Tetris 99 - F-Zero 99 Cup

I suppose I should’ve seen this one coming…the 41st Maximus Cup for Tetris 99 is themed on its relative in the Switch library, F-Zero 99. You may have seen a few videos of mine about it-even if you hadn’t watched them yourself, you may have spotted some in whatever means you use to find and access my videos. Taken heavily from the original F-Zero, F-Zero 99 has you race against up to 98 other players while avoiding elimination.
Well, the old and the new are mixed together here too, with a background set in Port Town that’s packed from front to back with F-Zero vehicles. (This doesn’t correspond to either Port Town I or I.). The playfield has the four available vehicles in their default paint schemes right below the Hold box. From top to bottom, they are the Blue Falcon (piloted by Captain Falcon), Golden Fox (piloted by Dr. Stewart), Wild Goose (piloted by Pico), and Fire Stingray (piloted by Samurai Goroh). Minos have a basic gradient look to them that isn’t tied to anything in particular. Badges take the form of the Skyway icon: full badges are colored gold, while incomplete badges are colored gray. KOed opponents use the icon displayed onscreen when you KO an opponent in F-Zero 99: red ones are opponents you’ve KOed, while gray ones are the other ones. Your target reticule is a flame icon, used to denote rivals in F-Zero 99.
When a match begins, the countdown uses the same sounds as in an F-Zero 99 race, and then the Mute City theme plays. When 50 players remain, it plays the sound when you complete a lap and shifts to Big Blue’s theme. When 10 players remain, it plays the sound for the final lap and uses the White Land II theme. (Why it doesn’t use Fire Field, the last course in F-Zero, I don’t know.) Shifting a block left or right plays the sound when you move around a menu in F-Zero 99, while rotating a Tetrimino plays the sound when you pick up a Super Spark. Any line clear will be accompanied by the wooshing dound when you boost. A single line clear plays a shortened version of the sound when you start the next lap, a double plays the sound when you complete your Skyway gauge, a triple plays the sound when you get on the Skyway, and a Tetris clear plays a sound I recognize but can’t remember where it turns up. T-Spins don't have any special sound. KOing a player in this Maximus Cup plays the same sound as when you make a KO in F-Zero 99. Placing 1st will play the jingle when you finish a Grand Prix followed by the accompanying music that plays when you place on the podium (1st to 3rd place). Placing 2nd or lower will play the jingle when you complete a Lucky Bumper run, followed by the default music for post-race data.
For the fast-forward music I play after I’ve been eliminated but before all the final standings are decided, I went with the final lap part of “Paper Engine,” the music for Outer Space: Meteor Storm from F-Zero GX. It would be neat if they made a modern version of F-Zero GX with online play added.
Oh yeah, and the Tetris 99 match icon, the one you select to begin a standard Tetris 99 match during this Maximus Cup, has artwork taken from the comic book that accompanied certain versions of F-Zero. I thought that was pretty neat, so I included it in the video.
00:11 Match #1
Skin: Special Theme 33 (F-Zero 99)
Mode: Normal
I played this not long after the event began, shortly after midnight on June 28th, 2024 (that is, immediately superseding 11:59 PM on June 27th, 2024), so I had expected there to be some top players. As it turns out, while 49 of the players were eliminated pretty quickly, after that, things slowed down a bunch. Probably not coincidentially, I got some KOs on that first leg but failed to get any until near the end afterwards.
08:24 - Match #2
Skin: Special Theme 33 (F-Zero 99)
Mode: Normal
I decided to play a little later to see how things would go. Seems the monsters were still awake, but I was able survive some close calls before getting any badges, then taking out opponents with more badges than me. Nevertheless though, if I get even 2 KOs in a match, it means I’m above average for the entire room overall.
17:51 Match #3
Skin: Special Theme 33 (F-Zero 99)
Mode: Invictus
Here is an Invictus match. Because this was done within the first two hours of the Maximus Cup, I discovered the population is unusually low, with only 9 other participants. Computer players fill the rest. You’ll see that I suddenly went from 6th to 1st here, which I’ve never seen before. I also noticed, looking at the stats at the end, that the last human player had been eliminated at 7th. Is this what this game does? If there’s only one organic player left, they’re just put into 1st to get it over with?

