When comparing F-Zero vs OutRun, the Slant community recommends OutRun for most people. In the question“What are the best and the most revolutionary games of all time?” OutRun is ranked 36th while F-Zero is ranked 103rd. The most important reason people chose OutRun is:
Unlike other racing games of the time, you aren't necessarily racing at all. OutRun was more about beating the clock than any opponents. At the end of each stages, the player could either turn left for an easier stage or turn right for a more difficult stage which gave the user some choices as if they were driving instead of racing on a set track.
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Pros
Pro Launch title for the NES
The NES brought a revolution to console gaming, and F-Zero was a part of that by being one of the launch titles.
Pro The first game to use "Mode 7 Scrolling"
The NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was the first console to allow for what Nintendo called "Mode 7 Scrolling", and as a launch title F-Zero was the first game that took advantage of that feature.
Mode 7 Scrolling refers to the newest (at the time) graphic mode which brought new ways to configure the background layers. Background layers could be manipulated in new ways than what was available before. It allows layers to be scaled and rotated, and for background layers to move in the foreground in front of some sprites.
This was at a time when backgrounds were flat and could only consist of 2D objects. Mode 7 scrolling - and F-Zero as the first game with it - brought a much more dynamic background to RPGs and racing games especially.
Pro Unique driving gameplay instead of racing
Unlike other racing games of the time, you aren't necessarily racing at all. OutRun was more about beating the clock than any opponents. At the end of each stages, the player could either turn left for an easier stage or turn right for a more difficult stage which gave the user some choices as if they were driving instead of racing on a set track.
Pro First game to offer a choice of music
Before OutRun, players couldn't choose what music they listened to. In OutRun, players could choose one of three 'radio stations' which would play different music.