Dirty Hipsters said:
I'll take a crack at this, give my personal opinion on things, specifically the 3 points you mentioned. Let's see...
I'll start with them machines. There's something about their design that simply
looks F-Zero. Be it the simplicity in their design, or the shapes they take... I dunno, there's something about them to me personally that looks like they fit exactly in their series in terms of style. But that may be a more personal feeling.
The second thing I'll tackle is the music. There's something unmistakably awesome about the F-Zero soundtracks. They have some amazing songs composed by really talented people. There's something about their sound, intensity, and especially their variety that few sci-fi racing games seem to match. (Some personal standouts from GX being Feel Our Pain, Shotgun Kiss, 8 Guitars, and Zen)
Wipeout has some standouts, but a lot of them are fairly simple and slower paced techno songs. Redout has some cool ones too, but they kinda fall too into atmospheric and moody, rather than highly energetic stuff that gets your mind going.
Fast RMX gets really close, having some good songs that fit the area, and then some real blood pumpers in particular levels that get a bit closer to what F-Zero (GX in particular) can do. (Some personal examples being Sunahara Desert, Kamagori City, Alpine Trust and Storm Coast)
Lastly, the personality... That's just it. F-Zero X is loaded with comic book style portraits, a fast paced metal soundtrack, and just pure 90's era gaming charm. GX goes for more electronic and sci-fi tone and styling, but has a great mix of music and track variety in terms of layout and background design that just oozes personality, be it the levels Fire Field, Vegas Palace, Green Plant, Aeropolis or the classic Mute City. Sure Outer Space and Lightning may not look as interesting (The first 2 tracks in the vid Samtendo linked), but even the background stuff in those is pretty fun. The weather effects of Lightning always set the tone alongside the intense music.
So... Yeah, that's my personal breakdown of things. I love the sci-fi racing genre, and have played plenty of them. And even though some get close like Fast RMX, there's simply something about them that doesn't strike the same chord of quality F-Zero tends to push. I understand a number of examples I put out are indie titles, but that's just it... There aren't many first party sci-fi racing titles with their level of production values anymore. So when indies have limited skill/budget and try to get into things, they can work great as a game, but never seem to match the level of "wow" F-Zero can have.
Edit: Holy hell my posts always look like an essay after I hit submit. Sorry about that!