AeroGauge “an ill conceived travesty” Introduction Controls Game Modes Tracks Techniques Machines and Racers Introduction Released on December 19th 1997 in Japan by ASCII, this is a futuristic racing game for up to two players. Clearly the game was released early to try and beat F Zero X to the market. Anticipation for F Zero X had been built for months since Space World, and ASCII obviously realized that their mastery of the N64 hardware could not compete with Nintendo. This is probably why the game has such a tiny amount of tracks compared to other games. It seems that they spent more time on the world building aspect of the game as the manual is completely packed with information about the pilots and their machines. The in game models and menus also feature all sorts of sci-fi decorations. Aside from 4 character bios all of this information was even translated for the western release of the game. ASCII even took up a whole page in the game’s Japanese manual to advertise their own controllers, and another page to advertise a game boy game carry case so even they knew that the game was crap. AearoGauge is a one of the N64’s legendary kusoge. It is noted for its poor controls, terrible amount of pop-up and only having 6 tracks! The British publication, N64 magazine gave the game 10% in issue 17, calling it “an ill conceived travesty” and “a real stinker of a Wipeout clone with pop-up, cheating opponents and terrible controls”. Considering the game cost 55 pounds when new it was pretty much daylight robbery. It was listed as one of the worst N64 games alongside the hallowed ranks of Jeopardy (9%), Power Rangers Light Speed Rescue (9%), Mortal Kombat Mythologies (9%) and Carmageddon 64 (8%) Even Superman 64 scored better at 14%, which I think is a bit harsh on AeroGauge; Martin Kitts was obviously having a bad day when he reviewed it. However after playing several other games released on the system at the same time, I feel that AeroGauge is probably the best of a bad bunch. MRC Multi Racing Championship was also released in 1997 in Japan and it only features 3 tracks! Just like AeroGauge it also has a brutal set of AI racers who fly off into the distance never to be seen again. Only by racing perfectly can you hope you to beat even the first race. In order to even beat the easy mode you need to master the drift boost system and have a perfect racing line. Story In 2063, the IFA (International Formula Association) the largest racing organization in the world, is operating a Master Formula racing series, also known as F-MAr. The Association decides to start a new series, called Sky Step (SS) Class, using Aeromachines equipped with bioreactors that enable them to fly through the stratosphere. One purpose of this series is to publicize the capabilities of Aeromachines. There are safety standards that must be observed, but otherwise, the machines are not governed by rigorous regulations. The SS Class series beings in 2065. The races are held in various sections of Asia, where many nations have merged. The Definition of an Aeromachine is a vehicle without wheels that is equipped with at least one bioreactor, and can float in the stratosphere. AeroGauge generally refers to the spatial orbit traveled by Aeromachines. Controls A button – Accelerate B button –Brake, reverse C Down – Change the camera view Start button – Open the pause menu R Trigger – Change the colour of your machine on the selection screen. Z Trigger – Hold this and push left or right on the 3D Stick to drift. 3D Stick – Steer, fly up and down Game Modes Grand Prix Races are decided in two sections. First you do two time trial laps. Next the main 3 lap race starts, with your position determined by your lap time in the time trial. One Match Mode A one shot race against the computer. VS Mode- For up to 2 players. If you can find other muppet to play this game with you. Time Attack – Can record ghost data to a memory pak, so you can virtually see the ghost of your wasted time lost from playing this game. Techniques Boost Starts You can get a boost start if you hold down the A and B buttons together before the race starts. When the announcer says “go” let go of B. If you release it at the correct time you will get a boost start. Drift Boosting Drift boosting is the most important technique in the game. If you don't do it, you will never catch up to the other racers. The manual explains it poorly, so it's no wonder magazine reviewers at the time thought the game was unfair. Even though it is an essential technique in the game it is still difficult to do well. Boosting looks really weird in this game, and if done incorrectly will stop your craft dead in it's tracks. Hold Z and A Turn left or right sharply After the camera begins to change angle release A Quickly hold A again If you release A too early then you ship will just stop and fall to the ground in shame. The same will happen if you release it too late. Watch for the camera begining to change it's angle before releasing A. If you want to cancel a boost, to reduce your temperature gauge, press the B button. You need to do boost as much as possible to catch up with the AI, the best time to do it is usually on corners. However it is possible to beat this game on easy mode with boost starts on every race and few drift boosts on every track to take