F-ZERO GX CAMEO GUIDE By Anthony Summo Version ker-FINAL UPDATES: 12/16/2004 - Changed the Contact Info and decided that enough was enough. Right or wrong, this FAQ is done. 08/08/2004 - Updated the "EMAIL" section. Guess what! I took away the cranky angsty-pooh "Don't email me >:E" message! I'm feeling a lot more sociable now. ;) Also added "Mr. Zero" to possible cameos. Many w00ts are had! Also added Jodi Summer to "Possible Racer Cameos" thanks to JMcSquiggle. 06/01/2004 - Nothing really new...added a new site to the list of sites that can post this FAQ. 05/22/2004 - Yeah...holy poop, I haven't updated this in a while. My computer crashed in February, and since then I just haven't had the juice to work on this. Anyway, we've got a trio of new updates coming in to make up for the wait! Sections [2.6] Don Genie, [3.08] Digi- Boy 2, and [3.12] Draq have been added. Also, [2.5] Billy has been updated and clarified, as it's on my own fault for not being specific enough about what his cameo actually IS. Finally, did a little generic nipping and tucking for the heck of things. 01/23/2004 - Added [4.5] RESTART! and [4.6] Crystal Egg to the Other Cameos section. Added [3.10] Mecha Mr EAD to Possible Racer Cameos. Updated [6.0] Legal Mumbo-Jumbo accordingly. Finally updated [7.0] Contact Info with a current F-Mode URL. 01/05/2004 - Moved Legal Mumbo-Jumbo and Contact Info down to [6.0] and [7.0] respectively. Added [5.0] Disproven Cameos and [5.1] Casino Palace to the list. 12/06/2003 - Added [2.5] Billy, and [3.9] Pink Spider. Updated [2.4] PJ / #38 Groovy Taxi, and [5.0] Legal Mumbo-Jumbo. Touched up some mispellings and grammar shit. CONTENTS: [1.0] Intro/Basic info [2.0] Definite Racer Cameos [2.1] Mr. EAD [2.2] James McCloud [2.3] #10 Little Wyvern [2.4] PJ / #38 Groovy Taxi [2.5] Billy [2.6] Don Genie [3.0] Possible Racer Cameos [3.01] Octoman [3.02] Billy [3.03] Leon [3.04] Zoda [3.05] John Tanaka's Theme [3.06] Digi-boy [3.07] Digi-boy 2 [3.08] #32 Cosmic Dolphin [3.09] Spade [3.10] #33 Pink Spider [3.11] Mecha Mr EAD [3.12] Draq [3.13] Jodi Summer [4.0] Other Cameos [4.1] In-series cameos [4.1.1] Mute City: Twist Road [4.1.2] The Sounds of BIG BLUE [4.1.3] Red Canyon Theme [4.1.4] Challenge of the Bloody Chain [4.2] Emblems [4.3] ROB the Robot [4.4] "Famicom" [4.5] RESTART! [4.6] Crystal Egg [5.0] Disproven Cameos [5.1] Casino Palace [6.0] Legal Mumbo-jumbo [7.0] COntact Info --- [1.0] Intro/Basic info Blah blah blah. I don't like writing introductions. Pretty much, this FAQ covers cameos in Nintendo and Sega's F-Zero GX. There won't be many story spoilers, but there will be stuff dealing with things you have to unlock, including secret characters and whatnot. If you don't want to know about any of that, then this FAQ is not the place for you. Anyway, let's get on with this thing! --- [2.0] Definite Racer Cameos These are the cameos from other games that have enough conclusive proof to be solid cameos. This stuff is only about the racers and their machines, and any other solid, non-racer cameos will be listed later on in the FAQ. [2.1] Mr. EAD CAMEO OF: None other than Super Mario, of course! PROOF: In F-Zero X, Mr. EAD's face looked roughly like Mario's, especially with the curly mustachio. While the mustachio's changed a bit for GX, it's still safe to say that Mr. EAD is a Mario cameo--the proof resides on the Starman belt-buckle Mr. EAD is sporting. And, while this may be reaching a bit, beating Master mode on any cup with Mr. EAD will give you a short FMV about him eating cake--which could be a throwback to Super Mario 64, where Peach invites Mario to her castle because she's baked him a cake. [2.2] James McCloud CAMEO OF: James McCloud, the father of Fox McCloud from the StarFox series PROOF: It's fairly easy to tell that James McCloud's design is based on what you see from StarFox 64; bearing the SF James' trademark shades as well as the Team StarFox uniform and a similar hairstyle to that of Fox from StarFox Adventures, the connection isn't hard to make and has definite solidity. Furthermore, F-Zero GX's pilot profiles point out that James McCloud is part of the space team Galaxy Dog--a clever play of words on "Star Fox." [2.3] #10 Little Wyvern CAMEO OF: The StarFox series' ARWING ships PROOF: The Little Wyvern has the same silver-gray