Story: There isn't really an overall story, as such (should a racing game have a story anyway?), but there is a story mode which I'll get to in a second.
The overall 'story' is that there is this championship, and everyone is 'in it to win it', with lots of prize money, glory, and groupies. That's pretty much the 'Championship mode'.
In the 'Story mode' you take on the role of Captain Falcon (you might remember him from Super Smash Bros. Melee) in sevearal races unlike the ones in the championship.
Review: There are short cutscenes to explain the context of the story races, why you're racing and how you're going to win. Examples include practise, racing against a rival on a mountain track, trying to attack a leader of a gang. The cutscenes are full 3D, which isn't necessarily a good thing (rippling muscles and spandex). The dialouge is a bit 'cheesey fight/race movie' stuff and you'll be groaning. But the story mode does increase the longetivity of the game: as mentioned earlier, the races are different to the championship and there are various levels of difficulty.
Back to the championship mode. There are three difficulty levels to start with and one more to unlock, each with five tracks. These can be raced in four different difficulty levels (three to start with and one to unlock). In the races themselves, there are 30 racers! 30!! And you can play as any single one of them, after you 'buy' them "(explain later), as you start with four.
To get the rest of the racers, you need to buy them. This is done in 'Customize mode', which can be split into three areas: Garage (make your own racer), Emblem creator (make little pictures to stick on your racer), Shop (buy racers, racer parts, other stuff [I've currently only had story chapters]). There is also the usual practice and time trial, but they have also put in some info for all the racers.
What else is there to mention... Ummm... Yes! There is an arcade version called F-Zero AX, and you can take your memory card into the arcade and load up a custom racer, or bring back special tracks and parts from the arcade version. If there isn't an arcade near you then just beat the game on all the hardest settings to get the extra stuff anyway. Also, there is a multiplayer mode (as shown in the picture on the right), but this limits the field to four, so you can't have a four-player championship.
Verdict:
3 and a Half socks! Again, the graphics are amazing, and the gameplay is awesome. Amusement Vision (part of Sega that made Daytone and Super Monkey Ball) have done a wonderful job at recreating F-Zero GX on the GameCube. It was a good idea to link up with the arcade, but it was also a good idea to be able to unlock the arcade stuff (even though it'll be really hard) cause not everyone lives near a cutting edge arcade. This game is quite possibly Karen's favorite on the GameCube (althoguh Donkey Konga might knock it off when/if it comes) and I reakon she would've given it at least 4, but I'm not racing as, and I think it is slightly too hard. But when you think about it, I've gotten fairly far, so it's catering more for the hardcore racers. I think main-stream people will like it for it's multiplayer, and I haven't even mentioned the insane course design!
F-Zero GX is a damned fine racer, and the envy of the other consoles!