too much or you'll suffer. Good overall speed and capabilities. B+ ----------------------------- James McCloud Little Wyvern 1390 kg Body: E Boost: B Grip: B Rating: A run of good machines apparently. His only downfall is that he always feels sluggish, but it helps him turn well. The E body shouldn't both you too much either as he slows down easily for turns. B+ ----------------------------- Super Arrow King Meteor 860 kg Body: E Boost: B Grip: B Rating: You would think that a racer with the same attributes as the previous couple, who were good, would also be a good racer. No dice. His weight (or lack-there-of) gives rise to annoying slides when turning and he can stupidly bounce off walls forever and die easily. Disappointing. C ----------------------------- Beastman Hyper Speeder 1460 kg Body: C Boost: C Grip: A Rating: Very good indeed. He has a high normal top-speed which cancels out the boost. Turns very well and is very easy to handle for decent players. His drawback is that he loses a lot of speed if you hit a wall and it takes a bit to get back up unless you boost. A- ----------------------------- Silver Neelsen Night Thunder 1530 kg Body: B Boost: A Grip: E Rating: Gains speed well but that's about the limit of this guy. I see no point in having A ranked boost and E ranked grip...it just doesn't work. He slides dramatically and uselessly. D+ ----------------------------- The Skull Sonic Phantom 1010 kg Body: C Boost: A Grip: D Rating: It's a real shame that after your efforts in the Zero Test, you get poor and pathetic racers as prizes. This guy is no exception, and it's also an extra shame because he used to be great. Poor turning as shown, but also has a lot of trouble gaining speed quickly for such a light vehicle. C- ----------------------------- Lucy Liberty Elegance Liberty 1000 kg Body: B Boost: C Grip: A Rating: New racer Lucy is another very good racer. Similar to Jack Levin, except she's too slow in regular speed. B+ ----------------------------- Nisaki Haruka Moon Shadow 1110 kg Body: B Boost: C Grip: B Rating: She's ok...surprisingly slides a bit for her weight, i wouldn't suggest you use the side attack turn with her much, it isn't effective (however neither's her drift) so just try to take advantage of her general speed...oh wait, it's bad too. Oh well. C- ----------------------------- ******************************************************************************* 5.0 STORY MODE ******************************************************************************* In this story mode you actually play as 8 characters instead of just Falcon *joy* so their stories coincide at times. I'll be going through each character as listed in the game from top left to bottom right. My story version is a non-spoiler version so don't worry about reading too far into it. ----------------------------- 5.1 RICK WHEELER'S STORY ----------------------------- ==Chapter One== Location: Mute City Objective: Reach the goal before Octoman! Difficulty: Very Easy Bounty: $200 million The first chapter takes place on a new track of Mute City. It's a fairly easy track to negotiate around and you have boost from the start. You can either beat the Octoman outright or try and kill him, but i wouldn't suggest this if you just want to get the chapter over with. Octoman is very slow and easy to defeat. ==Chapter Two== Location: Mute City Objective: Reach the Goal before Zoda! Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $100 million This race is on a trickier course of Mute City. It has a fair few sharp turns and you'll have to use the double L or R presses to get around some corners quickly. Make sure you avoid hitting falcon when you easily pass him. Zoda is also easy to pass and beat in this course. The trick is to not overestimate Zoda and speed away then start bouncing off corners and end up killing yourself. Take it easy and the mission will be easy. ==Chapter Three== Location: Fire Field Objective: Win the race. Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $500 million You're racing on the Blast Track of Fire Field so if you're any good at the Bronze Cup you'll be fine in this. Just miss the bombs on the first part of the track and you'll be fine. There's no hard turns at all, and the computer opponents are probably at a beginner/standard level. ==Chapter Four== Location: Port Town Objective: Reach the place where Judy Summer is held before time expires! Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Bounty: $100 million You have 41.00 seconds to complete the track. You have no opponents either. The track is very easy to maneuvour around ann you have boosts all around the place. Watch out a little bit for the jumps and never release the accelerator, because you will cut it fine every time, usually getting there within the last 5 seconds no matter how much you boost. It isn't difficult however. ==Chapter X== *note* Rick's Chapter X can be unlocked only if you finish Chapter 4 with under $1 billion. This is easy to do if you don't finish the first three chapters a few times before doing four. If you go straight through the story in order and do not backtrack, you'll automatically unlock this instead of Chapter 5. To unlock Chapter 5, finish Chapter 4 again with over $1 billion. Location: White Land Objective: Win the battle with Black Shadow! Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Bounty: $500 million This is a very difficult track to navigate through well. It's a Gold Cup Expert Class track called Flower II, so i suggest you see my guide on how to get through this track without destroying yourself (Section 6.7). Lucky for you Black Shadow isn't a very strong competitor in this race and the main challenge is getting through the course itself. However if you can manage to destroy Black Shadow, the challenge is gone, but that in itself isn't easy. ==Chapter Five== Location: Big Blue Objective: Beat Zoda or help Jack win! Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Bounty: $500 million if you win. $20 million off that for every place dropped if Jack wins (ie- 2nd gets $480 million, 3rd gets $460 million). For this race i suggest you see my guide on Big Blue: Slip Highway in section 6.1 because you will need to be good at this track or at least know how to race it in order to win this (that is the hard part). Letting jack win is simply a means of keeping Zoda busy throughout the race or destroying him. Jack is very fast but drops off at around lab 3 if Zoda isn't being kept at bay by you. I also suggest that if you destroy Zoda and are not good at this track that you just take it easy throughout the race and let Jack win. ----------------------------- 5.2 CAPTAIN FALCON'S STORY ----------------------------- ==Chapter One== Location: Mute City Objective: Overtake Clash before the goal! Difficulty: Very Easy Bounty: $100 million A pretty easy Chapter to begin Falcon's story. The track has a few twists and turns but it's easy enough to maneuvour through. Watch out for that hard right around the middle of the track. Clash is very slow and won't be a challenge at all for you. ==Chapter Two== Location: Mute City Objective: Rick or Falcon must finish before Zoda! Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Bounty: $100 million Yes i know, Moderate, but it isn't as easy as it was for Rick. Falcon's vehicle slides a little bit and the corners are sometimes hard to negotiate, so you can end up killing yourself if you're not careful. Zoda still isn't fast however, and you shouldn't have too many hassles if you're a little experienced. You'll most likely hit the wall on the 150 degree right turn. ==Chapter Three== LOcation: Red Canyon Objective: Beat Samurai Goroh in the race. Be Careful: You have no boost! Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $500 million Well as the objective in the game states, you have no boost...but neither does anyone else, so you'll be fine. The track itself is Red Canyon's Seven-Corner Speedway, which is a new track that's not in the Grand Prix. The first hard right turn has a speed-up straight after on it on the right of the power-up strip so it helps to take that turn wide a bit so you can get it (or use the double R turn). Also mind that 180 degree turn, it's difficult to get right. Other than that it's easy, Goroh is no threat at all. ==Chapter Four== Location: Port Town Objective: Beat Blood Falcon at all costs! Difficulty: Moderate Bounty: $200 million First time i played this i mis-interpreted the objective and thought i had to destroy Blood Falcon. This proved exceedingly difficult and in my frustration i just decided to reach the finish before him and i won, so i was pretty annoyed, but it's not hard to race him and win, you just need to get to know the course a bit. Be VERY careful not to go too slow near the end jumps because it's easy to crash in the jumps (I got lucky and did a nice bounce over the last gap) but i suggest that on the second last left jump you just clear the middle platform and the last left jump and land just after that then take the final right jump as normal. Also...that annoying loooong jump around the middle. Boost before it and when you begin to fall fast, press and hold down on the control pad and you'll make it over. ==Chapter Five== *note* Similar to Rick Wheeler's story, you unlock this Chapter if you have under $1 billion after completing Chapter 4. If you have over that amount, you'll unlock Falcon's Chapter X (below). Basically just play Chapter 4 again once you finish Chapter 5 and you'll unlock X. Location: Lightning Objective: Win the race! Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Bounty: $500 million You're racing on Lightning's Volute, so get to know it (Section 6.1) and you'll be fine. Black Shadow is a strong competitor in this race however, and he'll get annoying at times trying to attack you. He's the only hard part in this race, so keep ahead of him and you'll be fine. Don't bother trying to kill him, it's near-impossible. ==Chapter X== Location: Sand Ocean Objective: Help Jody Summer beat Blood Falcon in the race! Difficulty: Moderate Bounty: Depends on your position. You won't come in first place so it starts at $480 million for second and drops $20 million for every place you drop. The track is Sand Ocean's Caterpillar, so you can learn that first if you wish (Section 6.2). This is a fairly fun Chapter if you know what you're doing. Basically you're not allowed to win, so your job is to basically smack Blood Falcon around for the entire race. As a good tip, try side attacking him onto a jump. 9 times out of 10 the computer won't have a clue what to do and will crash. Then you can just tail Jody for the entire race (maybe bump her a few times for fun cause she's easy to beat) ----------------------------- 5.3 JODY SUMMER'S STORY ----------------------------- ==Chapter One== Location: Silence Objective: Beat Michael Chain in the race! Difficulty: Very Easy Bounty: $500 million For Jody's first race, you're on Silence's Box Rink level (Section 6.1) so you can look it up if you want to, however the track is not difficult and you should have no trouble at all beating Michael. From lab 2 you can easily boost continuously until the end of the race, but you don't need to. ==Chapter Two== Location: Port Town Objective: Enter the race illegally and beat Blood Falcon! Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Bounty: $500 million Port Town's Forked Road this time. This is a difficult track, being on the Gold cup (Section 6.3) so learn the track well, use my guide if you wish, and you shouldn't have much difficulty. Blood Falcon is a bit slow in this race also so just focus on getting through the circuit alive. Oh and don't worry about the illegal race entering thing, she manages that on her own before you begin. ==Chapter Three== Location: Port Town Objective: Don't let Blood Falcon out of your site! Difficulty: Very Easy/Easy Bounty: $100 million I'm not sure if this was a glitch in the game or not but all you really have to do is get ahead of falcon and finish the course. It's a very simple course at that! Just boost whenever you want, be careful of how much health you have left. Don't worry about getting too far in front of falcon cause the game does nothing about it for some reason (even though you're supposed to tail him :P) ==Chapter Four== Location: Mute City Objective: Win the platoon members' race! Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $50 million Well you're on Tradition Park so it's not a difficult track to know at all. The racers are all very slow barring Jack Levin who's probably the only challenge. Shouldn't be a problem if you've gotten this far. ==Chapter Five== Location: Sand Ocean Objective: Beat Blood Falcon to the finish! Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Bounty: $500 million Quote from Captain Falcon just before the race: "You can't lose! You just Can't!!!" and yet he's a real nuisance in this race. Both falcons are, but i wonder why our hero would say something like that and then attack you throughout the race. Anyway, you're on the Caterpillar level again (like in Captain Falcon's story, Section 6.2) and this time, you've gotta win. As a suggestion, killing either falcon makes the race a lot easier. Sometimes you get lucky and Blood Falcon kills himself by misjudging jumps a bit, but only sometimes...i wouldn't rely on it. ----------------------------- 5.4 JACK LEVIN'S STORY ----------------------------- ==Chapter One== Location: Mute City Objective: Beat the doctor. Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $50 million In the first lap you'll feel like he's kicking your ass bad, but don't worry, once you get that boost you'll be fine. You're on Mute City I, a Platinum Cup track (Section 6.4) but it's not a difficult track at all. A nice start indeed. ==Chapter Two== Location: Silence Objective: Beat Michael Chain in this race using a faulty machine! Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $500 million This is another easy Chapter for you. The only thing faulty in your machine is the boost so you don't really have to worry about much, the race is still easy. You're on the Box Rink (Section 6.2) so it's an easy track as well. ==Chapter Three== Location: Port Town Objective: Destroy Blood Falcon's machine! Difficulty: Moderate Bounty: $100 million A fun little Chapter here. You're on a forgiving track with easy turns and lots of chances to side attack Blood Falcon into oblivion. However most of the turns don't make good spots to attack so i suggest the few straight areas such as straight after the start, after the 3rd left turn and the straight at the end to destroy him. Watch also that you don't run out of health. ==Chapter Four== Location: Mute City Objective: Win the platoon members' race. Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $50 million You'll notice by now that some of the stories really mess up every other character's story (like this one) because characters interfere with their own team-mates. Anyway, this is the same race as Jody's race, so you're on Tradition Park of course. It's as easy as Jody's was pretty much. Jody challenges for a little bit, but then falls back. ==Chapter Five== Location: Big Blue Objective: Win the race! Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Bounty: $500 million Slip Highway again (Section 6.1) and this time the competition is as stiff as ever, but unlike Rick's story, you have to win. Luckily you're now in a better machine and hopefully after Rick's story you know the track a little better, but oh well. Zoda is another strong contender and you'll probably find yourself trailing both Rick and Zoda for a long time before Rick drops off a bit and you're forced to use your skill and knowledge of the track to win. ----------------------------- 5.5 SAMURAI GOROH'S STORY ----------------------------- ==Chapter One== Location: Red Canyon Objective: Win the race in this tough-to-handle machine. Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Bounty: $500 million Right off the bat hard this one (expect more difficult Chapters in the latter 4 stories). Remember up a bit in Section 4.0 when i said Goroh's machine can't turn? Well it just got worse here. Unbelievably pathetic turning makes this a difficult race to master. Luckily the racers aren't much of a challenge, and for experienced racers this slips more towards Moderate, but it's still annoying...by the way, though it doesn't make much difference, you're on Red Canyon's Junction. ==Chapter Two== Location: Red Canyon Objective: Beat Lisa! Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Bounty: $200 million This one is a little tricky, however you do have your turning back (if that means much). You just have to beat Lisa through an annoying circuit of twists and turns. Ok, I suggest for this one that you don't boost much, because chances are that you'll crash and die horribly. If you do boost, boost after the backwards 'S' bend and on the bends near the end. They're your best shots. Go slow on the first few turns. The third and fourth turns (on the reverse 'S' bend) will make you go extra slow. Don't worry about Lisa, she's not fast at all. The hardest part is the area after the straightish area (which is why i don't recommend boosting there). Enter slowly and wide, then make a hard right as soon as you see the opening and slip in through the bends. Go SLOW, like 500kph or something. If Lisa overtakes, boost on the bends near the end and use the double L and R tap turns (side-attack turns) to get around the corners. ==Chapter Three== Location: Red Canyon Objective: Beat Captain Falcon in the race. Be Careful: You have no boost! Difficulty: Very Hard Bounty: $500 million Well well, i never expected this would be so difficult, because boosts never help Goroh anyway, but i wish they were in this race. You have to learn the track VERY well and be able to put up with Goroh fairly well to even have a chance of beating Falcon. If you let him get too far ahead too early, you'll never catch him. You're on Seven-Corner Speedway again so i'll give you a guide here on how to get through this. First you have to start well. Don't try and kill Falcon because you won't succeed and Falcon will speed away, as will 3 or 4 other opponents. The first corner of the seven is easy, just go around it however you want. The next one is tricky; take it wide and drift left all the way, OR keep in the center of the track and when you enter the turn, do two quick left side attacks while turning left. On the third corner, you can either go wide on entry and drift in to get the speed-up or go close on entry and use the side attack to turn swiftly in. I prefer the latter, it's quicker. The fourth turn is also easy. Here we go now, the hardest turn. Number five is what makes this so hard, because if you don't hit anything, you'll be going unbelievably slow anyway. What i suggest is that you enter the corner as fast as you can, swerve sharply to left via a drift or better yet a side attack, and smack into the wall. If you went quick enough you should bounce back onto the wall behind you and start moving forwards again without losing much speed. Anyone with alternate strategies to that turn can e-mail me. The sixth turn is a breeze after that ordeal. For the seventh turn i suggest you do one right side attack across the grassy area and a second one straight afterwards to get the speed-up. Then repeat all that for 4 more laps, enjoy. ==Chapter Four== Location: Sand Ocean Objective: Get away from Black Shadow! Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Bounty: $360 million Some of these difficulties are hard to judge actually. In difficulties with slashes, like this one, the Hard is for people who've never played the story before and the Moderate is how i find it now. Basically, don't let Black Shadow get in front of you or you lose, which you've prolly found out if you came to this guide to find a solution to the Chapter :P. So basically, you should boost every now and then to keep ahead, but Black Shadow won't trouble you too much, unless you mess up in the fairly difficult course. The first couple of turns are easy enough. The third comes after a bit of zig-zags, and i suggest for most of these that you use one or two side attacks (two quickly) to make these turns without much hassle. Now, there two turns that are tricky. Both near the end. The first one just requires a bit of practice with the side attacks, but the second is annoying and you'll probably end up sliding through the green sludge-like stuff. After that is a good place to boost, is all i can say, but at least try to make the turn, it reduces the effect of the sludge on the vehicle. ==Chapter Five== Location: Silence Objective: Beat Antonio Guster Difficulty: Moderate Bounty: $500 million This is a nice little change from all the hard chapters up to now. Basically you have to get any position higher than Antonio Guster, which is usually first and you're on the Honeycomb Rink. The track may seem difficult but i'll give you a guide to finishing it with Goroh (as my general guide in Section 6.3 won't pick out parts that affect only him). On the hexagon at the start, always take the right route. Left has a speed-up but it doesn't do you any favours. On the corner after that i suggest that after lap one, you take the jump that's available and swerve right, landing further down the track. Take the easy turns with care and hit the speed-up ONLY if you think you can handle the sharp turns with the side attack well. It's not necessary though because Antonio is slow and you'll have other times to boost in future laps. Take the jump that's after the green power-up strip and head to the finish. As you as you get to lap 2, boost and go straight into the jump, swerving right and that. Keep going like the last lap and just before the green strip (which is just before the second jump) boost again and take the jump, then boost at the start again and repeat like lap 2 until the end. I found this to be a really easy way to win this. Any queries on it, just ask. ----------------------------- 5.6 LISA BRILLIANT'S STORY ----------------------------- ==Chapter One== Location: Red Canyon Objective: Win the Race! Difficulty: Moderate Bounty: $500 million The track is Red Canyon's Peak Jump level (Section 6.3) so you can check out the guide if you want. As an extra guide for Lisa I suggest you take it easy on the big bend before the jump, keeping about 800kph before hitting it (although drifting around it at normal speed works well). No opponents are really a threat besides Black Bull who likes to ram you a lot (you'll see why in his story) so relax a little and take the track easily. Not a very difficult chapter but it can go wrong quickly if you mess the track up. ==Chapter Two== Location: Red Canyon Objective: Beat Samurai Goroh! Difficulty: Moderate Bounty: $200 million First and foremost: Be careful! It's easy to lose all of your health if you don't watch it, especially if you don't know where to boost. I suggest you boost straight after the reverse 'S' bend and after the tricky part following the straight strip. This version is slightly easier than the one you endured through with Samurai Goroh, so don't worry. He's very slow anyway. For the tricky part i suggest you enter the corner from the far left, starting to turn before you get into it. As soon as you see the opening of the corner, do two side attacks to the right and if you have to, weave through the bends (but you shouldn't have to if you did it right. That's all there is to this. ==Chapter Three== Location: Silence Objective: Beat Antonio Guster! Difficulty: Moderate Bounty: $500 million Basically you're on that annoying Honeycomb Rink level (Section 6.3) again, like with Goroh, except it's a tad easier this time. I suggest that if you use the same "special" strategy i had for Goroh (See Goroh's story Chapter Five) you should be fine. Antonio isn't difficult to beat and Lisa handles a little better than Goroh so it shouldn't be a problem. ==Chapter Four== Location: Mute City Objective: Win the battle against Zoda! Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $200 million This is a great change from previous chapters. All i suggest to you is that you learn the track relatively well and if necessary, check out my guide for Mute City's Expansion Park in Section 6.2. Zoda barely challenges at all. Piece of cake. ==Chapter Five== Location: Lightning Objective: Beat Black Shadow! Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Bounty: $500 million Lightning's Volute is the track (Section 6.1) and it's a little tricky. The track isn't hard but Black Shadow is fast! You probably won't catch up to him for two or so laps (but when you pass him he isn't really seen again). Besides what's mentioned in the track guide, i suggest that as well as using those arrows to boost, you also use your own boost at the same time, because Lisa's speed drops rapidly after you use an arrow boost, but that speed decrease drops dramatically when you're boosting as well. ----------------------------- 5.7 BLACK SHADOW'S STORY ----------------------------- ==Chapter One== Location: Red Canyon Objective: Do a Side Attack on Lisa's Machine! Difficulty: Easy Bounty: Depends on your position. If you win, $500 million, and you drop $20 million for each place you drop. This is a simple start to the story of Black Shadow. It doesn't matter what position you come in, as long as you do a side attack (double L or double R) on Lisa Brilliant's machine (you should recognise the blue vehicle from her story easily). This is the reason Black Bull rams you a lot in her story as well. It's easy to side attack Lisa, she hangs around you a lot anyway throughout the race, but be careful of the track, it doesn't suit Black Shadow very well at all, so once you've rammed Lisa, back off and take the track easy and you'll be fine. If you didn't guess already, the track is Red Canyon's Peak Jump like in Lisa's story (Section 6.3). ==Chapter Two== Location: Illusion Objective: Destroy Zoda's Machine. Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $300 million You'll get a few of these in Black Shadow's story. It's very fun to have "destroy a machine" as a goal, you just have to be efficient at side attacking. For those who haven't done many Zero Tests or played an Illusion stage before, there aren't any barriers so be careful ay? This particular Illusion track (Illusion: Secret) is not on the Grand Prix and so i'll guide you through it here; You don't actually have to win, but you do have to kill Zoda (I suppose it's the same thing lol). I suggest that you let Zoda stay in front and slowly catch up to him, then smash him to bits on a straight. A couple of things on this track, it's fairly simple and straightforward, but the third right can catch you off guard if you've beaten Zoda and aren't paying attention. I suggest to play it safe that you take the outside route of the track at all times where possible. Once you kill Zoda, just run the rest of the laps at your own pace. ==Chapter Three== Location: Sand Ocean Objective: Destroy Samurai Goroh's machine. Difficulty: Moderate Bounty: $300 million This one can be very tricky to get right. The track has many twists and turns and it can be hard to find space to attack Goroh. There are only really two places where you'll have a remote chance of destroying Goroh's machine. One is on the first couple of turns, definately before the green restoration strip. After that, hang back until you reach the long straight area on the bottom of the map and take him out there. Might wanna save some boost for that too. ==Chapter Four== Location: Lightning Objective: Win the race! Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Bounty: $500 million Oh no, you actually have to win a race! You're on Lightning's Volute level (Section 6.1) so it's a Black Shadow-friendly course. The only trouble you'll really have if you know the course is Falcon and Crazy Bear in the first two laps, you'll most likely exchange blows a few times in those laps, then they drop away. However i wouldn't try to destroy them, it's near-impossible (i've never done it myself). ==Chapter Five== Location: White Land Objective: Win the battle with Rick Wheeler! Difficulty: Hard/Very Hard Bounty: $500 million A difficult finish for Black Shadow. You're on White Land's Flower II level (Section 6.7) so it is definately not a simple track to negotiate with Black Shadow's slow turning. The first lap is CRITICAL! If you let him get too far ahead in the first lap you'll never see him again. However if you can catch him and overtake, he'll miraculously drop off and you won't have a difficult time winning unless you can't get the track right. This one is not for beginners, or even intermediates for that matter. For extra track tips i suggest boosting before the last corner but go really slow around it and then when you accelerate, the boost will still be on and you'll gain speed quickly. Good luck. ----------------------------- 5.8 ZODA'S STORY ----------------------------- ==Chapter One== Location: Mute City Objective: Get away from Rick and Falcon! Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Bounty: $200 million A simple start actually...except that neither Falcon nor Rick can pass you or you instantly fail. This can be difficult for people just learning to use Zoda's slidey machine. Use you Side Attack turns all of the time for this course, they help heaps. I don't suggest you boost at all in this race, unless absolutely necessary, because it does more harm than good. Rick and Falcon are slow so unless you crash a lot of times they won't catch up very easily. ==Chapter Two== Location: Illusion Objective: Beat Black Shadow! Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $300 million Now, i know it doesn't say to destroy Black Shadow's machine, it's very easy to smack it off the edge of Illusion's Secret track right at the start of the race. If you can't manage that, it's still easy to beat him in a race. Just keep to the outside of the track and use the strategy i gave in Black Shadow's story (Section 5.7, Chapter Two), except this time be extra careful of that sharp third right turn cause Zoda can slide off it really easily and that's very annoying on the last lap, seriously. ==Chapter Three== Location: Mute City Objective: Beat Lisa! Difficulty: Easy Bounty: $500 million Simple if you know the track. It's Mute City's Expansion Park (Section 6.2). Back in Lisa's Story i said Zoda never challenges. Now it's reversed and Lisa is pathetic. Better players could probably lap her. Use you Side Attack turns and avoid the jump and you'll be fine. ==Chapter Four== Location: Fire Field Objective: Destroy all of the machines in the race! Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Prize: $500 million Probably the most fun you'll have in Story Mode! Use your side attacks and destroy the other four machines on the track before 5 laps are through. This is actually difficult because you can die fairly easily if you miss an attack and hurtle into the minefield. You're playing on Fire Field's Wreckage Circuit so check the guide at Section 6.3 if you're stuck with the track. If not, the blue one is the best one to take out first. Take it out before the first turn if you can. Then follow the green and red. The red should drop back a bit and you can destroy it easily. ALWAYS watch your health and take a break from destroying to replenish your energy whenever possible on those green strips. The green one isn't too hard to get, but the white one is a real annoyance and often shields the other racers. The white is skillful as well so i suggest you take him out whenever you see him. Don't try to knock players into the minefield because they won't die. The best way is to get alongside them and side attack, no other way really works here. Take it slow also, you've got five laps which is enough time for one a lap, but if you're good you should be done by the start of the second lap. You sometimes get lucky and some kill each other but it's rare; i wouldn't hope for it. ==Chapter Five== Location: Big Blue Objective: Beat Rick and Jack in the race! Difficulty: Very Hard Prize: $500 million The objective basically implies you have to come first because Jack and Rick are your only competition in this race, all the other racers are for show (or annoyance). The creators of the game could not have picked a worse track for Zoda's final story. You're on Slip Highway (Section 6.1) and "slip" is an understatement. It's like you have no traction throughout the race, making it very difficult. Adding to that, Jack and Rick aren't slow at all, so you have to deal with the track and keep up at the same time. I managed somehow to destroy Rick on one of my tries, as he's the stronger competitor of the two. To actually have a chance at this, you really need to know when to use the side-attack turns. Also watch your speed, because the jumps are not kind to slow racers. If you can get a hang of the track, you'll find catching up to the leaders isn't too difficult, it's just getting to them initially which makes this probably the second hardest story chapter in the game (Behind Goroh's Chapter Three). I still have trouble with this one. That goes for all of the story missions. Any extra tips can just be sent to my e-mail and i'll try them out. Provide a name and i'll acknowledge your tips here. ~Kie ******************************************************************************* 6.0 Track Guides ******************************************************************************* Initially i was going to make this a Grand Prix section, however since it's more of a guide for the tracks in the Grand Prix Mode, i've renamed it accordingly. As it happens, if you know the tracks well in this game, you'll do well in the Grand Prix! Funny how that works. Anyway, here's how it's going to be done. I'll give a guide to the first lap, which will indicate not only the speed-ups and green strips but also the hazards and how to get past them. I'll then give a guide to laps 2-5 which basically describes the new hazards due to you going faster, also including boost points and best times to boost in each lap. I'll also include a difficulty rating as you'll see. I'll just say now that my guide for tracks is very general and assumes you've picked a decent character for the course (perhaps from your own judgement, or Section 4.0 or both). Alternate strategies for courses are given in Sections 5.0 and 7.0 for specific characters the game makes you use on those tracks that are not decent. Under construction... ******************************************************************************* 7.0 Zero Test ******************************************************************************* Zero Test consists of 48 missions that vary in difficulty and requirements of skill. They test your cornering, handling and boosting points mainly, however general knowledge of F-Zero racing is already assumed (ie- it's not a tutorial to begin with and does not give many useful tips). I'll be giving you a guide on how to finish the missions with a Bronze cup, not the Gold or Silver ones. That's probably best saved for a special FAQ. I'm just helping you complete them all so you can get all the racers. ----------------------------- 7.1 CLASS C ----------------------------- -Mission One- Cornering Techniques - Level 1: Learn the basics. Character: Rick Wheeler Time to beat: 8.8 seconds Difficulty: Very Easy Simple, just boost at the start and cut through the grassy corners, then boost again when your boost stops. Silver is easy to get in this. -Mission Two- Blast Turns 1 - Clear tight turns with a machine with C-level grip. Character: Pico Time to beat: 8.5 seconds Difficulty: Very Easy Boost right at the start, stay roughly in the middle of the track and when you reach the corner do three quick side attacks to the right, then do one to the left on the final turn. -Mission Three- Hairpin Turns 1: Clear corners that bend 180 degrees. Character: Captain Falcon Time to beat: 8.5 seconds Difficulty: Very Easy Boost at the start as usual and as you reach the turn, swerve inwards and take the turn with three quick right side attacks. Boost again when necessary. Silver isn't hard to get here after a couple of tries. -Mission Four- Blast Turns 2: Clear tight turns with a machine with D-level grip. Character: Dr.Stewart Time to beat: 9 seconds Difficulty: Very Easy You know when you see "Blast Turns" (which just means side attack turns) that you're gonna be using the side attacks a bit. Boost at the start and do your best with as many side attacks as you can on the 180 degree turn. Don't worry if you smack the wall a couple of times, you should be fine. -Mission Five- Hairpin Turns 2: Clear corners that bend 180 degrees. Beware! The track is very narrow! Character: Jody Summer Time to beat: 8 seconds Difficulty: Very Easy I can almost