with light-blue undertones possessed by the ARWINGs from StarFox, and also bare a similar, although not wholly identical design. Furthermore, James McCloud pilots the machine; James' profile explains that the Little Wyvern used to be his air craft on Galaxy Dog (see above description if you don't get it). [2.4] PJ / #38 Groovy Taxi CAMEO OF: Sega's hard-rocking arcade smash-hit, Crazy Taxi! PROOF: First of all, Sega made the game, and as they've added eleven all-new characters, there's a very high probability that SOME of them are cameos of popular Sega guys. It's also been confirmed that a few Sega patches are available in garage mode (see section [4.2] for more details) and AiAi appears on Billy's belt Buckle (section [2.5] for those curious). As only one other character in any F-Zero game had a theme with their machine, the fact that PJ is in the game with a Taxi- based theme is rather stand-outish. Based on that evidence alone, PJ and the "Groovy Taxi" machine he drives can be called definite throwbacks to Crazy Taxi. But further evidence cited on the F-Mode website (see section [6.0] for hyperlink) makes mention of this quote from the Official F-Zero GX/AX Player's Guide: "However,wreckless driving isn't tolerated in the taxi industry, and so the naturally the Groovy Taxi lacks superior boost capability." The reference to "wreckless driving," which is a trademark in Crazy Taxi, is very deliberately placed. [2.5] Billy CAMEO OF: AiAi, from Super Monkey Ball PROOF: http://f-zero.jp/download/wallpaper/f-zero_wp_m11_billy_800.jpg Look at his belt. :) Fryguy64 and myself both received emails about this particular cameo and for this I cry your pardons; I wasn't as specific as I could have been in the past. CREDIT: SONIC PHOENIX [2.6] Don Genie CAMEO OF: A mafioso character in a comic in the back of the SNES F-Zero manual. Proof: Brought to you by The Infamous Trev-MUN: "I strongly suspect that Don Genie is a cameo from the F-Zero SNES comic that is at the end of the game's manual. In the comic, Captain Falcon gets the bounty on a rather large bald businessman wearing ... interesting business attire: ---- Bald Dude: Come WITH you? You F-Zero drivers are crazy! You must LIKE pain! (to his guards) Throw him out! And... eliminate him! (Captain Falcon easily defeats the guards) Bald Dude: Who ARE you?! You're no ordinary F-Zero racer! Captain Falcon: (drawing a gun and procuring a wanted poster of the man) Right. I'm the best. At racing AND bringing in scum like you. Looks like you're out of luck, old man. ---- Don Genie's profile in F-Zero GX mentions he is the owner of a large trading company, and that he has been arrested several times for conducting black market trade. His body is built very much like the bald dude in the F-Zero SNES manual, as well. Though he has s (wierd) hairstyle in GX, I don't believe that rules out the possibility of a cameo; after all, in the transition from F-Zero SNES to X (and then to GX), the four main racers have undergone fairly significant changes in costume (Pico being the most dramatic), and their F-Zero machines have also changed from being tubby bumper cars to something more stream- lined. That and Nintendo has cameoed something from the F-Zero SNES comic before - Captain Falcon's starship, the Falcon Flyer, appears in SSB:M as both a trophy and part of the Big Blue stage. I don't see why they'd bring something or someone else back!" This email has been sitting in my inbox for the better part of three months. Even now, reading back on it for the first time in a while, I have to agree--that proof is pretty solid to me. I'm sticking with it. CREDIT AND SUPER-COOL KUDOS: THE INFAMOUS TREV-MUN. [3.0] Possible Racer Cameos This section covers all the POSSIBLE or PROBABLE racer-based cameos, meaning that there is some evidence to support the claims of cameo-dom, but none of the information is really solid and is largely based on assumptions. This is where Sega manages to screw with your minds, as those eleven new racers previously mentioned in this FAQ may or may not be throw-backs to Sega franchises. [3.01] Octoman POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: The old-school Legend of Zelda Octoroks--not the new ones found in Ocarina of Time or Wind Waker, we're talking the first game here! PROOF: Like all possible