first place. If you take first place three times you are very likely to beat the game on easy mode as there are only four tracks. Flying Your speed on the ground is much slower than in the air, so you want to take off as soon as possible. However on an incline such as a slope or tube you can reach the maximum speed threshold if you drift boost while your machine’s flames are red. If you then cancel the boost you will still keep the speed, meaning that inclines are some of the best places in the game to catch up to your opponents. In a tube you can also pull back slightly on the 3D stick to gain speed at the expense of control. When flying hold Z and push up and down to increase the speed at which you gain or loose altitude. Each machine has different accelerations and max speeds, so choose your racing line dependent on your machine. Boost until your engine starts cooking, your rivals will take no prisoners. Cheating scum. Your radiator temperature is displayed to the right of the screen. This is raised by boosting, if it is too high you will not be able to boost until your radiator cools. Your machines shield strength is displayed along the bottom of the screen. If you take too much damage by hitting the side of the tracks you will retire. You can go out of bounds on any corner, particularly at corners with 90 degree angles. Stop your machine perpendicular to the wall, with two thirds of your machine sticking out of the corner, turn slowly into the wall, once you are halfway through the wall, begin turning towards the corner to break through the wall. This is really only useful on one track however, Neo Speed Way. The game awards you points in the following way 1st 10 points 2nd 7 points 3rd 5 points 4th 3 points 5th 2 points 6th 1 point 7th 0 points 8th 0 points In order to proceed through the races you need a certain number of points 2nd race - 1 point 3rd race - 4 points 4th race - 11 points Tracks There are only 6 tracks in the game, 4 are unlocked at the start. If you beat the first 4 tracks on easy mode you will be able to see the credits. 1.Canyon Rush Get a boost start and take off. On the slope section using the Z Trigger to avoid the ground Drift boost once on the straight. In the first tube gain speed by flying into the right hand wall Be careful of the cliffs in the next section Boost/Take the last corner as tight as possible to overtake the AI. Called Daguragu in the Japanese version this is a "Sky Steppe" Stage. 2.Bikini Island Get a boost start and take off. Grind the tube wall to the left The first 90 degree turn is very sharp, be careful. You can grind the banks to gain speed or just take the turns tightly. Grind the following tube walls to gain even more speed. 3.Chinatown Get a boost start and take off. Enter the tunnel and prepare for the sharp left at the end After the hall prepare for a sharp right, then a sharp left The turns in the city are right, left, right, right Boost as much as you can in the city sections or fly over the buildings After the red tunnel is another city section with a sharp left In the shrine gate tunnel fly down to enter the pit lane This track is known as Cinepolis 15124 in the Japanese version. After the UK took over Hong Kong to form a world power based on free trade, the artificial island Cinepolis was built at great expense became a major trade site. This course was built to resemble the Monoco Grand Prix, a race through the city, supported by its people. 4.Neo Arena Get a boost start and take off. After boosting through the canyon use the Z trigger to avoid the signs On the half pipe grind into the wall to speed up After the open section grind the tube walls too Be careful of the ceiling as you exit the tube Boost along the last straight and bend This track is called Earth Cream Circuit in the Japanese version, because Earth sounds like Ice in katakana. It is based on a real track in Fukuoka City Japan, a circuit featuring a half pipe and diverging pit lanes. Beating this 4th track will cause the credits to roll, after only about 20 minutes of play. And people complain about modern games being too short! There are two secret tracks to unlock; Neo Speed Way – unlocked by beating GrandPrix on Intermediate will all first places finishes Chinatown Jam – unlocked by beating GrandPrix on expert with all first place finishes. Machines and Racers There are five machines available at the start of the game and 5 to unlock. I have included the pilot bios from the manual. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there who wants to make a “shocking lore you never knew about AreoGauge” video. Each machine has several stats: Speed – The maximum speed airborne speed of the machine. Steering – How much the machine can turn. Acceleration – How fast the machine can accelerate to top speed. Aero Limit – What speed the machine needs to reach in order to go airborne. Shield – The strength of the machines shields. Stability – How strongly the machine can grip the track. Temperature Gauge – How many times the machine can boost before overheating. Shinano Ibu Shinano is the only daughter of Isao Ibu, president of Imuya. Her father was dead-set against Shinano becoming an Aeromachine pilot. But the willful Shinano went ahead and signed with Plag. Mr Ibu finally yielded to his stubborn daughter, and hired her to