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When Nintendo surprised its community with the release of F-Zero 99 on Nintendo Switch Online, we honestly weren't quite expecting it to be as good as it is. And yet, demonstrating a clever twist on the classic SNES title, it wound up being what we'd argue is the best of the '99' range on Switch, calling it a "brilliant take" in our review.
Now that the game has been out for nearly two weeks, we suspect that many of you have honed your racing skills considerably and have maybe even snatched 1st place on the odd occasion. We'd love to know for sure though, and it seems Nintendo itself does too.
So, we've devised a short, snappy poll to find out whether or not you've managed to come in first place yet. It's not an easy feat, either, so if you've been struggling to climb the ranks since launch, then be sure to check out our guide which contains a multitude of beginner and advanced tips that'll surely give your vehicle a much-needed boost.
Have you come first in F-Zero 99 yet? (2,616 votes)
- Yep, multiple times!
- I've managed it once
- Not yet, but I'm getting so close
- I'm nowhere near! *flips desk*
- I haven't played it at all yet
Leave a comment below with your thoughts on F-Zero 99 so far. What's your favourite track? Most frustrating moment? Let us know.
Comments 84
Not yet, but I think I've found the key to aggresive driving, which is what I need to get 1st place. The most I've gotten is 9th.
Lol… nope! Not even close
My best was 4th after staying in first for a few seconds
Anybody know the player numbers for this game?
Since Nintendo doesn't have charts like Steam it's hard to gauge exactly how many active players are currently playing.
Fzero pinball
I have made it all the way to the high score of 54th! Yeah, that's all. I am bad at driving IRL too, so..
I think 16th is the best I got, and even that was sort of a fluke, mostly I tend to be in the 30-40 range, if I can actually make it to the end of the track in the first place.
I need to learn some manners on the track before I can really hope for anything better.
A whole whopping one time. It's really difficult to get ahead and stay there, and it's really difficult to catch up when you fall behind too. I dunno how people manage to get first so often.
I typically manage to get in the top 25 at least though, and the top 10 relatively often too. But number 1, no, only that one time, only one race. Getting first place in an actual cup is a fever dream lol.
I've definetly come 12th but I seem to have a memory of me coming 4th.
Maybe that was a dream though, a rather odd dream albeit. Coming 4th of all places! Maybe my brain's just being realistic😂
I haven't been 1st or even top 3. I placed 4th a couple times on White Land 1 though. I've completed Grand Prix just once, finally unlocking Silence yesterday. And everytime I played Mini Prix I've managed to complete it. And with Silence unlocked, I finally have all 7 tracks available so Far unlocked for practice. F-Zero 99 is an excellent game, easily the best of the 99 games so far. Really wish we got a new F-Zero or maybe F-Zero SNES HD with this mode.
Of course!
In the tutorial.
Got my first win today, finally. Countless 2nd places and finally got some luck. This game is amazing, can't wait for the updates to arrive.
I’ve only played 2 online rounds so far but I got around 30-something then 20-something. I’ll give it some more time soon, it’s a lot of fun if a bit chaotic.
Multiple times, but only because "multiple times" includes "twice." My average is somewhere around 40th place, not including my many crashes.
I have been 4th twice, which is the closest I have been.
Never played an F-zero game before and I'm surprised at how hooked I am on this, no where close to first place sadly 😭
I’ve come first a few times, but it’s always on Death Wind.
I am terrible at this game.
I've been 2nd or 3rd couple of times but not first. I had one race where I was first for 2nd and 3rd lap but you only need one mistake and it all goes downhill from there. Being first also means you won't get sparks or KOs so someone else has a good chance of catching up even if you don't make any mistakes. At the same time, I really like how the game is balanced. Skill gives you better chances of winning but luck also plays factor so more people have chance of winning even when there are great players mixed in.
Best I've gotten is 2nd, and 5th in a Grand Prix. Still learning Silence.
