A Game Boy Advance game from 2001 has made a return in 2024 via Nintendo Switch Online. In 2001, gamers across a variety of hardware were treated to the likes of Grand Theft Auto 3, Halo, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Devil May Cry, Max Payne, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, Silent Hill 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Paper Mario, SSX Tricky, Advance Wars, Final Fantasy 10, Twisted Metal: Black, Ico, and Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. These are just some of the year’s biggest highlights. Suffice to say, 2001 was a stacked year. As a result, many classics flew under the radar. One example of this is F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, which received attention when it released, but many would argue not as much as it deserved.
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Developed by NDcube — the studio mainly responsible for shepherding the Mario Party series — and published by Nintendo, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity was notably a Game Boy Advance launch game back in 2001, and was the first game in the series to be on a handheld machine. Set 25 years after the event of F-Zero, it never came to other systems. Meanwhile, upon releases it garnered an 86 on Metacritic.
Fast-forward 23 years, and now the game is back, but only via Nintendo Switch Online. If you don’t have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, you can’t party like its 2585. If you do have a subscription though, you can enjoy the game for “free.”
“Get ready to party like it’s 2585,” reads an official blurb about the game. “It’s fast, it’s dangerous and it’s revving up for its fuel-injected return: The classic Game Boy Advance game F-Zero: Maximum Velocity will make its debut on the Nintendo Switch system on March 29, available for everyone with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership as part of the Game Boy Advance – Nintendo Switch Online library. Strap in, fire up and put the pedal down!”
The game’s official description continues: “There’s only one sport that has enough thrills, spills and potential for calamity to keep an entire galaxy on the edge of its seat, and it’s known as the F-Zero Grand Prix. F-Zero Maximum Velocity is set 25 years after the original F-Zero game, with a new generation of racers piloting their plasma-powered machines and using speed bursts (and some strategic vehicle-to-vehicle bumping) in a white-knuckle race to stay ahead of the competition… and stay alive. Climb the Grand Prix standings to unlock tracks and vehicles while you speed around 20 different courses across four difficulty levels to prove you’ve got what it takes to rank among the galaxy’s most elite racers.”
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