[@randomyoshi]

Looks like the music they used were:
-99 players left - Mute City
-50 players left - Big Blue
-10 players left - White Land II
-Lose Match - Lucky Bumper (End)
-Results (loss) - Race Complete
-Win Match - Final (Grand Prix, Mini Prix)
-Results (win) - Top 3 (Grand Prix, Mini Prix)
Your opponents seemed tougher than in the previous matches. You got eliminated in the 2nd match even though you got an All Clear! at 16:19.

[@Overhazard]

Thanks for pointing out some of these songs and sounds. I also noticed some vicious players throughout the entire Maximus Cup, more so than normal. I wonder if it's because of the theme, where anyone who gets to play Tetris 99 also gets to play F-Zero 99, so this is a theme they can understand.

[@jorgemoreno5585]

As for the notification sounds, 50 players is the normal lap sound while 10 players is the final lap sound. The wing symbols are actually from the Skyway, and winning plays the song that F-Zero 99 uses when the player finishes the last race of a Grand/Mini Prix. The winning results theme is the Grand Prix podium results theme.
Oddly, getting eliminated plays the Lucky Bumper (blue) end theme, and even more oddly, the losing results music is the normal results music from F-Zero 99 (an upbeat remix of Select Time, the normal results music from the original F-Zero). I would use the Rank Out music as the losing theme while the losing results music would be the normal results music (Select Time) from the original F-Zero, as that song's normal version is used as the losing results theme in F-Zero 99.
Either way, it was interesting how Tetris 99 managed to get a Falcon Dinner of its own.

[@Overhazard]

Thank you, I'll edit the description shortly. I looked through my F-Zero 99 footage and couldn't find some of these sounds and songs.

[@jorgemoreno5585]

@@Overhazard
You are welcome. I am known for making music/sound schemes out of other games to make it look like I edited them into Tetris 99. I usually go for Nintendo 64 games because the Nintendo Switch Online Virtual Console has Nintendo 64 games. Banjo-Tooie is an unlikely example due to Humba Wumba, and another unlikely example I have is WCW vs. nWo: World Tour. That game has Chris Benoit on the roster, so if any re-releases somehow happen, he would have to be edited out; resolving the license/contract headaches will not do enough. The WCW vs. nWo: World Tour-themed skin's background would have the main menu's wrestling ring, but with the WCW (World Championship Wrestling) logo edited out. As for the music scheme:
99 players would be the main menu music.
50 players would be a WCW-nWo mashup of the third generic match theme.
10 players woukd be a WCW-nWo mashup of the championship title bout music.
Winning would play the theme that WCW vs. nWo: World Tour uses when the player wins a bout, and the winning results music would be the championship victory theme (like a presentation).
Losing woukd play the theme the game over music from WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, and that game's save screen music was the closest towards a losing results theme.
I know WCW vs. nWo: World Tour is an unlikely possibility due to license/contract problems as well as Chris Benoit's presence, but the music scheme sums up why I am the Great 99-Ifier.

[@Overhazard]

Heh, I would say something about that, but unfortunately, I don’t know enough about WCW vs. nWo: World Tour to comment. I know about Banjo-Tooie though, and I’m certain the “Magical Native American” stereotype of Humba Wumba is why it hasn’t gotten in yet.
Is what you’re doing a playable mod?

[@jorgemoreno5585]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@Overhazard
It is not a playable mod, but I still use Microsoft PowerPoint animations and Microsoft Paint to help me imagine what the altered skins would be like.
I know WWF No Mercy 64 has Chris Benoit on the roster and that is is why WWF No Mercy 64, even after solving the license headaches, will not make it to Nintendo Switch Online. The only real way is to edit Chris Benoit out if any re-releases somehow happen, and Nintendo 64 games are usually left the same when they get released on the Nintendo Switch Online Virtual Console.

[@Overhazard]

Interesting. I wish you the best in your aspirations! Even if I’m not sure how to take it from there.

[@strategist9]

You've got BLOCK power!
I'm glad F-Zero is getting SOME recognition with both F-Zero 99 and this game...maybe someday it can be a completely NEW game and not just retro stuff.

[@Overhazard]

Maybe they're having a hard time figuring out how to make an F-Zero game in a way that doesn't cause it and Mario Kart to cannibalize each other.
I don't think any of the F-Zero games have sold too well; F-Zero 99 seems to be the biggest success of the series.