some nonsense about Phantom Road that I’ll break out of this spoilerpop once I get home and can verify it EDIT: okay yeah i think this is right:
One subtle yet crucial difference between the driving models in X and GX is that in GX your machine’s pitch and roll relative to the surface of the track has a large effect on how it handles. In general, an off-kilter ship has to take a few moments to recenter itself to recover it’s speed and handling, which is only really relevant after collisions, on really bumpy tracks (like that one part of Fire Field Undulation), and (most infamously) on Phantom Road. That course’s name, Slim-Line Slits, refers to the thin slits along the middle of the track. While you can’t fall through the slits, they prove incredibly troublesome because they can destabilize your ship along the aforementioned pitch and roll axes – easily cratering your performance if you aren’t careful. The cause of this effect is non-obvious to the average player, and is neither taught nor especially relevant on any other course in the game, making it the most difficult course in the game by a long shot – and I think that’s just beautiful.
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Also, while I really love the background colossi and everything else about Big Hand, I think GX deserves some credit for giving us the best possible interpretation of Rainbow Road:
