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F-Zero Nebula Highway

Original game : F-Zero

Platform : SNES

Author : Alejandro

Release date : 30 November 2018

Category : Complete

Patch version : 1.1.1

Modifications : G, L, T, O

Downloads : 2795

ROM Information

No-Intro Name: F-Zero (USA)
(No-Intro version 20130701-030720)
ROM/File SHA-1: D3EFD32B68F1FE37A82DB9D9929B7CA7CC1A3AF4

Hack description

F-Zero Nebula Highway is a hack of F-Zero for the Super Nintendo entertainment system, it features new courses and palettes. There is also some improvements from the original.

Features:
-All new 15 courses to race on.
-New palettes.
Miscellaneous changes:
-CPU and player sprites improved.
-Road and barriers will flash whenever a CPU hits them.
-Improvements on explosive vehicles' behaviors.
-Improvements on CPU's positions on screen according to perspective.

Even though this hack is aimed to all audiences, it can be tough for new players to play on higher classes, The unlockable master class is, as its name implies, the hardest difficulty.
It is not impossible though, the game has been balanced and tested to make every vehicle useful on different courses, the game can be completed with all playable vehicles on the hardest difficulty.

Please consider this is a complete BETA version of F-Zero Nebula Highway, this means the game is complete, but the hack will receive updates as new courses will be added, along with other features.

You must use a headerless F-Zero USA ROM to apply the patch in.

Update (12/07/2018): Version 0.1.1 has been released. This version just adds the "Player falling off" animation on practice mode.

Screenshots

Contributions

ContributorType of contributionDescription
AlejandroHacking

Reviews

Shoots For The Stars... And Succeeds!SonicMaster5192024-02-19Version 1.1.1

I should probably start this off by saying that Nebula Highway is NOT an easy hack. It's really difficult but it's hard to say it's ever unfair. All of the challenge is really fun (other than the White Land courses which can occasionally be frustrating) and there's nothing unfair about any of it. I enjoyed the huge challenges in this hack — as long as it's fair, I usually enjoy these things — but it's important to mention that a hack of this difficulty isn't for everyone. With that out of the way...

This hack is really well made. The courses look absolutely stunning and play well with their themes (Silence and Fire Field especially look really cool). The levels also are super fun; there's super cool, unique challenges that the hack presents. There are even some fun multi-path areas in some tracks to add some complexity. The courses are really enjoyable thanks to these attributes.

The difficulty is a little over the place (some tracks are much easier than others, Queen League is easier than Knight League, etc.) but it's still enjoyable. It does feel a little odd when you go from a brutal track to a much easier track, but the difficulty is still harder than the original F-Zero. It's good fun!

Overall, this hack impressed me. The aesthetics are outstanding and the way it's incorporated with the actual design of the level is cool and unique. The course design itself isn't anything too crazy, but it can prove very unique and fun at times. This is a good hack and while it probably doesn't hold a candle to something like F-Zero Hybrid, the courses are still super fan and I believe a lot of people should give this a shot.

(PS: Mute City II and Mute City III's maps slightly resemble the Dr. Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. tower. Despite this luckily being unintentional, I thought it was funny.)

Too hard but still very good!MatLab2020-04-14Version 1.1.1

Bravo! This hack is clean and made with love, you can smell it!

However... I want to say that I'm a big fan of F-Zero, and that I finished all F-Zero games at 100% in the highest difficulty (SNES,BS,X,GX,AX,MV,GPL,C), so you know how much difficulty I'm not afraid of and how capable I am of finishing races that are as difficult as the official ones.

I would like to point out that I find some races much more difficult than others, which I think creates imbalance in the flow of the leagues. I would like to point out that I finished the 3 leagues in difficulty "Expert" only, I can't pass the following races in "Master" at all... and I had a lot of trouble passing them in "Expert":

__In Knight League (GP1):

1-2 Death Wind 1: For me this is the most difficult race in the league.If it was in last position it would be more consistent. Moreover, because of the diagonal passage with sand on both sides, at the end of the race (which is very difficult to pass at the last lap when there are competitors and annoying cars, compacted in this narrow corridor), it is more difficult than Death Wind 2 which is in GP3. Maybe we should invert Death Wind 1 and Death Wind 2?