cameos, what proof we have is minimal at best; for this, we can only base the assumption on how Octoman looks. If you were to say "Octoman is an Octorok cameo!" and someone were to ask "Why do you say that?" you'd be left with nothing to explain yourself with except "Um...because he's red." [3.02] Billy POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: DK! Donkey Kong, huh! DK! Donkey Kong is here! PROOF: There's not much. Billy's a monkey. Ook Ook. Most of the proof comes from his Master Cup FMV video--throughout most of it, Billy is followed by a smaller monkey whom can be assumed to be Diddy Kong. There is also a point where Billy climbs a tree for a large bunch of bananas that look surprisingly more vivid than any normal bananas should; either this is Sega playing on the stereotype of monkeys and bananas, or implying that Billy is a Donkey Kong cameo through the relation, as every DK game since Donkey Kong Country has been about collecting bananas. If only they'd given Billy a necktie... [3.03] Leon POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: StarFox series' Wolf O'Donnell using the name of another StarFox character. Both of whom are on the same team in the series: StarWolf. PROOF: This cameo is the one I'm least sure about, as Leon appears to be more feline than lupine or canine. All there is to really go by is the vague similarities between Wolf and Leon, and that Leon is the name of another member of StarWolf--all the same, there's that slight possibility of coincidence. I wouldn't really stake anything on this one. [3.04] Zoda POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: Zoda, the villain in Startropics PROOF: Aside from the name...not much. "Zoda" is an odd name in itself, even for a fictional one, but there's nothing more you could base this on. [3.05] John Tanaka's Theme POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: An old Nintendo song PROOF: None, really...I'm just going on instinct here, as Tanaka's theme song sounds really old-school gamey, which is very standalone compared to the rest of the themes in the game. I might be wrong as I never got the chance to play a lot of older games, but if you think you have something let me know (see section [6.0]). NOTE FROM FRYGUY64: "The name could be a reference to Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka, a sound and music composer at Nintendo... The 'classic' sound effects in his theme are possibly from his early Nintendo arcade titles, Space Firebird or Radar Scope." [3.06] Digi-boy POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: Beat, the leader of the GGs in the Jet Grind Radio series PROOF: Again, the main proof comes in how the character looks--I feel that there's ALMOST a sufficient amount of evidence enough to make him a definite cameo, but there are two things holding me back: the character's name (Digi-boy, or Terry Getter--neither of which have any relevance to the Jet Grind Radio series), and that Jet Grind Radio was not a really popular game in either the US or Japan. Either way you want to look at it, Digi-boy looks incredibly like Beat--Digi-boy's enormous glasses and ear pieces resemble Beat's goggles and headphones, and both characters have a similar smile; furthermore, Digi-boy's boots (which look LOADS like Megaman boots, but since Capcom didn't make this game, you can't look too far into that) have wheels on them, like roller-skates; those few who have played the JGR series know that it's a game about roller-blading. And, while this may be a bit TOO analytical of me, Digi-Boy's yellow shirt is the same tone and color of Beat's, and his shorts loosely match Beat's pants. [3.07] Digi-boy 2 POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: Harry Potter...of all things. PROOF: Again, from The Infamous Trev-MUN: "The other thing I wanted to note, even though I'm not sure of it at all... Is it just me, or is Digi-Boy like an F-Zero GX tribute to Harry Potter? The kid's about Harry's age, he's a wiz at computers, and his real name is Terry Getter (and that has the same number of letters and... er... phonetic style? of Harry's name). He also wears glasses. Pretty supicious if you ask me..." Highly unlikely, but curious nonetheless...so I stuck it in. :) CREDIT: THE INFAMOUS TREV-MUN [3.08] #32 Cosmic Dolphin POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: Project Dolphin! You know, the GameCube's pre- release name. Remember that? PROOF: Any time something resembling the word "Dolphin" in GameCube games pop up, it's pretty deliberate and easy to pick up. That alone makes for some good cameoage, but what stops me from putting it with the "definite" cameos is that it belongs to Digi-boy. And again, Digi- boy may be a Sega cameo, so with that knowlege in mind you can't really proove the Cosmic Dolphin. [3.09] Spade POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: A mish-mashing of various NiGHTS into Dreams villains, most notably Reala. PROOF: Once again, not very much; this is just another flight on instinct and looks. Spade does, undeniably, look like he could fit into the NiGHTS universe, and as NiGHTS is Sonic Team's second-most-known project (after Sonic the Hedgehog himself), it wouldn't be a surprise if this were the truth. But again, the evidence is very flimsy, so there's no way of telling. [3.10] #33 Pink Spider POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: A famous song by Japanese Rock Artist "Hide" of X Japan PROOF: Ding Shi writes: "DaiSanGen's Pink Spider is a reference to famous (and dead) Japanese rocker hide from X Japan. His anthem and one of his most popular songs was called Pink Spider. Not a coincidence." Sorry, Ding Shi--I stuck it in possible cameos because I really have no proof connecting it to F-Zero, Nintendo, or Sega, and most F-Zero machines are named after some kind of animal, combined with a random word in front of it. CREDIT: DING SHI [3.11] Mecha Mr EAD POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: The Sonic the Hedgehog series' mainstay villain, Dr Eggman! PROOF: If you beat any Master Cup with Zoda, you'll unlock the movie "Arise, ZODA II! Zoda's Road to World Domination?" which involves Zoda bringing life to a disturbingly Zoda-esque version of Mr EAD--or, if you look at him in a different light, Dr Eggman. But as the staple is for everything in the Possible Racer Cameos section, there's no solid evidence. CREDIT: BART DANE [3.12] Draq POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: Legend of Zelda's old-school Moblins PROOF: Draq does actually look a little bit like an old-school Moblin, when you think about it--the same dumpy, puggish appearance, and the option for pink or blue skin (old Moblins had red and blue skin, which is close enough). Still, no definite answer here... CREDIT: MATT COUSIN [3.13] Jodi Summer POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: The Metroid Series' Samus Aran PROOF: Her pose is similar to Samus' statue in SSBM; her hair is the same style, and when you toggle the color options, becomes the same kind of dirty-blonde of Samus'; and her suit is very vaguely reminisc- ant of Samus' Power Suit. The only reason why this is here is because it's not obvious enough to consider it. CREDIT: JMCSQUIGGLE [4.0] Other Cameos Basically, if it's nothing to do with a racer, it'll go here; and there are plenty of other cameos to find outside your racer and machine selection. Some of these cameos require no proof, as they're just there and rather self- explanitory. [4.1] In-Series Cameos [4.1.1] Mute City: Twist Road CAMEO OF: Mute City: Figure Eight, from F-Zero X and Super Smash Brothers: Melee PROOF: Well, just look at it--aside from the giant loop near the end of the X track, Twist Road and Figure Eight are identi- cal. [4.1.2] The Sounds of BIG BLUE CAMEO OF: The Big Blue theme [4.1.3] Red Canyon Theme CAMEO OF: The Red Canyon theme from the original F-Zero. PROOF: In the opening and closing FMV for Chapter Two: Goroh: The Vengeful Samurai in the story mode, if you listen to the music, you'll hear that it's the old Red Canyon theme. [4.1.4] Challenge of the Bloody Chain POSSIBLE CAMEO OF: Death Race mode, from F-Zero X PROOF: In F-Zero X, the Death Race mode had one goal: Kill all 29 other racers before they kill you. While there are obvious differences, Chapter Four: Challenge of the Bloody Chain is based on a similar premise where you have to defeat 28 members of the Bloody Chain, and their leader, Michael Chain, before crossing the finish line. Although the similarities are duly noted, there's still no official proof if Sega intended it that