BS F-Zero 2 (thing)

Name: BS F-Zero 2
Format: Super Famicom via the Satellaview
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Year: Unsure on this, but between 1995 and 2000 (these were the dates which the Satellaview broadcast between)

After the storming success of F-Zero, the Mode 7 based racing game that was one of the launch titles for the SNES, Nintendo kept the franchise, and chose not to release any more updates until F-Zero X on the Nintendo 64, years later. At least, they didn't release any updates in the West...

The first update/sequel to F-Zero was this, released on the satellite broadcast system known as the Satellaview. See that node for details. The game was available to download from a satellite TV channel, and once players had downloaded it, it could be played at any time.

The game continues with the concept of racing really fast and trying not to blow up. Players drive anti gravity hover cars which fly at truly mind bending speeds around tight corners. There are a whole host of CPU controlled cars to race against, and the track is full of obstacles such as zones which slow you down, mines which explode when driven over, and huge jumps. The wonderful physics engine implemented in F-Zero has been kept unchanged, so there is still a huge difference between sliding round a corner perfectly, and sliding straight into the wall and exploding. The game is more of an update to F-Zero than a true sequel - the same engine is used to draw everything, although there are new tracks to race round and some excellently modeled car/jet thingies to drive/fly. The tracks are named as a follow on from F-Zero - the first track is called Mute City IV, because Mute City I-III appeared in the first game. The music for the game is as great as before, with some nice stereo effects as other racers weave past you, but really, this is more of a mission pack than anything else. There is one league (a League=6 tracks. The original F-Zero had 3 leagues) and only one difficulty setting to race with, (Ace League and Beginner difficulty*) but it will still provide you with some fun, as there is a time trial style mode.

Emulation for this game is possible, and the unchanged ROM runs on Zsnes with only a little unimportant graphical corruption (ie. the Title Screen isn't there etc.). The rom is very rare (as are all BS Roms) but a few of the bigger sites will carry it, along with a whole host of other BS ROMs. It's not the best game for the system by any means, (that honour goes to BS The Legend of Zelda) but it is still well worth a download.