get gold on this one. You have two choices, the easy way and the easier way in this short piece of track. The left path is the easier part which includes simple turns and boosts, but you'll end up at the finish around the 6 or 7 second mark, whereas the right path includes a sharp turn (two side attacks take it easily) and good times. Boost constantly and hit the speed-up on the right near the end. -Mission Six- Blast Turns 3: Clear tight turns with a machine with E-level grip. Character: Clash Time to beat: 9.2 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Boost at the start and side attack left on the first little turn. Then go slowly and side attack three times to the right (more if necessary) to get around the hairpin turn, then another one or two left side attack turns for the next one and boost again. -Mission Seven- Hairpin Turns 3: Clear corners that bend 180 degrees. Beware! The machine doesn't turn very well! Character: Samurai Goroh Time to beat: 8.5 seconds Difficulty: Very Easy/Easy Basically boost at the start and cut through the grass. The best way to do the 180 degrees turn with Goroh is take it wide and do a couple of side attacks to the right so you don't hit the wall, then boost again. Silver's easy to get. -Mission Eight- Jumps 1: Beware! If you don't press down on the Control Pad, you'll land roughly! Character: Black Shadow Time to beat: 8 seconds Difficulty: Very Easy/Easy If you can control Black Bull decently, silver's a breeze. Boost at the start, land correctly (Ok, maybe it's a little tutorial in the hints here :P), take the turns carefully, with side attacks if necessary, and boost again when the time comes near the end. -Mission Nine- Cornering Techniques - Level 2: Beat a slippery track using blast turns. Character: Mighty Gazelle Time to beat: 13 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate As soon as you hit the straight you can control the machine. Boost and do a few side-attacks to get around the hairpin turn. Then be careful cause this guy slides a bit, but take the next two turns fast and try to be as straight as possible after the latter of those, because if you start bouncing off walls on the icy patch, you might as well restart. If you start to get out of control, use a side attack in the appropriate direction to steady yourself. On the final right, keep to the right and use side attacks if you start to slide left, then boost to the end. -Mission Ten- 1 Lap Time Attack: If you've learned all the basics, you'll be fine! Character: Rick Wheeler Time to beat: 20 seconds Difficulty: Easy The course is Mute City: Tradition Park (Section 6.1 if you need a review) so it's not too difficult with Rick. You should be fine like they said. Remember those side attacks always. -Mission Eleven- 1 Lap Time Attack: Run the route without missing any dash plates! Character: Samurai Goroh Time to beat: 31.5 seconds Difficulty: Very Easy/Easy The track is Mist Flow: Clip Oval (Section 6.1) which is kind to Goroh so it shouldn't be a problem really. I think you have to hit all of the speed-ups if you want gold cause you can miss heaps and get silver. -Mission Twelve- 1 Lap Time Attack: Run the course without getting trapped in the minefields! Character: Lisa Brilliant Time to beat: 18 seconds Difficulty: Easy Fire Field: Blast Track (Section 6.1) is a good course for Lisa's poor turning so again you shouldn't have much trouble. Do what the game tells you and keep clear of the mines or you'll be messed up (although i fell into one and got silver). ----------------------------- 7.2 CLASS B ----------------------------- -Mission One- Blast Turns 4: Clear a course with tight corners in a machine that slides easily! Character: Samurai Goroh Time to beat: 10 seconds Difficulty: Easy I'm sure the creators know which of the machine they created are un-drivable for any racer, and they like choosing them for missions a lot. This one's pretty simple, use your "blast turn" (Side attack turn) on every corner and boost constantly. Do two on the first large left, then one on the little right one and two or three on the second large left and you're done. Silver's easy. -Mission Two- Serial Jumps 1: Run the course by using jumps to take shortcuts over the corners! Character: Baba Time to beat: 11.5 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate You're in a good machine for once so it isn't difficult to just run the track as you would normally...if you want bronze. However if you want a shortcut, boost as you as you can move and as soon as you hit the jump in front of you, drift hard right (use a side attack if necessary) and land on the track after the green strip. This'll cut lots of seconds off your time after some practise and also helps in time trial and grand prix modes too. -Mission Three- Blast Turns 5: Clear a course with tight corners in a machine that doesn't turn well! Character: Lisa Brilliant Time to beat: 10.2 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Depending on how you handle Lisa, this can be an easy silver or a moderate bronze. Boost straight away, take the first bit easily, maybe add a side attack to the right on coming back if you stray too close to the left wall. On the hard right, since you're boosting and it won't matter, keep inside the patch ground on the left of the turn and side attack twice to make the turn. Another two side attacks on the last left with a second boost near the end should get you through alright. -Mission Four- Serial Jumps 2: Jump then adjust your direction to change your landing point! Character: Michael Chain Time to beat: 16 seconds Difficulty: Moderate As soon as you start going straight, boost and keep to the left as you take the jump. Land with the gravity pads on the track and take the second jump. You'll then most likely smack into the back wall if you're still going fast by the time you reach the corner, but use this and bounce off quickly and boost again if necessary. Then continue and take the speed-up on the right and head to the next jump. Be careful on that turn before the jump, i suggest a single side attack. I'm not sure if it's in your best interests to take the right path instead of the left. The right has a gravity pad which i suggest you use if you're planning on taking the speed-up and trying for silver. If not, just take it easy through the jumps, boost again and you'll be fine. -Mission Five- Hairpin Turns 4: Use perfect timing to nail the entry of the hairpin turn after the long straightaway! Character: Jody Summer Time to beat: 14 seconds Difficulty: Easy Not exactly sure what they mean by perfect timing, but you can get a decent time by boosting at the start and side attack turning on the first and third turns before the long straightaway. Hit the speed-up in the middle of the straight at it's start and on the hairpin turn, just stay about the middle, still boosting, and three left side attack turns should do it. -Mission Six- Lane Change Jump: Change direction during your jump and access the fastest lane! Character: Clash Time to beat: 13.5 seconds Difficulty: Hard/Very Hard They just chucked this one in for fun i bet. Unless you're very efficient at Clash i seriously doubt you'll do this on the first couple of tries. Basically if you want any chance of a bronze, you've gotta do as they say and take the shortest route. I suggest you boost at the start, slow down before the turn, maybe a side attack if necessary, but you've gotta hit that jump fast enough to make it to the right lane. Once that's done i suggest you side attack to the right and boost again to the jump. Try to get as right as possible (farthest down the track as you can after you jump) without crashing. This makes it (much) easier to hit the final jump and allow you to control the vehicle for the final turn. Simply drift right around it and you'll be fine. Remember your side attack turns in this, they help control the machine. Don't worry if you can't get it right after 10 tries, i was the same :P Now i've almost gotten silver on it, so you'll get better. -Mission Seven- Cornering Techniques - Level 3: Clear a series of corners. The most important factor is how you tackle the hairpin turns! Character: Dr.Stewart Time to beat: 15 seconds Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Even experienced racers will still probably find yourself struggling to beat 13 seconds here. The doc ain't really a good racer in general anyway, but you've got a tricky piece of Expansion Park here. I suggest you really use the boost and side attack turns a lot if you want to do well. Be careful with those side attacks, don't take them too sharp or they'll be more harm than good (as with all characters). -Mission Eight- Hairpin Turns 5: The transition out of the hairpin into the next corner is vital! Character: Leon Time to beat: 14.5 seconds Difficulty: Easy Basically focus all of your skill into the first corner, and it's easy from there. I suggest boost at the start (as always), take the hairpin a little wider than usual and do three or four side attacks to the left and you'll get around it fine. Then side attack through the other 90 degree corners if you like and hit the speed-up in the middle of the straight. -Mission Nine- 1 Lap Time Attack: Take as many