fly for his company, but he issued a stern order to his development team "not to murder my daughter." Machine: Zero (Groove Rider) (Hornet) A genius machine designed from scratch. Equipped with a rear bottom wing, it has very good stability. Owner: Kabuya Gender female Nationality: Japan Age: 17 years old ?? He is a Brazilian Air Force pilot in active service. Other than that, absolutely nothing is known about him. Machine: Husaha (Black Lightning) It features two fighter-class jet engines and huge turn wings. Owner: Taiko Gender male Nationality: Brazilian Age: unknown Will Bonny Will is a former space shuttle crew member. Since Ocuru Word was involved in a technical tie-in with NASA, the company used its connections there to net him. He has the physical and psychological stamina to withstand the G-forces encountered when leaving Earth's atmosphere. (He is depicted as a gun man in the manual) Machine: Meteor (Shredder) It is an old design, but has unrivaled top speed. It has high durability and low weight. Owner: Ocuru Word gender male Nationality: American Age: 26 years old Drossel Jungel To ensure a supply of pilots, Linkage opened a special school for training pilots and mechanics. Drossel was in the first graduating class, and has been sitting in the cockpit throughout all stages of Avengers development. The idea behind the school was to nurture pilots who would be familiar with every detail of the machine, and who would grow together with it. Drossel is a specialist in psychology, and does research on the way the human mind reacts to extreme situations. (He is depicted as a diver in the manual) Machine: Guezzpecs (Avenger) The machine is not big or heavy, but it is equipped with an ultra-high powered jet engine. Owner: Z Mart gender female Nationality: German Age: 23 years old Hajime Ryu He is a former professional boxing champion, featherweight first class. His superb visual detection of moving objects has kept his face unpunched throughout his career. He won the champion title at age 22, and suddenly quit boxing to become a racer. When word spread that his hero, Fan Su II, switched to SS class, he too was scouted by Plag Textiles. Machine: Interceptor (Interceptor) A well-balanced machine equipped with a high-powered Schutt engine. Owner: Plag gender male Nationality: Japan Age: 23 years old Etincelle Tiffon He was formerly a mechanic for the Master Formula series of racing. As the main mechanic　he united the team. When Kildess was scouting for pilots for Gload they did not have a very high threshold of machines, and few pilots wanted to drive them, so it was hard to conduct tests for a long time. At that time, he knew everything about the machine down to every single bolt so it was decided that he would be the pilot. As a worker he has a quite personality, so he makes interviewers cry in desperation. (He is depicted as a fencer in the manual) Machine: Gload (Vengeance) Unlocked after beating Gran Prix on expert or intermediate with Avenger. Owner: Kildess Gender male Nationality: French Age: 27 years old Keiji Matsunaga When it was announced that an SS Class would be created, he assembled an organisation to create a machine before anyone else. After a lot of time and at great expense he collected perfect data about Aeromachines. He was a pilot assigned to the Master Forumla racing series, he burned with desire to be a pilot who could lead and coach others, and formally became a pilot. He is the number 1 pilot in the SS Class. He won many rounds of the Master Formula racing series､but never won the entire competition. He has the unfortunate name of "the fastest driver in the east". (He is depicted as a snooker player in the manual) Machine: Goliath (Dominator) Unlocked after beating Gran Prix on expert or intermediate with Black Lightning. Owner: Team Yokozuka Gender male Nationality: Japan Age: 30 years old Fan Su II He has won the Master Formula series twice. He declared his intention to join the SS Class very early, but the team he was attached to, Guezzpecs, transferred him far away even though he was a popular racer.　After fruitlessly trying to talk to his team, he broke his contract, paying a large fine and joined the SS Class. Due to his popularity the other companies scrambled for him viciously until he was acquired by team Fire Works. He is out of contact with CinePolis, where he was outrun. He is called the "driver who doesn't need repairs". (He is depicted as a chess player in the manual) Machine: DUKEM (Reaper) Unlocked after beating Gran Prix on expert or intermediate with Shredder. Owner: Hono Gender male Nationality: South Korea Age: 25 years old Charlie Wright When he was 21 he was a pilot for the UN, he served for 11 years and experienced combat 8 times. After leaving the army, be belonged to a Biplane acrobatics team where he was scouted by Zigger.　Now he is the oldest member of the SS Class pilots at 46 years old. He is known as "stone heart", he impresses spectators by using technology without unease, despite his age. Machine: Calvados (Prowler) Overheats after only a single boost! Unlocked after beating Gran Prix on expert or intermediate with Hornet. Owner: Zigger Gender male Nationality: American Age: 46 years old. N64 Control Pad Machine Unlocked after getting a lap time ending in 0.64. Pretty random and hard to unlock.