F-Zero GX Cheat Codes Unlock Gold Parts After 23 Years

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A 23-year-old unlock finally has a controller input

F-Zero GX has new cheat codes in 2026, and the headline is unusually concrete for a GameCube-era discovery: fans can now unlock the Gold Parts that were originally tied to Japan-only promotional events. Nintendo Everything reports that the newly uncovered F-Zero GX cheat codes unlock all content, including Japan-only arcade event exclusives, AX courses and machines, Dark Schneider, and the Gold Parts. Kotaku attributes the discovery to Japanese player BTEST4HE, who posted the findings on October 9, 2026, and says the codes were present in the 2003 GameCube release from day one.

That creates the tension around this find. These are not newly patched rewards, a modern remaster bonus, or a datamined curiosity with no practical use. According to multiple outlets covering the discovery, the inputs work in playable versions of F-Zero GX today. Nintendo Everything says they work in the original GameCube release and the Nintendo Switch Online edition through Nintendo Classics on Switch 2. Kotaku additionally reports that the codes are not dependent on English or Japanese versions and can be used when playing via Wii as well as on GameCube and Nintendo Classics. The sources agree on the central point: a set of old inputs has turned previously event-locked content into something regular players can access without external cheat hardware.

What the Gold Parts actually unlock

The Gold Parts are the core reason this discovery has landed so hard with long-time F-Zero players. Nintendo Everything describes them as special sets originally given away to winners of Japan-only in-person events during F-Zero GX’s original GameCube release. Big-N and Retrogems give the same context, noting that these parts were tied to Japanese events and were not obtainable through normal play afterward. Back then, according to Nintendo Everything, players had to bring a memory card containing their save data to Nintendo events to receive them.

The newly surfaced F-Zero GX Gold Parts codes cover five named sets. Big-N lists them as Thunderstorm, El Dorado, Chrono Symphony, Bahamut, and Glacator. Those names matter because they separate this from a generic “unlock everything” button. These were treated by the community as distinct custom parts, and Kotaku says unlocking the fan-dubbed Gold Parts had become a long-running mystery for F-Zero GX players.

There is still one important in-game requirement. Nintendo Everything and Big-N both report that the codes unlock the content for purchase, but players still need in-game tickets to buy the items in the shop. In practical terms, the cheat codes open the gate. They do not hand every reward to a save file for free. That keeps the discovery within F-Zero GX’s economy rather than replacing it completely.

The codes bypass GX’s hardest progression gates

The Gold Parts are the rarest piece of the story, but the broader set of new F-Zero GX codes also changes how players can approach one of Nintendo’s most demanding racers. Nintendo Everything says the codes let players bypass the need to beat Grand Prix mode on Master difficulty and Story mode on Very Hard to unlock certain content. Big-N repeats that point, framing it as a way around a significant challenge while still requiring tickets for purchases.

For a racing game as severe as F-Zero GX, that distinction is meaningful. Master difficulty Grand Prix and Very Hard Story mode are not light cleanup tasks. GX is famous among racing fans for narrow reaction windows, high-speed contact, and strict track knowledge. The sources do not provide new performance statistics for the unlocked parts, so it would be wrong to claim the Gold Parts alter the handling meta in any specific way from this material alone. What is confirmed is that the codes make rare shop content and difficult unlocks reachable without clearing the most punishing progression checks.

Big-N published three one-controller codes for major unlocks. Its list gives “All AX Machines Unlocked” as X Y < > Z Z > < Y X Z Z Y Y > > >, “Dark Schneider Unlocked” as Z Z Z X X X X Y Y < < > > > Y Y, and “All AX Courses Unlocked” as X X < > Y Z Z Y < > X < > Z X > < Y Y. These sit alongside the five Gold Parts codes, making the total eight codes reported by Kotaku and Retrogems.

The four-controller catch keeps the discovery wonderfully impractical

There is one catch that fits the GameCube era almost too well: five of the eight codes require four controllers at the same time. Nintendo Everything says five codes need input from four controllers at once and will be difficult to redeem alone. Kotaku says those five include the Gold Parts codes, meaning the most sought-after unlocks are also the most awkward to enter. Big-N’s list identifies the four-controller Gold Parts inputs as Thunderstorm: X Z Y Z X Z Y X; El Dorado: X > X Z Y < < Z; Chrono Symphony: < > Z > < X > Z; Bahamut: Y Y Z > < Z X Y; and Glacator: > Z X < < > Z X.

