Only two weeks after releasing Majora's Mask, Nintendo is back with another classic game for the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription service. Fasten your seatbelts, because today brings the launch of the Nintendo 64 racing game F-Zero X. That's the good news. Unfortunately, the bad news is that there's nothing but silence coming from the 8- and 16-bit side of the service. That sucks, but it's not going to stop me from flipping through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Next Generation, Nintendo Power and more to see what critics said about F-Zero X back when it was first released. Join me for the shortest episode over of Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew.


After F-Zero proved to be one of the top-selling launch games on the Super NES, you would think that Nintendo might want to capitalize on the brand with a speedy sequel. Oddly enough, that's not what happened. It took the company seven long years to come up with a sequel -- F-Zero X. This eagerly-anticipated second installment radically changed the art style and level designs, creating a much faster racing game that finally offered true multiplayer support. The result was a well-received game that was more than capable of keeping with Sony's wipEout series.

Even with the lengthy hiatus and added competition, the critics immediately fell in love with F-Zero X. After being somewhat negative about the Nintendo 64's lineup, Next Generation fell in line with Nintendo's racer, giving it a perfect 5 out of 5 and calling it a game "that has to be played to be believed." "F-Zero impresses on all levels, from the rockin' guitar tunes to the insanely addictive Grand Prix races, the game is a blast."

Nintendo Power also gushed over the sequel, raving that "the speed, variety and play control put F-Zero in a class all by itself." They loved the game's incredible sense of speed, the out-of-this-world tracks, the high-velocity action and the "silky play control." One of the few complaints was that the poorly detailed backgrounds could have been better.

You saw similar scores across the board, with Edge giving F-Zero X an 8 out of 10 and it getting a 4.5 out of 5 from GamePro. All four of Electronic Gaming Monthly's critics gave the game a 9, with Crispin calling it "a super-fast, super-intense racer -- an equal mix of style and solid gameplay." Shawn also loved the game, specifically singling out the challenge. However, much like Nintendo Power, he was a little miffed by the visuals: "Graphically, I could've been more impressed, but I guess if they're going for an old-school look I can understand." Wait ... were they going for an old school look? What does that even mean in 1998? Actually, don't answer that. Just download F-Zero X and enjoy, because all the critics agree that it's a great game.