Advanced techniques
As a complex racing game of such high difficulty, F-Zero players have seeked for the slightiest form of acquiring speed in order to secure victory or challenge their own limits to achieve the greatest records. For such a goal, racing conventionally is not always the best option, and by means of experimentation, advanced techniques have been found, and are now applied by the community. Here are some advanced techniques discovered by F-Zero players:
Skipping the track
In the very few occasions where jumping is available, an opportunity for taking a great shortcut is presented. It's common to take a sharp turn midair in order to fly over the void to reach another section of the track; it usually consists of cutting a curve, but some players, by combining Boosts and raw skill controlling their vehicle may be able to skip a large portion of the track. It is generally easier in 2D F-Zero games, but is also known to be not very useful in GP Races because of the simplistic AI that practically forces the CPU opponents behind the player.
Sliding
Sliding is a technique present in F-Zero X and F-Zero GX, and in F-Zero: GP Legend and F-Zero Climax to some degree. In order to use it, the player must set their engine to maximum acceleration. By doing so, the vehicle's speed loss will be minimal when the vehicle loses speed by some reason, and also, the vehicle will recover that speed swiftly. With that factors in mind, whenever the vehicle performs a Drift Turn, it's going to increase its speed instead of losing it, perfect for taking tight curves with stability and an impressive burst of speed. Because a Drift Turn is the requirement for sliding, players will like a vehicle with low Grip, so they don't need to always input the required buttons for Drifting. Another reason for doing so, is because the low stat of the vehicle was compensated by the Boost and/or Body stat when the game was balanced by the developers. Those factors place the Blood Hawk, the Night Thunder, the Crazy Bear and the Fat Shark among the favorites of sliding veterans. Sliding has become of great importance in the F-Zero X metagame, however, it's not viable for a GP Race because the speed gain in any said curve won't compensate for every moment the vehicle is going at a lower speed than their rivals (considering the AI won't ever adjust their engines to acceleration by such an extreme amount as that needed for Sliding).
In F-Zero GX, sliding is not as important when compared with F-Zero X, but it's viability in GP Races has increased because the average speed difference between engine settings is minor.
In F-Zero GP Legend, and F-Zero Climax, a similar technique is performed by skillfully driving in a low-grip vehicle, like those mentioned above, so the player can, in turn, enjoy another powerful stat like Boost or Body.
| v Techniques | |
|---|---|
| Basic techniques | Blast Turn • Boost • Drift • Drift Turn • Long Jump • Rocket Start • Side Attack • Slide Turn • Spin Attack |
| Advanced techniques | Momentum Throttle • Momentum Turbo Slide • Shift Boost • Side Attack Dive • Snaking • Space Flying |