shortcuts as possible using jumps to cut corners! Character: Pico Time to beat: 33 seconds Difficulty: Moderate/Hard This is really difficult for beginners because Pico is generally crap. I suggest taking as many jumps as possible. Don't try and cut the track like you were supposed to do in Mission Two of this class, you'll just die. Take the track as it goes and just hit those jumps. Side attacks are not very effective. If you're getting stuck on a certain turn, slow Pico down and then try a drift or something, usually works. Good luck. -Mission Ten- 1 Lap Time Attack: The machine you're using doesn't grip very well so use blast turns wisely. Character: Blood Falcon Time to beat: 32 seconds Difficulty: Very Hard "use blast turns wisely"...couldn't have put it better myself. Blood Falcon is really bad at this course and makes this very difficult to even get bronze. By wisely i think they mean use them all the time but not sharply. You're on Mute City's Expansion Park (Section 6.2), but here's an extra bit of guide. Boost at the start and take the first hairpin slowly, then boost afterwards and keep in the middle of the track using side attacks (blast turns) to get around the next four corners. Don't take them too fast or sharp, becuase if you hit a wall you'll be bouncing for ages and waste lots of time. Hit the green strip and do two or three right side attacks to get around the sharp turn. Because you're boosting, you'll probably need one or two side attacks on the easy long left following the turn to adjust yourself and keep in the middle (drifting doesn't do much). Do the same for the easy right turn after the straight as well. Two sharp rights follow that and i REALLY suggest that you don't hit the jump. Take the first turn wide to miss it and you should flow into the next right. Boost and follow the track around, doing one or two side attacks to the left on the turn before the jump and land on the left side of the track, hitting the speed-up, and you're done. Don't worry if you can't do it exactly how this guide does, you'll have to improvise sometimes, because even this guide just barely gets you under the time (if you do it right). Anyone with more effective strategies can e-mail them to me and you'll get acknowledgement. -Mission Eleven- 1 Lap Time Attack: The course is very narrow so choose boost locations wisely. Character: Zoda Time to beat: 25 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Hard This can actually be easy or hard depending on how you tackle the track. Zoda doesn't have the greatest grip so i suggest you boost at the start and use side-attack turns to your best ability to navigate the first part of the course. You're on Silence's Honeycomb Rink (Section 6.3) so you'll need to do a single side attack on the first two lefts you take (but take the right side of the hexagon) before the jump. If you're not too banged up before the jump and you're still boosted, take the jump (Section 6.3 explains tips on the jump part of the track) and then when you're back on the normal track, boost again and follow the track for a bit using side-attacks if necessary, then boost again and hit the jump. After that it should be simple and silver shouldn't be hard after a couple of tries. -Mission Twelve- 1 Lap Time Attack: The machine has good grip but the course is very difficult, so learn it well! Character: Jack Levin Time to beat: 34 seconds Difficulty: Easy You're as Jack! Finally, a decent character for a 1 lap time attack. Ok so you're on Mist Flow: Front and Back II which is an expert class course (Section 6.6 should have all you need to know this track well) so do as the game tells you and you'll actually do pretty well. ----------------------------- 7.3 CLASS A ----------------------------- -Mission One- High Speed Techniques: Avoid the mines and race as fast as possible! Character: Roger Buster Time to beat: 15 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate This one is not hard if you know the track a little bit. It's Fire Field's Black Track II (Section 6.5) so i suggest you read up on it because there's a part near the end with mines all in the center of the track that can really catch you off guard. You start with not much health when you start but boost all the way through (green strips are on the track). -Mission Two- Cornering Techniques - Level 4: Clear a course with a series of alternating turns! Character: Rick Wheeler Time to beat: 9.8 seconds Difficulty: Easy Again, knowing the track helps. It's Silence's Honeycomb Rink (Section 6.3) but you shouldn't have any trouble with it if you use your side attack turns and boost all the way through. Taking the jump helps too. -Mission Three- 1 Lap Time Attack: The locations where you use your boost are very important! Character: Pico Time to beat: 18.5 seconds Difficulty: Moderate The level is Red Canyon's Red Canyon (Section 6.4) which is a little change actually. Pico makes a mountain out of a molehill, as the track isn't usually very difficult. It can be done however, even if you smash into heaps of walls because of his pickup. I suggest a maximum of one side attack turn for each of the tight corners or else you'll skid into the wall anyway. Drifting is useful. -Mission Four- Hairpin Turns 6: Make the best use of this light machine's attributes! Character: Octoman Time to beat: 10 seconds Difficulty: Hard/Very Hard You might recall in Octoman's profile i mentioned a certain A-Class mission. Well, this is the one. A simple piece of Silence's Silence (Section 6.4) for a decent character, now made unnecessarily difficult by a very tricky-to-handle machine. I've played this mission so many times and cannot get below 9.76 seconds. The only suggestions i can give you is that you don't even try the side attack turn on the hairpins (including the final one). Just boost at the start and drift a hard left into the wall, rebound off the back wall and continue down the straight (side attack turning to straighten yourself if necessary) then drift the final left turn into the wall, bounce off the other wall and boost to the finish. Good luck. -Mission Five- Chicane 1: Try to find a direction route without having to turn left and right. Character: Michael Chain Time to beat: 10.5 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate A good change from the previous one. Silver's possible if you work at it. Boost at the start and release the accelerator just after you turn the first small bend before the "Chicane". Get to the left side of the track and drift right into the turn and slip through the straight (boosting again). Then release the accelerator again and drift right into the final straight and smash the accelerator on as quick as possible. This is all about how you take those two turns while still keeping your speed up. Btw you're on White Land's Flower (Section 6.3 has an advanced way of taking that turn, it's a little quicker but trickier to get right) but i think i've pretty much covered it there. It's just a bit harder with Chain. -Mission Six- Cornering Techniques - Level 5: Clear a course with tight corners in a machine with poor grip. Character: John Tanaka Time to beat: 13.5 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate The level is Port Town's Port Town II (Section 6.4) and that means an 'S' bend. However, Tanaka isn't too bad of a racer and this shouldn't pose much of a problem. Boost all the way through and use two or three side attack turns around the tight bends. Be careful not to smack into the wall near the end, because you'll die easily (i reiterate my hatred towards the unrealistic bouncing off walls in this game) so go slower if necessary and keep yourself steady with side attacks. Silver is achievable. -Mission Seven- Hairpin Turns 7: Learn to use the special attributes of this heavy machine. Character: Billy Time to beat: 10 seconds Difficulty: Hard Same part of track as Mission Four but not as difficult. Still very hard to negotiate that first left-right turn with another tricky machine, except you can actually slip through the middle with Billy after boosting at the start. Not too hard to do if you've done well in Mission Five. Also be careful not to bounce stupidly off the wall after the first turns. -Mission Eight- Hairpin Turns 8: It's important to take these back-to-back hairpin turns as one big corner. Character: Captain Falcon Time to beat: 10.5 seconds Difficulty: Moderate Notice the lack of exclamation marks in A-Class compared to the rest up to now? Oh well, you're on Illusion's Abyss Drop (Section 6.3) so remember not to fall off. Basically all you need to do is boost at the start, turn the first corner, do two or three side-attack turns to the right on the next turn and then release the accelerator and do a couple of left side attack turns on the next one. Then boost and head easily to the finish. Silver's possible. -Mission Nine- 1 Lap Time Attack: The machine's grip is poor so use blast turns to maneuver the curve. Character: Dr.Stewart Time to beat: 20.5 seconds Difficulty: Easy Port Town's Forked Road II is all about knowing where to go. Since you start with boost, boost instantly and take the jump, but head off to the left and land near the speed-up. Turn and side-attack (or blast turn as they