This is the problem I have with every F-Zero after the first one. I interpreted the original music as synth/electronic, not rock.
I think X just re-interpreted it, adding the butt-rock destruction derby vibe. Like it was a deliberate change.
The original game’s entire vibe was kind of chilled, X added the yelling announcer, explosive aesthetic and waiting guitars stuff. Plus much more emphasis on the wacky cartoon characters.
GX then went pulse racing techno-rock for another vibe again.
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I really like the over the top sound of the sequels. F-Zero X is one of the best examples of how to make the N64 sound good considering the lack of dedicated hardware.
Still the best F-Zero soundtrack honestly. And yeah, really great N64 soundtrack.
I always love buttrock though. Loved the Excite truck soundtrack too.
Back on dreaming Island
HYYYYYPE for me
Looking great now, a bit of flutter and only significant frame drops when chopping bushes like a maniac, or the brief transitions between areas.
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Not bad. Having played (Pal) Ocarina of Time on the N64 I think I could easily survive these frame rate inconsistencies 
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Fuck I’m jelly. Multiple limited editions for games I really wanted but not in my region.
I haven’t opened mine yet cos the box was so tiny lol. Felt underwhelming…
Nice to see the steelbook is embossed in the special edition.
John did a great job examining the new visuals in the Digital Foundry video for the game, in the end I couldn’t resist picking this up at launch. Barely played anything, just made it to the woods after messing about in Mabe Village.
I’m happy to be wrong about the game’s engine as well. There’s no reference at all to Unreal Engine or Epic Games in the intellectual property notices on the Switch’s home menu screen. But that does make it a bit puzzling as to why it wasn’t better optimised when streaming in new assets. That said, it’s impressive just how much is loaded in at once, lending the world a seamless feel. You can see enemies roaming the woods while you’re in Mabe Village!
And despite the original game’s tile-based graphics the original game doesn’t have the repetitive look you’d expect when translating sprites to models. The Adventure of Mana remake is how not to do it.
Adventures of Mana was done on small budget and sold at a much lower price. I’m glad Link’s Awakening wasn’t done that way but I still appreciate that an updated Seiken Densetsu 1 was put out with what is still a pretty nice look.
This remake feels pretty good and I think it’s really beautiful!
Unbelievable that you can’t control w dpad though.
Wait, seriously? That honestly makes me not want to buy it.
It’s true. Even with a Pro Controller you can only use the analogue stick. Which is frustrating because while it feels okay with the smaller, nimbler Joy-Con sticks it just feels horribly loose to play with the Pro Controller stick. Made me want to undock my console.
Would have been serviceable if Nintendo still used an octo-gate around these sticks
There is one other thing that irked me and it was toward the start of the game. When Link picks up his sword he does his spin attack too early! In the original game it was timed with the music and happened at a very specific moment: https://youtu.be/rXWqFO75IZY?t=473. In the remake he spins seconds earlier…
I’m still surprised there isn’t any reference to Unreal in the intellectual property notices because the menus are merely functional rather than anything special, and the framerate is even inconsistent while panning the map on the pause screen. Grezzo did a lot better on the 3DS… The unstable framerate and drab menus are a blight on the otherwise excellent audiovisual design in the game world itself.
I beat the game earlier today.
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Same with ALBW on the 3DS if I recall.
Yep… I hated that, but got used to it and ended up really loving the game. Maybe I could get used to this too, considering it’s not 8 directional movement like the original.
The arrangement of the face shrine music is superb. Got goosebumps when the game boy synth entered the track.
A lot of the arrangements are excellent - like the search for the sword and the ghost’s house - though some are misses I feel. The house music in particular doesn’t really convey the same feelings the Game Boy did with fewer instruments. There’s too much going on there. I had a look at the credits for the remake and only Ryo Nagamatsu worked on the game, with no sound supervisor (i thought Totaka would be supervisor). That’s somewhat disappointing given Totaka composed the majority of the music for the original game and still works at Nintendo - even the N64 remakes on 3DS had Koji Kondo on board as supervisor.
I’m loving it so far, about halfway through. Great way to relive it and while I wasn’t expecting such a straight remake it’s good because it means it maintained the exact same character. I’m sure glad the script is nearly identical.
I love the game’s ‘narrator’, it has a personality all its own.
Link checked the chest. Wow! This is a nice chest!
You’ve got the Magic Rod! Now you can burn things! Burn it! Burn, baby burn!
It’s 30 Rupees! You can play the game three more times with this!
You got Marin! Is this your big chance?
Guess what? You got it for free. Are you proud of yourself?"
It even uses running gags:
You found your Sword! It must be yours because it has your name engraved on it!
You’ve got a new Sword! You should put your name on it right away!
It’s a Shield! There is space for your name!
The fourth-wall breaking is just superb. What a game.
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Interesting video unpicking the additions and changes mace to the remake: https://youtu.be/8YK35s1w2hA
I find the author’s reaction to some of the more controversial changes to be a bit over the top - these aren’t massive changes to level design like in something like Super Mario 64 DS.
But the video does raise some good points about how the additional content such as the secret seashells doesn’t really need to be there, since it waters down the secrets while also making backtracking feel like box-ticking if you want to find everything.