My best is 11th
Multiple time first on FZero 99 and second at a Grand Prix. But it is getting harder and harder now with S- rank, the concurrence is very aggresive
The single player mode is very fun, you have to clear each course by yourself in under a certain amount of time. The first 4 were pretty easy, but the last 3 took some serious critical thinking to figure out how to get through them fast enough
Not yet but I'll get there, just like I did multiple times in Tetris 99 (normal and Invictus) and Pac-Man 99 (which I'm sad to see go).
The trick seems to be driving to your car's strengths. The original SNES game this ain't, despite the obvious influences and tracks. So Fire Stingray isn't just automatically the best car in all situations.
Blue Falcon and Golden Fox want to play aggressive, boosting often, taking advantage of the fast recovery. Wild Goose and Fire Stingray need to pace themselves, keeping ahead of disqualification and making that last lap count.
5 times so far!
I did on day one - but i think it was more luck than anything else.
I finish a race, that right now is enough.
Because yikes.
Only once: Death Wind I with Wild Goose. I somehow managed to hold first for around three laps, with explosive ships spawning in front of me constantly. Even hit one of them toward the end, but I recovered my speed and just barely won!
I've won 21 times game is a blast to play!
In the GP mode, yes.
No, but I've probably played the game for less than an hour. There's just too many other games to play right now, and F-Zero has never been one of my favorite franchises. It's fun for what it is, but it's not a high priority for me.
I’ve come 1st once and 2nd in a Grand Prix Overall.
The amount of fun I’ve had playing this is unreal and it’s easily up there in my 2023 top 5.
Really not even considered checking it out, kind of just doesn't interest me.
I've been able to get 1st in Mute City about 12 times and Death Wind twice. Haven't tried too much in the Mini Prix or Grand Prix yet, but I've placed well in each.
2nd in my only race
Getting closer I can manage top 25 regularly often into the teens.
I've played almost 10 races and my best position was 24th so far.
An 11th when nobody else was playing, rarely higher than 20th since.
Top 50 is about my best.
Nope, not even close. I think my highest ranking so far is something like 17, though, and I was so thrilled about that! I'm not greedy, placing in the middle of the pack is enough to make me happy. Really as long as I don't crash out, I'm good lol
I’m usually top 25 with a fair amount of top 10’s. I haven’t gotten the dub just yet but it’s close. I can usually pinpoint where I went wrong, it can be a pretttttty small margin of error between 1st place and the rest of the top 25.
@russell-marlow 99
Highest has been 27th...I can't seem to top that.
@Nua What's the secret? Any good tips?
I came in 2nd once. I would be thrilled with that feat, except I was somehow in 1st for the entire final lap and someone swooped in at the last millisecond. I was soooo mad hahaha. But otherwise usually somewhere between 15-40
no....... and I doubt I ever will! If I want my F-ZERO fix, I tend to play either F-ZERO N64 or F-ZERO GX. Come on Nintendo stop stalling and just give the green light for F-ZERO Switch or Switch 2 ?!!
@braincandy101 I have experience with the SNES F-Zero, long before NSO, but really I'm using the Golden Fox's boost on Mute City, and perfected when to use the boost, as well as when to take the Skywalks. The Skywalks have different drop spots and amount of time you are carried in the air, so maximizing the distance is what you should be aiming for, as well as noticing when you get to skip portions of the track while other players have to still drive on them.
While I can be a frontrunner and win on Mute City, staying in 1st all 4 laps, it is easier to be in 10th or so for laps 1-2, collecting the golden orbs, then using a well timed skywalk, sending myself clean in front of everyone else.
The Golden Fox has great recovery, and can boost multiple times per lap compared to other vehicles after recovering, usually 80% of the default meter or so. This is my preferred playstyle in racing games, heavy boosting and maximizing when to boost, so it works out for me. However, I have not gotten a 1st place finish on Big Blue or Sand Ocean because both are more chaotic and with 98 other players I can't get that clean breakaway to do what I want. It is different than using the Golden Fox in the original F-Zero because of the differing boost system, getting 1 boost per completed lap.
I've gotten 6 first-place wins so far with 3 of those being from a 99 race. The other 3 were first-place in individual races within a Mini or Grand Prix, however I've only placed 3rd overall in a Grand Prix so far and 4th in a Mini.
I blew up right before the finishline in lst and havent come close in 5 or 6 hrs of play. I just started playing mk8d instead lol. much more enjoyable. I still like the game.
I could get 1st in other 99 games, but I can't even crack the top 10 in F-Zero 99
8th is my best so far. I’m too conservative with my boost energy, but I’m getting better!
I won my second race into the game, but no GP yet (got two 2nd Places there).
So far I only won races on Mute City I, Big Blue and Silence.
It's a shame you basically only ever see other tracks than Mute City or Big Blue in GPs (or Pro Mode, which I haven't played much yet).
I will not play game with model like this because here is the thing.
With a lot of peoples playing together, the chance to win is nearly 1 : 99 that will make impossible to win the 1st place all the time and I personally do not like the practice of game model like this as it just wasting the time for not winning the game frequently and moreover the tendency of other game developer to create similar battle rumble style games like this just ruined the whole game quality.
I think I’ve gotten in the 20’s? Can’t remember but sometimes it feels impossible to reach a higher place. Even beating chapter 7 in GX is easier
Funny story. My first 1st place win was after my second attempt at the Knight Grand Prix. The first was crashing out four tracks in. My mindset wasn't getting first place, it was simply to unlock Silence. Getting 1st place and hearing that Grand Prix finish music for the first time (before realizing that Grand Prix finish wasn't the first place win music) it was pure jubilation. I rose from my chair and threw up my hands in victory.
A few 1st place victories has been managed a few times. Mainly at the Silence end of the Knight Grand Prix.
The only first I got was first to reach the start line. My best was 2nd place on a grand Prix, once.
Playing the absolute hell out of this. Had two Knight League Prix wins, finally got 1st with each car, and have about 25 1st places under my belt so far. I simply cannot stop playing this game. <3
5th is my best. I've pulled off a couple of 1st to the start line. I've been in first a couple times but I have not yet managed to get 1st place.
Flip the table it is!
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1st only one time..... but the game is getting more and more aggresive each time
I’m just happy to make it to the end. This game is nuts.
My best was a 20th place finish. I can’t say I’m flipping any tables though 😅
I enjoyed the concept. I just wish it was something they’d continue to support, and I’m not sure they will.
3 times. But none on Grand Prix.
The highest I've ever ranked in a regular race is 5th, and the highest in a Prix was 7th. I momentarily tasted first during a race, and my nerves didn't know what to do with it, so of course I proceeded to mess up and fall behind lol. Maybe one of these days I'll concentrate hard enough to get it done.
Haven't played it but I personally think this is the best 99 game they've released yet.
I got 5th place my first two online races and since then maybe a few top 10's and the rest nowhere even close.
Still tremendously fun though, so I'm good.
I've placed second twice. I started playing a week after it came out, so I have some catching up to do.
I never do that first...
For me, 14th is the highest.
I answered “multiple times” but I did it 2x only 😝
Hell no. I usuall place somewhere between 45 and 85, although on rare occasions I have seen the high twenties and thirties. The range hasn't really changed much, if at all, since it came out. I'm honestly not a fan of battle royale type games, or really online games in general. The game will probably be pulled in a year or two anyway, making any "progress" I make mean nothing, so I don't really care.
I'm a desk flipper.
Got to 3rd after switching to Golden Fox from the Fire Stingray. Miss that top end speed but the acceleration is crucial in Knight Cup.
İt is like the other 99 Online games so it is very hard to be the first place. İ have not played but İ see from here it is like that games.
I’ve got a tasty lead on the last lap once before, only to be bumped off mid jump by the ghost of a defeated player.
It's that good I'm renewing my subscription and I was determined not to, love it!
5th lol, its so much fun!
I have no interest of playing it. I've learned my lesson from Nintendo's other 99 outing and that also goes for NSO as a whole.
multiple times. you tend to build a decent rhythm when you get the hang of top 5. need to learn to live first before learning how to live an go fast.
I got 14 once and then never again
29th is the best I can do.
stop mocking me!
I'm not close yet but I'm not flipping tables over a free to play game (or any other game) so my choice at 35th place is "Not yet, but I'm getting close".
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