Yes, F-Zero‘s a Nintendo property, but Sega’s Amusement Vision got the best out of it with these arcade and Gamecube releases. The rollercoaster courses fly past at incredible speeds, and the custom machine creator lends longevity to the adrenaline. The story mode present in the Gamecube’s F-Zero GX is an odd inclusion that also stands as one of the most frustrating adventures in any game ever – I don’t know anybody who kept their sanity through the canyon race. 

Of course, you can’t possibly criticise an F-Zero game for having a bad story mode, especially when the sublime blend of fast reflexes and course knowledge works so well. The core thrill of boosting past 2,000 kph to blast past your opponents is enough to forgive all problems, and it’s great to see Sega doing a Nintendo game better than they ever did.

As regular readers will notice, the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers is conspicuous by its absence today, as it’s being handled superbly by Eclipse over at GamingMyWay.com. It’s still full of all the usual Carnival goodness including Old-Wizard flame-baiting, StarCraft unit statistics and much more, so head over to Gaming My Way to read this month’s top posts. Thanks for hosting it Eclipse, you’re welcome again any time!

The other thing I have to mention is that it’s sixteen years to the day since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released on Mega Drive in Europe, which makes our very own Miles “Tails” Prower sixteen years old today! Happy birthday Tails, now you’re finally a grown-up.