Get your engines revving, race fans, because Nintendo just announced two more F-Zero games are headed to the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack on October 11th. That's right, not only are we getting F-Zero: GP Legend, but Nintendo also plans on releasing F-Zero: Climax outside of Japan for the first time ever. That's exciting news, but are either of these games worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Nintendo Power, GamePro, Edge and more classic magazines to see what the critics said back when these games first came out. I sure hope you have the need for speed, because that's what you're going to get in this week's episode of Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew.


Even though F-Zero: Climax is technically a sequel to GP Legend, we're going to start with it because, unfortunately, there aren't any reviews to talk about. That's because this final entry on the Game Boy Advance never found its way outside of Japan, despite most of the text and the overbearing announcer already being in English. Released only a year after GP Legend, Climax offered fans a surprisingly packed game with sharper graphics, better course designs and tons of modes to playthrough. It even has its own course creator, which really elevates Climax over the other F-Zero games on the Game Boy Advance. But even with all this going for it, Climax under-performed at retail. Coming out not even a full year after GP Legend, there was clearly some F-Zero fatigue. It didn't help that GP Legend finally came to America only two months before the release of the Nintendo DS, so by the time Nintendo would have considered porting Climax, their focus was on new hardware, not the aging Game Boy Advance. That's a shame, because Climax is the best of the three Game Boy Advance iterations, and the fact that it took Nintendo 20 years to bring it to the U.S. and Europe is absolutely baffling. There may not be any reviews, but F-Zero: Climax is a game you should definitely play on Nintendo Switch.

If you liked the previous F-Zero title on the Game Boy Advance, Maximum Velocity, but wished that it had more story and deeper lore, then GP Legend may be the game for you. Released extremely late in the Game Boy Advance's life, this sequel is based on an anime that helps to flesh out the F-Zero world and characters. This actually plays into the mission structure, as you end up taking control of a bunch of different racers and completing their unique stories. There's an impressive amount of content here, including all kinds of ships to unlock by completing the different missions. With updated graphics, a killer soundtrack and cartridge packed with content, I always considered it to be a strong entry in the F-Zero timeline. But what did the critics say?

As you're about to find out, the magazines were extremely mixed when it came to GP Legend. With no EGM reviews to anchor us, let's go ahead and just start at the bottom and work our way up. The lowest score I could find was in the 133rd issue of Edge, which gave it a disappointing 5 out of 10. “Comparisons with Gran Turismo 4 Prologue are not completely erroneous, as F-Zero feels like a starter before the main course. There is a single-player campaign here, but it's over far too quickly. Indeed, you won't even break a sweat before you get to the Silve Cup in the expert class, and F-Zero stalwarts will feel patronized by the ease at which this short-lived tournament mode can be completed. On a positive note, F-Zero makes use of the GBA SP's clam design and controls superbly, and once the benefits of boosting and air-braking are mastered, you'll feel completely at one with your machine. However, once the short main mode is finished, all you're left with is the prospect of racing yourself for ever-quicker lap times.”

Edge may have been the harshest, but they were not the only critics disappointed by GP Legend. Game Informer shrugged when they gave it a 6.25 out of 10. Even Nintendo Power was a little iffy on it. Jessica said that “I can really appreciate that F-Zero: GP Legend isn't quite as brutally difficult as past F-Zero games. It still maintains the adrenaline-pumping speed and excitement that F-Zero fans have come to expect.” While Steve noted that the “story mode's villains are so vile that you really want to run them down in races.”

Now, it's worth mentioning that there were magazines that actually liked the game. Let's go ahead and look at GMR issue 23 to help even things out a little bit. Christian Nutt explains: “For such a tiny, underpowered system, the Game Boy Advance can provide some surprisingly intense gameplay. F-Zero: GP Legend offers racing thrills that compete with those in full-sized games. The biggest addition to the game over its SNES and GBA predecessors is a story mode. Starring the characters of the cartoon, it'll appeal most to the show's fans – and what it lacks in depth, it makes up for in clever pacing. While it may not push the series too far beyond its established bounds, GP Legend easily exceeds GBA launch title F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and provides compelling racing for fans of the game series or show – or those who simply love cruising around corners at 300 kilometers an hour.”

In case you're wondering, GamePro gave GP Legend the highest marks, but couldn't quite get themselves to give it a perfect score. Giving it a 4.5 out of 5, they said that the game “is not only a great progression from 2001's Maximum Velocity, but also an improvement – the physics are better tuned and the action moves much faster and smoother. In fact, GP Legend is probably the fastest racer on the GBA. Although graphical details have been sacrificed on behalf of blazing speeds with no faltering, everything moves so quickly, you won't even notice. Damn fast, damn challenging, and thoroughly addictive, F-Zero: GP Legend dominates the handheld circuit.”

So there you have it. It's a game that is either too easy or damn challenging, depending on who you believe. Yes, there are some contradictions in these reviews, but don't let those keep you from checking out this fantastic racer. Between this and Climax, F-Zero fans don't have a lot to complain about. Well, except for wanting a new game. I mean a proper new game. Make it happen Nintendo.