First off, let's skip the obligatory "If you told me five years ago that Sega and Nintendo would..." introduction because it's been played out and no one wants to hear it for the gazillionth time. No one could've seen this coming. Not with the rivalry Sega and Nintendo have had over the years, and not with the circumstances playing out the way they did. Instead, let's just say that this is hopefully the start of something wonderful between two companies who have just about seen it all in this industry. For those not keeping score at home, F-Zero GX is the latest installment in the critically acclaimed F-Zero series that started on the Super NES and has since made appearances on the GBA and N64. It's trademark? Blistering, undeniable speed that grabs players by the crotch and refuses to let go until it's satisfied. F-Zero GX doesn't disappoint in this regard either, as it's even faster than previous versions, not to mention being one of the most technically sound titles (both in graphics and in gameplay) on the GameCube.

Veterans of the series will be able to pick up GX very fast, as the majority of the mechanics remain the same. You still have the ability to use air brakes to lean into turns with the shoulder buttons, and speed boosts (which are available after the first lap of every race) are performed with the Y button. Attacking enemy crafts can be done with a 360 spin (Z Button) or a simple side attack (X Button). What's new to the game is the ability to drift through corners easier by holding down both trigger buttons, which will give you an added speed boost as you exit the turn. Before each race you can also choose the color of your vehicle as well as whether you want high acceleration or a high top speed. Of course, you can go down the middle as far as this is concerned, but there are some courses in the game that require skewing your choice either way for optimal results.

New to the series is a Story Mode, which chronicles the adventures of Captain Falcon. The FMV sequences that are used in between each of the nine chapters in Story Mode are amazingly well done, even though just about everything looks like it's made of plastic (yes, even Captain Falcon). Once you have finished one chapter, the next one is available to purchase in the Shop. While the first chapter of Story Mode teaches you the basics of how to play the game, the second chapter quickly ramps up the difficulty, as if it was someone slapping you across the face while shouting "your ass better get good, and quick." Even though Story Mode can be challenging none of the races ever seem out of the reach of the player, which shows just how good Amusement Vision is at making difficult, yet enjoyable games. Aside from the story mode and the shop, you have the game modes such as Grand Prix, Vs. battle, Time Attack as well as some off beat modes like Pilot Profiles, which lets you find out all the information the game has on the pilots that you've acquired thus far. Next to Story Mode and Grand Prix, you'll probably be spending a lot of time in the Shop. Aside from purchasing new chapters in Story Mode, you can also unlock new vehicles and parts to customize your ride to your liking. The way this works is that you attain tickets from Story Mode and Grand Prix mode that you can redeem for any items you want. The Shop combined with the game's Garage Mode lets players purchase their own parts and cars and then customize them using the decal to make each car truly unique. If that wasn't enough for you to handle, the game also supports four player split screen action without a drop in speed at all. Truly impressive.

What's also impressive is Amusement Vision's ability to create unique and utterly insane track design. Anyone who's played Daytona USA or Super Monkey Ball game can attest to the sheer brilliance of some of the levels in either game, and that talent rears its head once again in F-Zero. Although F-Zero X did an amazing job in its time of creating some of the wildest tracks, GX blows it away with courses that loop, spin and go any which way it desires. An example of this is the Lightning - Half Pipe course, which literally force drivers into several barrel rolls as you attempt to stay on course and not crashing into the deep recesses of the earth below. While there are some flat courses that could be seen as boring by comparison, there's truly no course in the game that's ever simple. Every track in the game has a different strategy to it, whether it is being able to time your jumps in Emerald Cup's Big Blue to learning the fine art of avoiding landmines to survive Sapphire Cup's Mute City. This may be a little more than daunting for some new players, but like it's been said, none of the challenges the game throws at you seem impossible to achieve.

Where this game shines the brightest is with its graphics. Quite frankly, after the bland look of F-Zero X it's refreshing to see the series once again become the standard in how a next generation game should look. Some of the backgrounds in the game defy belief when first seen. Any course in Lightning, Fire Plains or Casino really need to be seen on a big screen just to appreciate the work that has gone into them. The big city lights of Aeropolis and the giant R.O.B. hovering over Mute City really stick out in my mind whenever I think about how good the game looks. Even the more subtle locations like Sand Ocean and Green Plant still look good in their own right. What's even more staggering is that despite everything going on off the track, the game can still handle 30 highly detailed vehicles and all of the special effects that accompany them without a hint of slowdown. Personally I don't know how Amusement Vision was able to pull off such a feat when games on more powerful systems don't look half as good as this, but somehow Toshihiro Nagoshi and his team were able to do it. Best of all, F-Zero supports 16:9 widescreen mode and progressive scan mode for those video junkies out there.

If one would say that F-Zero GX is perfect though, they'd be mistaken, if ever so slightly. It's hard to have all aspects of a game keep up with each other, and only the truly great games can do it. With GX, if there was anything to fault the game on, it would be the less than stellar soundtrack.. compared to the previous games, of course. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with the music in the game. On the contrary, it's quite good, just not as good as previous F-Zero games. The same thing goes with the sound effects. They're just "there". I do have to admit that the voice work in the game is pretty funny, although I suspect it's totally unintentional.

Five years from now, if F-Zero GX isn't on the lips of every gamer when asked what was the best racing game of the past generation, I'd be mighty disappointed. Games like Gran Turismo and Rallisport Challenge may have their strengths, but F-Zero GX blows them away with a world that's teeming with personality and life, something none of its competitors can claim. When you take a spin around Mute City or Casino, you can just feel the energy when you play, which is a feeling you can't get with any other racer this generation. Even if you're not into racing games, GameCube owners owe it to themselves to pick up this game. Sega and Nintendo, together at least. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

· · · Reno