Original Release: Nintendo, 1996, Super Famicom
A series of releases via the online Satellaview platform from 1996 to 1998, the BS F-Zero games basically use the original game’s engine but lay in a bunch of new levels for competitive play
BS F-Zero Grand Prix (SNES, Nintendo, 1996)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: SNES Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
This wasn’t just one title, but rather a series of several downloadable games that essentialy took the original F-Zero and gave it some new levels. The big attractions were the limited-time “soundlink” releases that were accompanied by recorded music and a race announcer, like the BS Zelda event that featured a narrator and orchestra music.
While ROM hackers have assembled the original BS Zelda broadcast experience for emulation, there isn’t a similar project for F-Zero at this point (update: now there is! See the links section below). Closest you’ll get is a recording of the first week of the BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2 event to listen to. However, you can get most of the gameplay experience with most of the tracks available; as with Zelda, the designers also included standard sound chip audio for those playing at home outside of the event windows.
So for the single player coming to this now via emulation, it’s basically just some extra levels packs for F-Zero. The gameplay and visuals are no different, so if you didn’t really care for F-Zero, nothing here is gonna change your mind (I started to love F-Zero with the N64 entry myself but always found the SNES game a little too sloppy and uninteresting). Though if you DO like the game it’s a pretty meaty amount of new courses to play with.
As to the handful of “track packs” that remain missing, they may be lost to time unless they turn up on a functioning Satellaview cart in Japan somewhere that someone has kept around since the ’90s. There are videos of them available however.
Links
Lost Satellaview tracks restored to the game with the help of AI and old VHS videos of them being played
Patch to make some of the releases playable
BS Grand Prix 2 week 1 audio recording
Search for the missing track packs (now concluded, see first link!)
Codes to access incomplete tracks, unused music
- Some of the ROMs for the first four games are patched to allow you to press Start at the beginning to get into the game, but others require you to wait a few minutes at the initial screen before you can actually play (just a thing that Satellaview games sometimes did)
Videos
Videos of the unemulated parts of the games, including some Soundlink broadcasts