F-Zero 99 Adds Star Rivals and Festival Event in New Patch v1.4.0

Nintendo has introduced a ton of new content to F-Zero 99, a free-to-play game with a subscription. The updates just keep coming. Version 1.4.0 of the game adds quite a bit, including a new Festival event (with festival-themed tracks), a new Ranking event, Star Rivals featuring characters from past F-Zero games, and a bunch of the usual new stuff.

You can now share an emoticon with your fellow racers before the race begins. The patch is available for download now.

New additions

• Added Festival Queen League. All courses included in the Queen League (MUTE CITY II/PORT TOWN I/RED CANYON I/WHITE LAND I/WHITE LAND II) will appear as Festival courses. During these events, Gem Sparks can be collected from Festival courses.
  • Added customization items that can only be obtained during the period when the Festival Queen League event is in progress. You can check the acquisition status by pressing the L button on the main menu.
  • The Queen League Festival event will only run for a limited time. You can see how much time is left in the event by pressing the L button on the main menu.
  • Regular Queen League circuits and the Queen League Grand Prix cannot be played while the Festival Queen League event is active (except in the Private Lobby and Training Modes). Additionally, Limited Time Challenges will not be available.
  • Added an event ranking tab to the weekly leaderboard based on collected Gem Sparks. A player ranked 999th or higher at the end of the event can earn a special badge.
• Added Star Rivals. They will occasionally appear on Festival tracks during a Festival Queen League event.
  • Star Rivals will appear in F-ZERO 99 and Festival Queen League modes. They will not appear in Private Room races.
  • The Star Rivals are the four characters Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Dr. Stewart, and Pico from the SNES version of the game F-ZERO.
  • When you beat a Star Rival in a race where they have been chosen as your rival, you will receive a special badge that can be used to customize driver cards.
• Added emoticons that can be sent to specific locations during a race. A face icon will appear in the upper right corner of the screen when the emoticon can be sent. At this time, hold the R button and press the A, B, X, or Y button to select the emoticon you want to send.
  • Emojis can be sent from the Driver Map display screen before the race starts, during the camera introduction at the starting point, and while watching a race.
  • Emojis sent by other spectating players will appear in the lower left corner of the screen.
  • You can enable or disable EMOTES DISPLAY from the Main Menu Options.
• The rules for Team Battle have been changed. The previous two-team system has been replaced with a five-team system, and the number of players per team is now 10. Additionally, in Team Battle, all teammates share a Team Super Meter. When the Team Super Meter is full, all teammates can drive together on the Team Skyway.
  • The Super Boost is activated when each teammate presses the Boost button within the allotted time.
  • The number of players allowed to participate in Team Battle is 50.
  • Available team colors are blue, yellow, green, pink and white.
  • Gray, Red, and Gold Bumpers now also spawn in teamfights. Gold Bumpers that spawn in teamfights can now be KO’d.
• Three weekend events have been added:
  • Weekend Event: Lucky Weekend
    • Lucky Ranks will reset every four hours. You can earn Bonus Ticket Points and EXP by playing F-ZERO 99 or Pro Tracks modes during the event.
  • Weekend Event: Mini Prize Machine-Shuffle Weekend
    • At the start of the race, a machine type is randomly selected and all players compete for the Mini Prize with that machine.
  • Weekend Event: Team Battle Weekend
    • Team battles will occur frequently. You can earn bonus points and EXP from team battles during the event.

  The weekend events are scheduled to take place sequentially on the weekends following the end of the Queen League Festival period.

• Boost colors and Spin effects have been added to be used for machine customization, as well as backgrounds, badges, and borders to be used for driver card customization. These can be unlocked when certain conditions are met.
  • New Boost Colors and Spin Effects can be obtained primarily through limited-time challenges starting after the Queen League Festival ends.
  • New backgrounds can mainly be obtained through Lucky Ranks.
  • You can access your new customization items through the Workshop in the main menu.

Other adjustments and modifications

• Increased the amount a player’s skill level increases with the S-S50 skill when defeating a rival.
• Added variation to bumper spawn pattern.
• Due to a change in the Team Battle rules, the requirements for earning a Team Battle badge have been changed to “Finish in the top 3 teams of a Team Battle 20 times” (and 50 and 99 times thereafter).
  • The number of times you placed 1st in previous Team Battles will remain recorded, and once this update is applied, the number of times you placed 1st-3rd will be added.
• The badge obtainable by a Double KO has been changed to a hidden badge.
• Lucky Ranks reset time has been changed to 5pm (PDT).

Other issues

• Fixed issues to make the gaming experience more enjoyable.