A set of cheat codes that unlock F-Zero GX's five golden vehicles has been discovered 23 years after the GameCube racer's release, Video Games Chronicle reported. Until now, the machines were only officially obtainable through special events in Japan.
Japanese modder BTEST4HE, who analyzes game code for hidden cheats, posted the codes on October 9. They require four controllers: all four players must enter each code at the same time on the F-Zero Shop screen, and according to BTEST4HE, the game allows a 10-frame window for the inputs to line up.
Players have confirmed that the codes work on all versions of the game, including the release in Switch 2's GameCube library, according to VGC. Before the discovery, players had relied on hacking or devices such as the Action Replay to obtain the cars, as it had been assumed they could not be unlocked through normal play. The codes, as reported, are:
- Thunder Storm: X, Z, Y, Z, X, Z, Y, X
- El Dorado: X, Right, X, Z, Y, Left, Left, Z
- Chrono Symphony: Left, Right, Z, Right, Left, X, Right, Z
- Bahamut: Y, Y, Z, Right, Left, Z, X, Y
- Gladiator: Right, Z, X, Left, Left, Right, Z, X
How the cars were originally distributed
F-Zero GX was developed by Sega as part of the Triforce project, in which Nintendo, Sega and Namco collaborated on an arcade board based on GameCube hardware. Sega also made an arcade version, F-Zero AX, with a slot for a GameCube Memory Card so save data could move between the two. That connection was the route to the 15 golden machine parts, which combine into the five golden vehicles.
Citing fan site CGN, VGC reported that Gladiator was distributed from October 2003 at around 30 stores in Japan, where players brought in their Memory Cards and a special GameCube demo disc copied the data over. Thunder Storm was only available at the F-Zero Galaxy Cup in Akihabara on October 4 and 5, 2003, and Chrono Symphony at the F-Zero Galaxy Cup in Tokyo Joypolis on November 8, 2003.
Bahamut and El Dorado came through F-Zero AX. A limited number of first-print Japanese copies of the GameCube game included a license card for the arcade version, and inserting it along with a Memory Card copied Bahamut's parts over. El Dorado's license card was given only to participants in the F-Zero Galaxy Cup tournament, and CGN estimates that just 256 people were able to unlock the car through official channels.