say) to the right and take the jump, heading straight this time. Then at the forked road, take the left part (it'll be the easier one to take from where you're coming from) of the track and continue (always boosting). DON'T hit the speed up because chance are you'll be bouncing off the walls all the way through the narrow strip and the doc hasn't got a good Body. Take the next right how you wish and keep boosting to the next jump. Go as left as you think necessary and land in the corner and side-attack to the right to finish. Practice a few times and Silver's easily yours. -Mission Ten- 1 Lap Time Attack: Try to run a straight line by drifting in this hard-to-turn machine. Character: Samurai Goroh Time to beat: 21 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate For the experienced racer, this is no problem. Ignore what the description says, it complicates things. You're on Silence's Box Rink II (Section 6.6) so it's a little trickier than the original one, but just boost all the way and use your side-attack turns well and you should be fine, but i suggest you let go of the accelerator on a few of the tighter bends like the final one. -Mission Eleven- 1 Lap Time Attack: The most important spot is the rumble strip just prior to the last turn. Character: Baba Time to beat: 26.5 seconds Difficulty: Easy You're in a good machine, so it's all about knowing the track. This time it's White Land's Flower (Section 6.3) and the only really tricky part is the most important spot that the description mentions...but if you've done Mission Five pretty well, it should be a breeze with a better racer. Silver's possible. -Mission Twelve- 1 Lap Time Attack: The spots where you use boosts will make the difference in this race. Character: King Meteor Time to beat: 31 seconds Difficulty: Hard This one's just annoying. It is possible to get under 30 seconds if you don't get frustrated by going slow in places and crashing all the time. Fire Field's Fire Field is the track (Section 6.4) and King Meteor is pretty crap. I suggest boosting at the start, staying in the middle. Then releasing the accelerator and turning the first corner slow, then boosting, then repeat for the next couple of corners until you pass the first hairpin (bottom of the map) then go slow-ish until the zig-zag area and boost again. Side attack turn around the corner with ice and then if you have any boost left, use it afterwards and take the wide turn with the green strip on it, using side-attacks to correct yourself if necessary, and boost to the finish. Practice. ----------------------------- 7.4 Class S ----------------------------- -Mission One- Chicane 2: The machine is heavy and hard to control, so use drift turns to find the straightest line possible. Character: Antonio Guster Time to beat: 9.5 seconds Difficulty: Moderate Not sure if drift turns really help if you boost at the start, so ignore the description (although if the description was helpful you wouldn't be looking at this anyway). This is very similar to Mission Five in A-Class except Antonio Guster is harder to handle. It's not too tricky, just boost at the start, take the track wide, release the accelerator after the small right and swerve in with a couple of right side-attack turns, then hit the accelerator and do a couple more side-attack to the right on the next turn, and then boost to the finish. Be careful of that final turn though, Michael Chain can take it easier than Antonio can. -Mission Two- Cornering Techniques - Level 6: Make your way through the minefields and hit the jump! Character: Draq Time to beat: 14 seconds Difficulty: Moderate Takes a bit of practice to get right this one. You're on Silence's Silence (Section 6.4) and you basically have to do what the description says if you want to finish under 14 seconds. Boost at the start and do a side-attack to the left to make the first turn. Take it easy up the next part and boost again. The next bit is all about aim. You have to drift Draq just right so that he goes in between the mines. It's not really that hard once you get the hang of it. Anyway, go through the mines and left side-attack to hit the jump. Boost again and do some mid-air drifts or side-attacks to land on track again. Take the last couple of turns as well as you can. -Mission Three- Cornering Techniques - Level 7: Keep a close eye on your Energy Meter. You only have enough energy to boost once! Character: Clash Time to beat: 21 seconds Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Here's one of the reasons you never race with Crazy Bear. Because it takes 21 seconds to race through a third of Fire Field's Fire Field track (Section 6.4). It's more annoying that difficult, because you're going so slow the whole time. I don't suggest boosting if you just want bronze, focus on getting through the track without blowing up. Alright, the only time you should take your finger off the accelerator is maybe on the second turn, when you're still recovering from the first one. Just keep going, use side-attack turns to negotiate corners and don't look at your speedo or the time, it's a distraction thinking you're not going to make it when it isn't that difficult to do so. -Mission Four- Cornering Techniques - Level 8: Keep a close eye on your Energy Meter. Clear a narrow course with a hard-to-turn machine! Character: Blood Falcon Time to beat: 14.5 seconds Difficulty: Moderate This one isn't as tricky as the other Blood Falcon missions you've encountered have been. You're on Red Canyon's Peak Jump but don't worry cause the jump isn't in this. Now don't panic, but we're actually not going to boost at the start of this one. Ok so just take it easy, going your normal speed at the start, then when you reach the corner, swerve right and do two side-attack turns to the right, then immediately do two or three (depending where you're positioned) side-attack turns to the left to get back on track. Now boost and navigate the easy turns with a side-attack in the correct direction so you don't slide away. Boost again, take the jump and you're done! -Mission Five- 1 Lap Time Attack: Run the oldest circuit with the latest machine. Character: Rick Wheeler Time to beat: 15 seconds Difficulty: Easy Something fun Nintendo wanted to do i guess. And why not. A simple track, Mute City I (Section 6.4) hasn't got many difficulties, just the last turn: take it wide and use your side-attacks to make it. Boost all the way through, take the jump and you'll be fine. Silver's easy. -Mission Six- 1 Lap Time Attack: Conquer Port Town, Captain Falcon's home turf! Character: Captain Falcon Time to beat: 25 seconds Difficulty: Easy Some nice changes. The track is Port Town II (Section 6.4) so take it basically how the guide says it. Don't take the jump at the start and don't boost on the last turn if you want Silver. -Mission Seven- 1 Lap Time Attack: A good strategy is to run up on the guard beam corner. Character: Jody Summer Time to beat: 30 seconds Difficulty: Moderate White Land II (Section 6.4) and a fairly simple track with a good racer. The hint given basically means cut the two hairpins by driving through the circular guard beams that take your health. Everything else in the track shouldn't be a problem. -Mission Eight- 1 Lap Time Attack: Be wary of your Energy Meter. Character: Zoda Time to beat: 21.5 seconds Difficulty: Easy/Moderate The description tells you to watch your health because Zoda has an E ranked body and you're on Fire Field's Wreckage Circuit II (Section 6.7) which can destroy you easily if you can't control Zoda well. My only extra tip for Zoda is that you release the accelerator on the corner before the green strip. Other than that, use your side-attack turns. -Mission Nine- 1 Lap Time Attack: The way you handle the tight corners of the last half of the track will make the difference! Character: Lisa Brilliant Time to beat: 28.8 seconds Difficulty: Moderate/Hard Sand Ocean (Section 6.4) is the track and it's a little tricky with Lisa. Boost at the start and do a couple of right side-attack turns on the first bend to make. Continue and release the accelerator near the second tight bend and do three left side-attacks when whack the boost on again. Head down straight, turn the corner with right side-attacks and boost again. Boost all around the large bend, using side-attacks to the left to keep you from heading wide. Then take it easy on the large bend, release the accelerator and a few right side-attacks should do it. Then boost to the end. -Mission Ten- 1 Lap Time Attack: There are no excessively difficult areas. Character: Jack Levin Time to beat: 20.3 seconds Difficulty: Easy The track is Big Blue's Big Blue (Section 6.4) and the only problem seems to be the very limited time you have. However, Jack is a great racer and the track is not difficult so Bronze is easy. -Mission Eleven- 1 Lap Time Attack: Beware of the jump that follows the 360-degree loop! Character: Samurai Goroh Time to beat: 33 seconds Difficulty: Hard Probably the hardest mission of S class. Samurai Goroh navigating Red Canyon's Peak Jump II (Section 6.7). Boost at the start and drift around the corner (side-attack turn near the end of it) and head down. Release the accelerator and do a couple of left side-attacks to