Nintendo F-Zero 99 and Maximum Velocity Updates Appear

Nintendo offered news on two F-Zero games for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. F-Zero 99 will end up getting new features for those with the base version of the service in 1.3.0 on March 27, 2024, and people with the Expansion Pass will get to play F-Zero Maximum Velocity in the GBA library on March 29, 2024. 

The official support page for F-Zero 99 doesn’t have the patch notes yet, but the Japanese page updated with screenshots, videos, and details. Mirror Grand Prix is on the way, which will also eventually mean 15 Mirror Tracks. Knight League’s will be first. These tracks will include new elements that could help or hurt your performance. 

Some walls will have an elastic property. If hit, the vehicle will bounce off of it. Nintendo’s trailer for that shows how this could be used as a shortcut, with the second part of the video showing the action in slow motion.

For example, one trailer showed a plate in the road that a player will bounce off of. They’ll have no control when this type of plate is hit.

Finally, there will be bumps that allow people to speed up when they drive over that plate. Like the video of the wall people will be able to bounce off of, this one also had a slow motion portion to make it easier to see the effect in action.

There will be some other accessibility additions. For example, Smart Steering will be an option to help people who are getting started. The Practice Mode will get the Classic and Mirror tracks. Classic Mini Grand Prix is coming too.

As for F-Zero Maximum Velocity, it is the third game in the series. It originally debuted on the GBA in 2001 worldwide. It can be played alone or with up to four players. It’s also appeared digitally before this latest release. Aside from the original cart debut, it was a Nintendo 3DS Ambassador title and Wii U Virtual Console game.

Here’s a trailer showing how it will run on the Switch.

Both F-Zero games are playable on the Nintendo Switch, though F-Zero 99 requires Nintendo Switch Online and F-Zero Maximum Velocity  requires the NSO Expansion Pack.