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F Zero X climax is a romhack of f zero x on n64.

It runs at NTSC (US/JAPAN) speeds which run faster than PAL (Europe/Australia version) speeds.

It has 4 new cups. These are, to my knowledge, based on the tracks from F Zero Climax, a Japan only GBA game.

The game is very difficult, and the "rubber banding" of the CPU is through the roof.

What's good ?

• New courses for those who have exhausted F Zero X
• A well made romhack with no noticeable glitches or errors

What's bad ?

• On some courses like Mist Flow and White Land I need to adjust the Contrast on my TV to really see the road, and then obviously change it back after. This is a pretty frustrating experience.
• The courses are designed in a SNES/GBA manner. What does that mean? Well, SNES/GBA (let's call this retro F Zero) is a different type of game to F Zero X and GX. Retro F Zero courses play differently. They have different features like lots of jump plates, the energy coming after the start and not before, energy with boost pads in between, and so on.

These types of mechanic just don't translate well to F Zero X. This game is more of a love letter to retro F Zero, but on X presentation, than a love letter to FZX itself. As someone who loves X and GX, but actually cannot stand retro F Zero, this was a big disappointment to me.

• CPU difficulty

The CPU is just too good. After a day or two of practice I'm able to beat all the cups on Master but at the end it felt like a chore and not the endlessly replayable fun of FZX. Some courses are basically impossible to win, and some are basically impossible to lose. I feel this is just poor design. I sometimes am boosting and see a CPU near me, not boosting, and going thru gravel faster than me. I can take some rubber banding to keep it competitive but this is just taking the mick. There's no reason that should be happening.

• too many boost pads

Another nod to retro f zero, there's just too many boost pads. The end result is you don't actually feel they're making you any faster - the "if everybody's special, nobody's special" paradox. If every second you're boosting, it doesn't ever feel like you're boosting. Note: whether in practice it MEANS you're going faster, or maintaining a higher speed, is not the point here; the point is the end result of the feel of the gameplay to the player. If you're constantly boosting your mind doesn't acknowledge that the boost is making you noticeably faster. It's a psychological thing.

This is in contrast to X, where some courses have as few as ONE (1) boost pad! Some have zero! This means a lot of strategy is involved : how you approach that boost pad, whether you use it to railboostgrind, or whatever it might be. There's infinitely more strategy in X than in Climax.

• boost pads are not Yellow

Boost pads in Climax are a sort of neon green which often blends into the track (noticeably on Illusion). I have no idea why Phillipe didn't just reuse the FZX boost pad asset which is bright yellow and impossible to miss on any track.

• can't drift

I am a pretty good FZX player who has completed all time attacks and cups on master on FZX, and I'm good at drifting. I found no Climax tracks were conducive to drifting, which I feel is a sign of bad track design, and also an effect of having modeled them after retro f zero tracks which aren't designed around the drifting mechanic.

• too niche

Some courses are only winnable thru advanced techniques. Which I am pretty good, I can't do the whole "float in the air for an entire lap then zoom back down at 2500kmph" thing. Some of these courses are so hard that you basically need to be able to do that. While the FZX community may enjoy that, all the reviews here and elsewhere seem to mention the difficulty (in a negative light) so I can only assume that this hasn't gone down well.

• have to struggle to win Cup

Since it's so hard, a typical cup result is like this :

1st 4th 17th 3rd 23rd 11th

As you can see, the course I came first in was basically impossible to lose, and the one I came 23rd in (would've been 30th if 7 cars hadn't blown up) was impossible to win.

The 4th and 3rd I've had to settle for a top 6 finish, which isn't too bad, but then the 17th and 11th I've had to kill Rival and just take my medicine with as high a position as I can get, hoping other rivals blew up too.

This makes for a pretty frustrating experience overall. I don't feel in control of proceedings. As someone used to winning everything in X, this is an off putting feeling.

I'd recommend this to veteran FZX players eager for a fresh hit of F Zero content. However bear in mind that it's fiendishly difficult and lacks the good track design of X or GX, and more resembles the SNES and GBA games in track design (the presentation and graphics are as good as F Zero X though).

This is a great hack of F-Zero X which, visually, blends very well with the original aesthetic. The new courses all play exceptionally well, and feel like official creations. The only problem is the aforementioned difficulty... I'm not sure if it's because the courses are generally flatter than X's originals, but the CPU opponents are vastly faster and more maneuverable than the player. I was never able to complete the original game, but I expect even masters of X will have difficulty completing this hack. Excellent if you're looking for an extreme challenge or more multiplayer experiences, inaccessible if you're not a master of single player!

Great interface and courses. The AI is absurdly tough though, even on easy mode. It's demoralizing to feel like 1st place is totally out of reach, please tone down the difficulty at least on Easy.

When he says the cars are faster he means WAY faster. I went from consistently winning most races on hard mode in regular F Zero X to having my best placing in the bronze cup on easy being 13th. Beyond the incredible difficulty the new tracks are definitely cool. You also can't really mess up F Zero gameplay, so no matter what I think this would be worth playing during this dearth of official F Zero content.