Replay

Replays are a feature in F-Zero Maximum Velocity and F-Zero GX. In both games, they act as a way for players to view previously completed races.

In F-Zero: Maximum Velocity

Replays made their debut in Maximum Velocity, albeit only for the unlockable Championship mode. In the mode, replays are saved whenever the player manages to beat the current record set on the track; initially set by Hot Violet with a time of 1'57"65, the player can only save one replay at a time, provided they have bested the previous record.

Unique to this game is that whenever this replay is viewed, an overlay is provided, showing what buttons were pressed during the run-through of the track.

In F-Zero GX

Replays were significantly expanded upon in F-Zero GX. After each race the player successfully finishes in Grand Prix or Time Attack, they have the opportunity to watch a replay of their performance directly afterwards, as well as having the opportunity to potentially save the replay onto a memory card for future viewing in the Replay menu.

Replays take up space on memory cards, and they can vary from 3 to 13 blocks in size depending on the length and complexity of the race in question.

Controls

While the player cannot strictly control the camera used in replays, they do have some input on how the game views various racers during a replay, as listed below:

• Control stick: Selects the type of camera used to view the race, but only under the Car Camera or Select Camera options.
• A: Selects the type of camera used to view the race. Four options are available: Course, which displays distant shots of the racers and track; Car, which displays closer shots of the racers; Auto, which variously switches between the two; Game, which displays the camera like how it does in regular gameplay; and Select, where players can use the control stick to select different angles of the racer in real-time.
• C stick: Switches between different racers, allowing players to view how other racers may have performed in the replay.
• L / R: Allows the player to cycle through various tracks available for play during the replay. Defaults to "Brain Cleaner".
• Z: Cycles through three overlays; the first option displays the type of camera currently in-use at the top of the screen, the second is a speedometer for the currently selected racer similar to the one featured in-game in the lower-right corner, and the third displays an F-Zero GX logo in the lower right corner.
• Start: Displays a prompt asking if the player wishes to quit the replay. It does not actually pause the replay.

Music

By default, all replays play the track "Brain Cleaner" when they are viewed. The track that plays, however, can be changed by pressing the L or R buttons. In addition to "Brain Cleaner", the player can select the theme song of any unlocked pilot, as well as covers of "Mute City" and "Big Blue" if they have been unlocked. Unusually, music that is associated with the track cannot be selected.

In F-Zero: GP Legend

Replays are present in F-Zero: GP Legend, but only in the Japanese version of the game. As part of functionality with the e-Reader add-on, cards were available that allowed players to scan in ghosts to race against; prior to racing this ghost, the player had the option of viewing a replay of this ghost perform. Like F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, an overlay was provided to see the ghost's button inputs as they raced.

Owing to the removal of e-Reader functionality in the game's American and European releases, replays are unavailable for players in this region.