Retrogems reports that the codes are entered from the F-Zero shop welcome screen, although the full extracted source text cuts off shortly after introducing that instruction. Nintendo Everything and Big-N both emphasize the ticket purchase step after unlocking. Combined, the practical guidance is clear enough for readers planning to try the new F-Zero GX codes: have the required controllers ready, expect several of the Gold Parts inputs to require simultaneous coordination, and do not expect the shop to waive ticket costs.

The four-controller requirement also helps explain why these F-Zero GX secrets could plausibly sit undiscovered for so long. A single-player racing game with hidden inputs is one thing. A simultaneous multi-controller command, on a specific menu screen, for event content that most players believed had no normal unlock path, is a much narrower target.

Why 23 years changes the meaning of a cheat code

The 23-year gap matters because these codes do not merely shorten old progression. They reconnect a piece of F-Zero GX to players who had no realistic route to it after the original events ended. Nintendo Everything says the Gold Parts previously could not be obtained through normal means, with a cheat device such as a GameShark presented as the only other real option. Kotaku similarly says that outside homebrew methods, the parts seemed effectively lost to time.

That history gives the discovery a preservation angle. Limited-time, in-person event rewards are fragile by design. They depend on location, hardware, staff, and a moment in the commercial life of a game. Once that moment passes, the content can remain in the software but outside the reach of most players. In F-Zero GX’s case, the sources indicate that the reward path involved physical attendance in Japan and memory cards. For fans outside that circuit, the Gold Parts were present in reputation, not in ordinary access.

This is also why the discovery resonates beyond nostalgia. GameCube racing game cheats are part of an older design language, one where controller inputs could still hide major rewards. Modern games usually handle access through accounts, patches, DLC flags, or online services. F-Zero GX, by contrast, appears from these reports to have retained dormant controller commands capable of unlocking content more than two decades later. That makes the find feel less like a convenience tip and more like a mechanical key turning in an old lock.

AX content makes the unlock list bigger than the Gold Parts

The Gold Parts are the headline, but they are not the only confirmed unlocks. Nintendo Everything reports that the codes unlock AX courses and machines, Japan-only arcade event exclusives, Dark Schneider, and all content. Big-N’s published list separates All AX Machines, Dark Schneider, and All AX Courses into their own one-controller codes before moving to the five Gold Parts sets. Kotaku also says eight unique cheat codes unlock specific sets of parts that can be purchased in the in-game shop.

That AX label carries weight for F-Zero GX fans because it points to the game’s arcade connection. The source material does not give a full history of F-Zero AX, so any deeper account of cabinet distribution or arcade hardware would go beyond the provided evidence. What the provided reports do establish is that the newly discovered codes widen access to content identified as AX machines and AX courses, content that had been separated from a simple standard playthrough for many players.

For readers returning through Nintendo Classics on Switch 2, that breadth is the practical hook. The reports do not mention a price, a separate purchase, or an official Nintendo announcement attached to the codes. They describe a community discovery that works in existing playable versions. If you already have access to F-Zero GX through the reported platforms, the new unlock path is a reason to revisit the garage, the shop, and the AX content without first clearing the toughest Grand Prix and Story requirements.

Confirmed facts, open questions, and the renewed GX lap

The confirmed picture from the available reporting is strong but not complete. Confirmed: BTEST4HE is credited by Kotaku and Retrogems with sharing the discovery on October 9, 2026. Confirmed by Nintendo Everything, Kotaku, Big-N, and Retrogems: eight new F-Zero GX cheat codes have been reported, including codes for the long-inaccessible Gold Parts. Confirmed by Nintendo Everything and Big-N: unlocked content still has to be purchased with in-game tickets. Confirmed by Nintendo Everything and Kotaku: several codes require four controllers at once, and the codes work on modern Nintendo Classics access through Switch 2 as well as the original GameCube release.

There are still unanswered questions. None of the provided source material includes an official Nintendo statement about the discovery. The reports do not explain the full technical method BTEST4HE used to find the inputs. The coverage also differs slightly in how it points to the original social post: Nintendo Everything links the discovery through Bluesky, while Kotaku and Retrogems identify BTEST4HE’s X post. That does not change the reported code list, but it is worth noting when tracing the find back to its source.

For Nintendo racing fans, the effect is immediate. F-Zero GX has spent years as a benchmark for speed, difficulty, and precision in the GameCube library. The newly found F-Zero GX cheat codes give that reputation a fresh point of entry in 2026. They do not make the game easier on the track, and they do not replace the discipline needed to drive it well. They do reopen content that many players treated as permanently out of reach, which is enough to put one of Nintendo’s sharpest racers back on the grid.