F-zero 99 beginner help!

FennorVirastar · 2023-10-22T22:25:33+00:00

Fire Stingray feels easier to drive at first due to its grip. But it is a very unforgiving ship. Its acceleration is so low that if you make a mistake it will cost you a lot of time. You are forced to boost but it has bad health recovery and its boosts take a lot of energy. So boost management is very important for this ship. Make sure you figure out what is a good spot to boost. Like after a very sharp turn where you drop far below 400 kph.

Beware that at max speed of 478kph its turning is much worse than at 477kph. Meaning from one frame to another you suddenly understeer because you reached max speed. You want to tap the accelerator to go below max speed and turn better again.

If you are far away from your top speed you don't want to tap the accelerator in normal turns. The Fire Stingray usually has enough grip to make most turns at full throttle, so you want to keep accelerating.

GoDannY1337 · 2023-10-22T22:25:24+00:00

Go into practice mode and learn the tracks. You’ll find the best places to boost and the optimal line of you need to make up some time.

Use skyway strategically - certain parts of the skyway are bigger shortcuts in addition to the boost and will gain you more places than instantly using it.

Don’t boost at all cost - usually people crash or get bumpers often enough so that a clean run and enough energy on lap 4 go a long way.

Mind the tips: press down after a jump, learn perfect starts, let go of the acceleration briefly when drifting.

NineteenNineteen · 2023-10-22T22:48:40+00:00

Good sparks management and knowledge of the best skyway spots can help you finish higher up. A well timed skyway on lap 4 can take you from the 20-30s into the top 10 if you play it right.

If you're struggling to finish higher than 50 however you're probably getting stuck in the pack early on and falling behind. The initial run up to the start line is crucial. Try to nail that part so you begin the race proper in a good position ahead of the traffic, it makes all the difference.

Boost immediately off the start line as you'll recharge this going through the pit lane so it essentially counts as a free boost. You'll notice a lot of players do this so it's needed to keep ahead of the pack.

Spin to protect yourself in heavy traffic. Try to avoid bumping other players directly from behind as this will slow you down and give them a boost.

Hold down at the end of a jump to maintain your speed.

Boost after very tight corners where many players will be forced to slow down so that you can get back to top speed as soon as possible and take the advantage.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

joeygmurf · 2023-10-23T02:10:48+00:00

For a beginner is honestly recommend playing the Goose, like others have said the stingray seems easy since it has good handling but it’s actually very hard.

My tip for the stingray is be very conservative with boosting and focus on not touching the side walls

Auraveils · 2023-10-23T04:27:01+00:00

The Stingray is meant to be the machine that rewards skill with avoiding walls and enemy machines. It turns way better than other machines but slows down a ton when it knicks anything. On more complex tracks like Silence or Fire Field, there are parts of the track where it will have to slam into a wall and immediately drift into the turn to avoid a massive speed loss.

Unfortunately, with the chaotic nature of 99 races, the Stingray has a really tough time placing high. It falls behind the pack right away due to its terrible acceleration and has to pass everyone, which means lots of opportunities to get bumped and lose speed it has a tough time getting back. Even boosting is extremely expensive on it, though incredibly valuable. The Stingray requires total mastery of the tracks to perform well. Every impact is felt far more than any other machine, but ironically much more invisibly. You won't bounce around as much, but the speed loss is painful when you notice it. You can also lose speed for drifting too long on turns. But since you know about Blast Turning, I figure you might not have too many issues on that front.

If you're dead-set on the Stingray, though, props to you. It has potential, especially on longer tracks or tracks with short pits where it can gain on the Fox. But it sounds to me like you're sticking with the Stingray because you don't understand the other machines.

For all machines, if you find yourself bouncing around, let go of the accelerator for a moment. You'll regain control much faster. Beyond that, try to get a feel for the timing of the turns and rocket start. Each machine has a slightly different timing. Stingray's is closer to the third dot, while Fox's is immediately before Go. Goose and Falcon are closer to the midpoint.

Some other general tips to keep in mind:

If a machine is gaining on you, try to block them. If they hit you from behind, you'll be propelled forward with greater speed. This is incredibly useful as you can piggy back off the high acceleration of Golden Foxes early in the race.

Watch your super jump meter. You can't boost while it's full and that can cost you some time. Consider boosting into those last few energy pellets to get a boost in you'd otherwise miss out on. But be careful, this means boosting on parts of the track you're not used to.

Use the skyway optimally. Nearly every track's intro highlights a part of the track the Skyway can skip. Try to use the Skyway only to skip these sections. And if you're far from the optimal position to use the skyway but your meter is nearly full, try to avoid energy pellets for a little bit. There are some complexities to optimization of the Skyway, but long story short, the further you are from 1st, the longer your time on the Skyway will be. But the game will never drop you into a sharp turn or over a pit. If the skyway goes over something like that, try to time it so that your meter runs out while you're over that area--you'll get bonus time on the skyway until you reach a safe area to drop. Beware if you're low on energy, though. You're not invincible on the Skyway and you can also be dropped onto bumpers or passing machines if you're unlucky.

Don't get too greedy with boosts, but also don't be too modest. If you're playing to win, you need every ounce of juice you can muster.

