Well, sort of. I was a huge fan of F-Zero in the 90s and even still play the original on a SNES emulator. I was looking for another racing game but with a different twist and picked this up yesterday off Steam.
I think there are a number of people here who will find this game enjoyable. The premise is that you have to complete against a number of similar anti-mavity craft through tournaments made from 'tracks' or courses which cover every direction of the sphere. Play can be in any direction and as you progress through the tournaments the tracks get more complex and play can be blisteringly fast, especially with the use of the turbo function. You also have weapons attached to your craft which you can use to dispose of other racers.
Of course there are positives and negatives which I'll cover below.
Positives:
- Gameplay is very smooth. I have this jacked up to full graphical settings at 1920x1200 and the framerates are next to flawless.
- Great graphics with some really inventive environments from organic to space-age to industrial
- Large selection of craft to try out with different weapons and strengths
- Highly challenging gameplay - some of the later levels have many different routes of getting from start to finish
- Going in any direction and rolling is an enjoyable and dizzying experience, especially at full speed
And now for the negatives:
- Play is limited to invisible confines which your craft can't move beyond. Even though a lot of play takes place in closed, cavernous areas, in the open spaces you'll find your craft just "isnt allowed" to go far outside the playing area. This would have been an excellent addition if possible, but you do feel slightly cheated. However, as the levels progress and the game gets faster, you won't think about going outside the playing area anyway.
- There is a story attached to the game about a crumbling empire and how people compete in races to get the Ethereal Flame [whatever the hell that is] for ultimate glory and salvation. It really does feel like an afterthought and has no effect on the levels at all.
- The tracks are littered with coins and bonuses to pick up. Though they look quite impressive in their floating 3d formations, you can progress in the game without picking any up. They're quite pointless.
- My HUD has a tendency to 'disappear' map after map [unless I hit a function without realising]. This is actually a good thing since it's really cluttered and I much prefer the game without it, which shows how unnecessary it is.
- 'Easy' and 'medium' modes are just too easy. It's best to play on hard.
My advice to those still interested is not to pay too much attention to the negatives, since at its core its a very enjoyable game and you get to overlook its foibles [it's still at version 1.0]. Take a little time to get used to it and bind the keys in a way that makes you move as fast as possible through the levels, since once you get the hang of it it's a lot of fun.
Currently Steam only.
Screenshots and stuff:
http://www.pyroblazer.com
I think there are a number of people here who will find this game enjoyable. The premise is that you have to complete against a number of similar anti-mavity craft through tournaments made from 'tracks' or courses which cover every direction of the sphere. Play can be in any direction and as you progress through the tournaments the tracks get more complex and play can be blisteringly fast, especially with the use of the turbo function. You also have weapons attached to your craft which you can use to dispose of other racers.
Of course there are positives and negatives which I'll cover below.
Positives:
- Gameplay is very smooth. I have this jacked up to full graphical settings at 1920x1200 and the framerates are next to flawless.
- Great graphics with some really inventive environments from organic to space-age to industrial
- Large selection of craft to try out with different weapons and strengths
- Highly challenging gameplay - some of the later levels have many different routes of getting from start to finish
- Going in any direction and rolling is an enjoyable and dizzying experience, especially at full speed
And now for the negatives:
- Play is limited to invisible confines which your craft can't move beyond. Even though a lot of play takes place in closed, cavernous areas, in the open spaces you'll find your craft just "isnt allowed" to go far outside the playing area. This would have been an excellent addition if possible, but you do feel slightly cheated. However, as the levels progress and the game gets faster, you won't think about going outside the playing area anyway.
- There is a story attached to the game about a crumbling empire and how people compete in races to get the Ethereal Flame [whatever the hell that is] for ultimate glory and salvation. It really does feel like an afterthought and has no effect on the levels at all.
- The tracks are littered with coins and bonuses to pick up. Though they look quite impressive in their floating 3d formations, you can progress in the game without picking any up. They're quite pointless.
- My HUD has a tendency to 'disappear' map after map [unless I hit a function without realising]. This is actually a good thing since it's really cluttered and I much prefer the game without it, which shows how unnecessary it is.
- 'Easy' and 'medium' modes are just too easy. It's best to play on hard.
My advice to those still interested is not to pay too much attention to the negatives, since at its core its a very enjoyable game and you get to overlook its foibles [it's still at version 1.0]. Take a little time to get used to it and bind the keys in a way that makes you move as fast as possible through the levels, since once you get the hang of it it's a lot of fun.
Currently Steam only.
Screenshots and stuff:
http://www.pyroblazer.com
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