Nintendo shocked everyone with the revival of the F-Zero franchise in its sudden Sept. 14, 2023 announcement. After nearly two decades without a new game, fans of the high-octane title got to see F-Zero reimagined as a 99-person battle royale.
The characters themselves are largely unchanged from the first game. With players everywhere looking for the best machine to optimize their chances at winning, it’s worth delving into each machine to determine how viable they are in a battle royale format.
F-Zero 99: Full Machine Tier List
4. Golden Fox (Dr. Stewart)
The Golden Fox’s claim to fame is that it’s the quickest to accelerate to its top speed and has by far the fastest recovery. This means hovering over the Pit Area will allow you to restore all of your energy almost immediately. As a result, you can be a bit more liberal when boosting with the Golden Fox as opposed to its rivals, who can only restore a fraction of their energy with each Pit Area.
Unfortunately, the advantages of the Golden Fox end there. While you’ll typically find Golden Fox players lead the pack before the first lap, they’ll quickly be overtaken. This is because the Golden Fox has the lowest top speed out of every other Machine. It’s also terrible in combat, so repeated bumps and bruises will whittle down its health.
Sure, the boost power is nice, but its amazing acceleration makes this feature redundant. Plus, you’ll lose a lot of your energy when being bullied by the sturdier vehicles. Sadly, the good doctor has it harder than the rest of his competition.
3. Blue Falcon (Captain Falcon)
It’s a rare sight, calling Captain Falcon’s Blue Falcon a mid-tier Machine. That said, he’s only slightly worse than the top two. The Blue Falcon is designed as a jack-of-all-trades beginner vehicle. Its acceleration is second-best in the game, but also suffers from the second-lowest top speed. On the bright side, his recovery is impressive and he can consistently get kills by boosting into battered vehicles.
It’s unfair to call the Blue Falcon “lacking” in any regard. Instead, the reason it doesn’t rank higher is that the other vehicles are simply much better. That said, the Blue Falcon is definitely the perfect vehicle for beginners. In fact, I earned my very first win with it.
2. Fire Stingray (Samurai Goroh)
The Fire Stingray was the machine of choice for any pilot looking to take the original F-Zero seriously. Its top speed of 478 km/hr is unmatched, so if you could maintain your top speed, you could set records and smoke the competition. Of course, this inspiring speed was offset by the slowest acceleration. If you braked or crashed at any point, you’d be heavily penalized and would have to slowly build up to your top speed again.
The reason the Fire Stingray ranks second on this list is because of human error, and the nature of F-Zero 99 living up to its name as a 99-person racing game on narrow tracks: You are extremely likely to bump into things.
You’re more likely to get top 10 placements with this machine, but the explosive red machines, blue bumper cars, and tight corners will penalize you harshly if you touch them—most likely costing you races. For veterans of racing games and experienced F-Zero players, however, this vehicle is largely untouched from its overpowered state in the original game, so it’s still worth picking up.
1. Wild Goose (Pico)
As the name suggests, this vehicle is a hoot. Admittedly, its slippery nature is something you need to get used to; just be grateful that it’s not nearly as slippery as its F-Zero GX counterpart.
Its top speed being lower than Fire Stingray was the only thing holding it back from being the best in the original SNES title. Here, top speed isn’t as dominant due to the high likelihood that you’ll bump into something at least a couple of times.
The Wild Goose boasts the best bulk in the game, meaning you can take more hits than you could in the other machines. It’s fitting, too; Pico is an assassin by trade, and was canonically responsible for causing devastating collisions on the tracks. Whether you want to fight other vehicles, or use that added bulk to ensure your survival, the Wild Goose is an excellent choice for players looking to finish first.
Quite frankly, the Wild Goose thrives in a battle royale format more than any other machine.
Which Machine should I choose in F-Zero 99?
If you have experience with F-Zero, as a dedicated fan or just trying the titles available on Nintendo Switch Online, you can really just pick the Machine that speaks to you visually or loadout-wise. If you want some direction, however, I have a few tips to help you out.
For newcomers, the Blue Falcon will fit any playstyle and give you a solid Machine with no downsides while you learn the ropes of the race. This also means it won’t excel in one area either, so once you get a feel for how the battle royale works, it might be a good idea to experiment with other Machines based on your preferred approach to combat racing.
I jumped around a bit at the start before landing on the Fire Stingray, as I try to take turns at top speed and race to the finish—but that won’t be a fit for everyone. Especially on maps like Silence at the end of a Grand Prix, I can really feel the lack of acceleration when I bump into so many corners.
If you want to jump right into the deep end and work on your racing with the current top-of-the-line Machine, just hop into the Wild Goose and hit the practice courses. This will inevitably give you the best chance to win as long as you work on your fundamentals—especially if you are like me and try to fiend collisions in Team Battle races.
Just avoid the Golden Fox, unless you really want to test yourself or get cosmetic unlocks for every Machine.
F-Zero has always been a series that emphasizes split-second decision-making and risk management. If you’re able to understand the pros and cons of each vehicle, you can tailor them to fit your playstyle and tear through the tracks.