get around that bend. Go normally and hit the speed-up. Make sure to drift a bit here making sure you don't smack into the left wall around the bend. Hit the jump but don't boost. Before you reach the tricky corners, head to the left of the track, then swerve right at the corner and do a right side-attack. Do a left one after the turn to get back on track. The next bit is the hardest part. This really sharp turn tests even the best machines. Go slow-ish (over 650km/h) and drift wide around the bend. Just before you hit the jump, speed up a little. Continue and boost at the first straight you see, then hit the jump and boost again to the finish. -Mission Twelve- 1 Lap Time Attack: Clear the double-hairpin turn with the most hard-to-handle machine! Character: Black Shadow Time to beat: 36 seconds Difficulty: Moderate I actually got Silver on my first try here. The track is Illusion's Abyss Drop II (Section 6.7) which i also hadn't played on before (albeit i crashed once before getting the Silver). Boost at the start and use your side-attack turns to negotiate the first two major turns. Boost after the second turn and run along the straight (either side will do, boost again when necessary) then side-attack a few times to the left to make the turn. Ok this bit may take some practice. Release the accelerator after the next right and take the tight turn wide, side-attacking to the right as much as necessary. Go as wide to the right as possible and take the first hairpin turn with lots of side-attack turns (don't go very fast) and boost afterwards. When you start turning to the left, hit the brake and take the next turn (probably the hardest hairpin in the game) sloooowly and carefully. The rest is simple and you can boost and go as fast as possible. Congrats! Zero Test Completed! ******************************************************************************* 8.0 Time Attack Records ******************************************************************************* Well, this section is actually going to be a records section for other people to show their times. Basically if you have a few wicked times (or an entire set) then just e-mail me and tell me the times and i'll put them up here (provide a name as well). Also e-mail the pics in a .rar or .zip file for verification. For now, the times you see below are mine, but i'm not much of a time trial person so i can bet my times will be beaten easily. COMING SOON: I'm also planning to do records for Zero Test as well so get your times ready soon. ----------------------------- 8.1 BRONZE CUP ----------------------------- --Mute City: Tradition Park-- Best Time: 1'30'57 Best Lap: 0'16'03 --Red Canyon: Junction-- Best Time: 1'16'25 Best Lap: 0'13'98 --Mist Flow: Clip Oval-- Best Time: 2'21'47 Best Lap: 0'26'88 --Lightning: Volute-- Best Time: 2'37'64 Best Lap: 0'30'86 --Fire Field: Blast Track-- Best Time: 1'23'85 Best Lap: 0'15'33 --Mute City: Tradition Park II-- Best Time: 1'38'87 Best Lap: 0'17'52 --Red Canyon: Junction II-- Best Time: 1'24'43 Best Lap: 0'16'24 --Mist Flow: Clip Oval II-- Best Time: 2'24'18 Best Lap: 0'27'19 --Lightning: Volute II-- Best Time: 2'59'59 Best Lap: 0'34'83 --Fire Field: Blast Track II-- Best Time: 1'39'23 Best Lap: 0'18'71 ----------------------------- 8.2 SILVER CUP ----------------------------- --Silence: Box Rink-- Best Time: 1'29'71 Best Lap: 0'15'94 --Sand Ocean: Caterpillar-- Best Time: 2'09'87 Best Lap: 0'24'36 --Mute City: Expansion Park-- Best Time: 2'07'94 Best Lap: 0'23'96 --Big Blue: Slip Highway-- Best Time: 2'35'74 Best Lap: 0'29'65 --Mist Flow: Front & Back-- Best Time: 1'58'41 Best Lap: 0'22'75 --Silence: Box Rink II-- Best Time: 1'34'02 Best Lap: 0'18'01 --Sand Ocean: Caterpillar II-- Best Time: 2'22'19 Best Lap: 0'26'66 --Mute City: Expansion Park II-- Best Time: 2'12'67 Best Lap: 0'24'39 --Big Blue: Slip Highway II-- Best Time: 2'39'43 Best Lap: 0'30'99 --Mist Flow: Front & Back II-- Best Time: 2'24'01 Best Lap: 0'27'23 ----------------------------- 8.3 GOLD CUP ----------------------------- --Port Town: Forked Road-- Best Time: 1'32'91 Best Lap: 0'17'74 --Silence: Honeycomb Rink-- Best Time: 1'20'01 Best Lap: 0'14'65 --White Land: Flower-- Best Time: 2'01'62 Best Lap: 0'22'90 --Fire Field: Wreckage Circuit-- Best Time: 1'44'86 Best Lap: 0'19'75 --Red Canyon: Peak Jump-- Best Time: 1'59'72 Best Lap: 0'23'07 --Illusion: Abyss Drop-- Best Time: 2'06'78 Best Lap: 0'24'10 --Port Town: Forked Road II-- Best Time: 1'26'28 Best Lap: 0'16'61 --Silence: Honeycomb Rink II-- Best Time: 1'45'55 Best Lap: 0'19'53 --White Land: Flower II-- Best Time: 1'48'26 Best Lap: 0'20'12 --Fire Field: Wreckage Circuit II-- Best Time: 1'46'14 Best Lap: 0'20'42 --Red Canyon: Peak Jump II-- Best Time: 2'20'62 Best Lap: 0'25'82 --Illusion: Abyss Drop II-- Best Time: 2'17'77 Best Lap: 0'26'06 ----------------------------- 8.4 PLATINUM CUP ----------------------------- --Mute City: Mute City I-- Best Time: 1'09'75 Best Lap: 0'12'43 --Big Blue: Big Blue-- Best Time: 1'48'19 Best Lap: 0'19'53 --Silence: Silence-- Best Time: 1'42'53 Best Lap: 0'18'44 --Port Town: Port Town II-- Best Time: 1'54'20 Best Lap: 0'21'58 --Red Canyon: Red Canyon-- Best Time: 1'15'64 Best Lap: 0'14'39 --Sand Ocean: Sand Ocean-- Best Time: 2'20'21 Best Lap: 0'26'06 --White Land: White Land II-- Best Time: 2'22'86 Best Lap: 0'27'04 --Fire Field: Fire Field-- Best Time: 2'29'69 Best Lap: 0'27'59 ----------------------------- 8.5 CHAMPIONSHIP ----------------------------- --Mute City: Championship-- Best Time: 1'57'36 Best Lap: 0'22'28 There you go. Times to beat the heck out of. Enjoy! ******************************************************************************* 9.0 Secrets and Unlockables ******************************************************************************* ----------------------------- 9.1 Unlockable Tracks ----------------------------- Bronze, Silver and Gold Cups: Finish Bronze, Silver and Gold Cups respectively on Grand Prix mode in any difficulty to unlock the tracks. Platinum Cup: Finish the Bronze, Silver and Gold Cups on Novice and Standard difficulties. The Platinum Cup contains some of the original tracks from F-Zero on Super Nintendo, revamped. Illusion - Abyss Drop: Play through Gold Cup on Standard difficulty a few times (3 or 4 tops) and this track will replace Red Canyon's Peak Jump stage. Illusion - Abyss Drop II: Similar to the previous one except play through Gold CUp on Expert difficulty a few times. Mute City - Championship: Finish Bronze, Silver and Gold cups on any difficulty. ----------------------------- 9.2 Unlockable Modes ----------------------------- Time Attack/Training: Finish one race on any Grand Prix Cup on any difficulty Zero Test: Finish any Cup on any difficulty in Grand Prix Zero Test - B,A and S classes: Finish C,B and A classes respectively on Zero Test (that one should be obvious :P) ----------------------------- 9.3 Unlockable Racers ----------------------------- Astro Robin: Finish Jack Levin's story Big Fang: Win the Silver Cup on Novice difficulty Black Bull: Finish Black Shadow's story Blood Hawk: Win the Platinum Cup on Expert difficulty Crazy Bear: Win the Platinum Cup on Standard difficulty Death Anchor: Finish Zoda's story Deep Claw: Win the Gold Cup on Novice difficulty Elegance Liberty: Finish Rick Wheeler's Story Great Star: Get up to $2,550,000,000 on Rick Wheeler's story Green Panther: Win the Gold Cup on Standard difficulty Hyper Speeder: Get up to $2,550,000,000 on Zoda's story Iron Tiger: Win the Bronze Cup on Standard Difficulty King Meteor: Get up to $2,550,000,000 on Black Shadow's story Little Wyvern: Get up to $2,550,000,000 on Lisa Brilliant's story Mad Wolf: Finish all of the missions in S-Class in Zero Test Mighty Hurricane: Win the Platinum Cup on Novice difficulty Mighty Typhoon: Win the Bronze Cup on Expert difficulty Moon Shadow: Finish all of the missions in C-Class in Zero Test Night Thunder: Finish all of the missions in B-Class in Zero Test Panzer Emerald: Finish Lisa Brilliant's story Queen Meteor: Get up to $2,550,000,000 on Samurai Goroh's story Red Gazelle: Win the Gold Cup on Expert difficulty Sonic Phantom: Finish all of the missions in A-Class in Zero Test Space Angler: Finish the Bronze Cup on Novice difficulty Super Piranha: Win the Silver Cup on Expert difficulty Twin Noritta: Get up to $2,550,000,000 on Captain Falcon's story White Cat: Finish Jodie Summer's story Wild Boar: Win the Silver Cup on Standard difficulty Wonder Wasp: Finish all 8 stories on Story Mode ----------------------------- 9.4 Miscellaneous Secrets ----------------------------- Under construction... ******************************************************************************* 10.0 Frequently Asked Questions ******************************************************************************* None as such :) E-mail me if you have any questions about the game or are unsure of something in my guide. ******************************************************************************* 11.0 Acknowledgements ******************************************************************************* Nintendo for keeping the F-Zero series alive All the fans of F-Zero for the same reason My laptop for working GameFAQs for being the #1 gaming information site, cheers!