way, which is why it's only a possible cameo. [4.2] Emblems CAMEO OF: Several characters and items PROOF: In Garage mode, you can edit a custom vehicle--or even one already in the game--by adding emblems to it. Aside from every F-Zero racer in the game, you can also get emblems of the Super Mushroom, One- Up Mushroom, Mario, Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare, Tingle (from Legend of Zelda), Kirby, an NES/Famicom controller, Sonic the Hedgehog and AiAi (from Super Monkey Ball). Many of these emblems need to be unlocked somehow; the F-Zero racers are unlocked as you buy the machines, and you start with the Super and One-Up Mushrooms by default. I don't know how you can get the others--if anyone has any information on such, please contact me. Information greatly contributed by Fryguy64 and the Nintendo Database. [4.3] ROB the Robot CAMEO OF: ROB the Robot, of course! PROOF: Go into any Port Town course and there's a heavy chance you'll spot ROB somewhere in the background--possibly more than once per course! ROB was a peripheral for the NES, made in 1985--not to be confused with the toy robots that were popular in the mid-nineties. [4.4] "Famicom" CAMEO OF: The Famicom, and nothing else! Unless you call it the NES, Nintendo Entertainment System, or like I do, just plain "Nintendo." PROOF: In Story Mode, Chapter Three: High Stakes at Mute City, Silver Neelsen has Captain Falcon register under a false name and identity so that he may win the bet money the race is bringing in. On the score- board before the race begins, a new racer is added to the list--that is one "Famicom." And as the rest of the names on the list are well-known (Dr. Clash, The Skull, etc) and Neelsen wants Falcon to race disguised, it's clear that "Famicom" is an alternate alias for Falcon so nobdoy will think to bet on him. [4.5] RESTART! CAMEO OF: Chao--those little jelly-like critters that've had a semi- relevant role in all new Sonic games since Sonic Adventure 1 on the Dreamcast. PROOF: In certain race modes, like Multiplayer and Practice, you have the option of restarting--where a UFO-shaped object will restore your machine if you fall off the edge or run out of energy and explode. The UFO's cockpit is occupied by three Chao. THANKS TO: MARTIN MCLAUGHLIN FOR JOGGING MY FAT ASS MEMORY TO PUT THIS DOWN. [4.6] Crystal Egg CAMEO OF: A level in Sonic & Tails: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the GameGear. PROOF: The Crystal Egg is a Custom Machine part that becomes available in the F-Zero Shop after you beat Chapter 8 on Hard Mode. Its name is rather conspicuous (most other Machine bodies are named after some kind of animal), so we can chalk it up as a solid cameo. CREDIT: SHADOW JACKY --- [5.0] Disproven Cameos This section is for cameos that have been proven incorrect, or for possible cameos that have been disproven due to proper evidence. Fun! [5.1] Casino Palace DISPROOF: MetalMario (from Italy, my genetic homeland!) writes: "I write to you about your nice F-Zero GX Cameo FAQ at F-Mode: I think that Casino Palace's name can't be seen as a Sonic's Casinopolis cameo, 'cause the original Japanese name of these tracks is Vegas Palace." Thank you, MetalMario! Pa-zoing! --- [6.0] Legal Mumbo-jumbo F-Zero is the soul copyright of Nintendo. F-Zero GX was produced by Sega and Amusement Vision. Information regarding #38 Groovy Taxi was provided by the F-MODE website and Ryan Painter, who got it from the Official F-Zero GX/AX Players' Guide. (C) to himself and Nintendo respectively. Information regarding emblems, "Hip" Tanaka, and ROB the Robot from the Nintendo Database and Fryguy64, which is (c) to him as well. Special thanks and mad kudos to: Sonic Phoenix, Ding Shi, MetalMario, SHADOW JACKY, Bart Dane, Martin McLaughlin, Matt Cousin, The Infamous Trev-MUN, JMcSquiggle and last but certainly not least, Fryguy64. FAQ made by and copyright Anthony Summo, 2003. Do not repost anywhere without my permission. The FAQ may be used by the following sites: GAMEFAQS NINTENDO DATABASE F-MODE NEOSEEKERS This FAQ must be posted in its entirety, or not at all. --- [7.0] COntact Info My email address (written in the nifty Sluggy Freelance SPAMbot blocker code!) is tei(dot)sama(at)gmail(dot)com. If you have questions, comments, flames, et cetera, give me a hollar.