F-Zero AX | DJcube

JP release: June 2003
NA release: July 2003
EU release: 2003
Developer: Amusement Vision
Publisher: Nintendo
NGC Magazine Score: N/A
Mods Used: None

To produce new arcade games, Nintendo, Sega and Namco worked together to create a new arcade system based on the GameCube. This system was dubbed Triforce. Despite three big companies and a grand name, not many games were actually made for the platform, with a grand total of 8 official games (and a few revisions of those games). The are also some arcade capsule games which may have used the technology (they have minigames based on a few GameCube games) and the internet has assigned a few other games to the list of Triforce games, but these don’t seem to use GameCube technology at all.

For this retrospective, I will be looking at any unique title that is an official Triforce game. This means I won’t be looking at Virtua Striker 2002 or Gekitou Pro Yakyuu as these had GameCube ports with the same name. F-Zero AX is technically similar, but is more of an arcade game that’s an add on to the console game, rather than one being a port of the other.

While the surface level gameplay in AX is the same, the advanced mechanics are different. This has a boost start and the quick turn technique from the original does not work, but it has new drift mechanics instead. This was not something I was advanced enough to notice when I played the machine in my small seaside town many years ago, and if you use the action replay code you activate F-Zero AX in the GameCube version, you won’t have the altered physics from the arcade version.

Tracks in the AX version also have different numbers of tracks based on its length, with the short starting track having 8 laps. You also have to contend with a timer, although this isn’t much of an obstacle. As you play, you grin points which you can use to alter the AX’s original machine. You can save this data for later use using a GameCube memory card. You can also use a GameCube memory card to import your custom vehicle from GX and to save the AX pilots as an alternative way to unlock them in GX. It’s a great idea, as long as you take your memory card with you.

Great

There was a 30 minute wait to play this game once, for about 3 minutes. Let me say, it’s worth the wait in line.
Steven Rodriguez, Nintendo World Report

Remake or remaster?

If they remaster F-Zero GX, the AX physics and timers would be a nice option.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get F-Zero AX.