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.