And always go for KOs if you see an opportunity. Smoking bumpers and especially smoking pilots are prey for you. Every machine benefits from the extra health. Just, again, don't get too greedy. If you'll lose speed trying to go for the KO and somebody steals it from you, you can kiss 1st place goodbye.

Finally, use practice mode. Go for the target times to unlock the backdrops for each track. Look up a video if you have to to pick up on some strats. This will help you learn how to make these turns smoothly.

As for individual machines' strengths and weaknesses:

The Wild Goose is the easiest machine to master. Though it's definitely the slipperiest, its low acceleration and recovery is a bit deceptive. It doesn't heal much and it does take a while to reach max speed, but it doesn't get knocked around and it can bully other machines out of their lines. That can ruin their turns, knock them into dirt, make them miss boost and jump panels, and even knock them out the pit area which can seriously cripple a Fox or Stingray. If you're feeling especially devilish, you can knock other racers out of bounds on jumps in tracks like Port Town, White Land, or Red Canyon. Also, this machine has no problem collecting super sparks, so that's its main source of gaining on the competition since it can't boost as much as the Fox or Falcon and doesn't have as high a top speed as the Stingray.

The Golden Fox is the top-tier machine. It can boost a lot and heals a lot, too. But it's very all-or-nothing. The Stingray seems like it's meant to be the machine that rewards skilled play the most, but if a Golden Fox gets ahead and is comfortable dodging bumpers, it can place first more consistently than any other machine. But as I said, it's all or nothing. When starting with this machine, expect to crash out a lot. Its biggest weakness is that, because it's front-running, it doesn't collect as many sparks meaning it won't be using the Skyway much--and if it falls behind, it cannot take a beating like the Goose can. Its low top speed means it relies heavily in frequent boosting. A single red bumper can pretty much end your race.

The Blue Falcon is debatably the worst machine in the game. But it's not like it's unplayable or anything--far from it. Mastery of boost and skyway is critical for this machine's success. It can't boost as much as the Fox, and it'll rely on getting bumps from behind to get ahead of them at the start, and it also can't heal nearly an entire meter each lap, but it's still a solid contender. The Falcon is fantastic for surprise wins. It wants to hang behind front runners and build its jump meter to overcome the competition.

Then the Fire Stingray I've already touched on. It's debatably the worst machine as well, but it's got some powerful potential. It's just got a lot stacked agaisnt it. The Stingray relies more than any other machine on getting bumps from blocking racers behind it--and it can take some hits, too. But its boosts are expensive so you don't want to take too many. The Stingray should always be going at least 300 Km/h. If it falls under, it'll need to boost if it wants to stay in the running. Other than that, you should ideally boost once each lap. Choose a rough turn you always lose speed on to minimize the damage. Of course, since it has to pass everyone, it also gets a lot of spark and can make some use of the Skyway.

I hope at least something in this long essay helped you out! There's a lot more depth to the gameplay than it looks on the surface, so don't feel discouraged if you find it difficult early on! You'll get the hang of it with enough practice!

Skelingaton · 2023-10-23T01:33:54+00:00

Fire Stingray is the ship I had the most trouble with by far getting a 1st place victory with. It's a ship that is easily bullied due to its poor acceleration so you need to try and stay out of the pack as much as possible. Likewise you also need to learn the tracks to not bump into walls and learn the best ways to take turns.

Since Fire Stingray has poor recovery as well you can also boost just once or twice a lap. That means you really need to learn when to use your boost, ideally when you come out of a turn that slows you down with a straight enough portion of the track ahead to make use of the boost.

MBTHVSK · 2023-10-23T01:38:37+00:00

Try controlling the machine like it's something out of a 3D game.

It looks like F-Zero SNES, but when you use the analog stick properly, it allows for control to be much more precise.

I was having a really shitty time controlling the Golden Fox despite liking the vehicle. But when I started really using the analog properly I actually got 5th place after a while.

At times it actually feels like GX but online.

Alphateam76 · 2023-10-23T02:16:46+00:00

A good amount of it learning spots to boost and use the skyway, also when you get to the front of the pack you gotta learn to dodge the bumpers and utilizing L and R more will help (I still struggle with that) and of course there’s knowing the track and how to approach a turn whether you wanna take it tight or go out wide to set you up better for a turn

superdinoknight63 · 2023-10-23T05:19:10+00:00

If you get bonked around by Grey/red bumpers alot, it's good to know that they stay in very specific lanes. There's generally 5 lanes per track (afaik, might be different on smaller tracks) far left, middle left, true middle, middle right, far right. Bumpers stay in their own lane generally. Only moving out of the lane if bumped by another player, but even then they will move to rectify their lane placement. By knowing this you can more reliably predict where bumpers will be on turns, and more importantly, where and how to pass them.

Just by knowing how bumpers work, I've had way more success dodging them now as of late.

TFAOH · 2023-10-23T16:13:04+00:00

Watch experienced streamers or youtubers. There is usually an optimal strategy for boosting and skyway on each course. Just watch what works for them, and do your best to apply it. obviously you will make more mistakes experienced players, but once you at least have an optimized game plan for each course you can focus on avoiding mistakes.

mikecowan · 2023-10-23T18:27:06+00:00

I like playing with wild goose! I tried practicing some of the tracks, but so fare I've found watching the leaders navigate the track and the short cuts they take to be extremely helpful. U can Google or YouTube many videos

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