1-3 White Land 1: the race is very pleasant to play, the challenge is original, however the author decided not to put a charging zone (there is one but it's ridiculously small, so unusable in my opinion).So, if you lose too much energy (and you blink and don't go fast enough to drive properly), you can be forced to give up because continuing with so little energy prevents you from finishing the race without getting beaten, and if you decide to stop in the small charging zone, many cars will overtake you, and that's the end of you. Please, Alejandro, put a normal charging zone!

__In Queen League (GP2):

1-2 Sand Ocean: This is the toughest race of the entire game for me! I had to repeat the league many times to pass it.It's so hard, that the only time I managed to pass it, I have done all the following races of the league, the first time, without knowing them (so much easier compared to this demonic race). What makes this race my nemesis is that: at the end there is a very narrow zig-zag corridor. It is not difficult to pass because if you position yourself well, you can even go straight.However: if you have the misfortune to have one or more cars in front of you (and sometimes also behind you, which often happens on the last lap) at that moment... everybody gets crushed, you bounce around, and very often, I lost so much energy all of a sudden, that I died instantly... I was very, very frustrated.

__In King League (GP3):

1-1 White Land 2: This is the toughest race in the league for me! So much so that after trying many times, I managed to pass it once, and then I did all the other races after that on the first try, so much easier than this one. The reason: the same as for his little brother White Land 1, an unusable charging zone, which makes the difficulty much higher than if there was a classic charging zone. Please Alejandro, change that!

I found the rest of the game to be of a very high quality, because despite these frustrating races I had a very intense and enjoyable time that reminded me of the thrill of the original F-Zero. It's a very good hack for me. Thanks a lot!

P.S.: I want to thank you again Alejandro for the wonderful tutorial you made about the F-Zero level editor (Fuzee, for those who don't know).It's incredibly well explained, it really makes me want to get started (again)!

P.S. 2: Sorry if my English is not very good, it's not my native language.

To hardhvaughnster2019-04-03Version 1.1.1

I love the idea of his hack. I've been playing F-Zero scene I was a kid and I've played all the other hacks of this game. This hack has great ideas but its way to hard to be fun!!!

A hack that's well worth playing!MKDSmaster912018-12-11Version 1.1.1

The difficulty of this hack is well balanced and the tracks are well designed IMO. Another cool thing I like about this hack is the new palettes. I give this hack a perfect score 10 out of 10!

Mixed feelings about this hack...xZabuzax2018-12-07Version 1.0

I used to play F-Zero a lot in the past, pretty cool music and gameplay, can't get wrong with that combination, I finished all the stages in Master difficulty and while is not something to be proud of because many considered that game to be easy to begin with I was still happy with it. Right now I'm out of practice but I can assure you that I can pick that game right now and still finish it in Master difficulty (probably) with a bit of practice.

This hack however... is pretty unforgiving, you need to be a freaking master to be able to pull it off. I was already struggling in the very first stage in Expert difficulty and this was a big sign for me to probably stay away from this hack, I don't have the time nor the patience anymore to become a master to be able to enjoy this type of hack. The very first stage has a lot of turns and sharp corners and when I got to the 2nd stage it got even worse, I stopped right there. I watched some youtubes videos of this hack and the stages are pretty cool but way too difficult for my taste.

For the casual gamer like myself this hack is not good, I don't mind challenging stuff but when they are kind of unforgiving then they are crossing the line, this hack is aimed towards expert peoples, they will definitely find this hack pretty good and will love the challenge it provides and because of that I will recommend this hack for those type of people.

"Balanced and tested". Yeah, sure...Diddy64wii2018-12-04Version 1.0

Tracks with many cramped roads are a bad idea in the first F-Zero, period. Because brown ships are nearly unavoidable during these portions after reaching the second lap. Is it really so hard to understand that?

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

This hack is so cheap and unforgiving that I stopped playing after losing a lot of lives at Sand Ocean: Many cramped areas, magnets placed RIGHT AFTER some of those areas, overabundance of successive sharp turns...

And why Silence is so darn long? This is only the fifth track of the game (out of fifteen), it shouldn't take an eternity to clear that stage...

If you're extremely curious about Nebula Highway, just use an "unlimited lives" Game Genie code, or only race in Practice mode. This RomHack is challenging in a bad way.