F-Zero Could Return But Hard To Bring Back, Says Ex-Nintendo Designer
As a series, F-Zero has been without a major new release for 18 years. The main obstacle is really just finding a new hook, according to one designer.
Nintendo's next-most popular racing series after Mario Kart, F-Zero, could return from its slumber if the company wants it to, according to one of its series' key artists and character designers, Takaya Imamura. The trouble is the lack of a new idea that would make it fresh and stand out.
F-Zero series first debuted on the Super Nintendo in 1990, the brainchild of Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. It's perhaps best remembered for its raw speed, especially by the time the last major title, F-Zero GX, was released for the GameCube in 2003. It established the template for sci-fi racing for decades to come, particularly the PlayStation-centric Wipeout games, though even those have become dormant since 2017's Wipeout Omega Collection. Another F-Zero staple was colorful Nintendo-style characters like Captain Falcon.
Imamura recently spoke with IGN in an interview and revealed that another F-Zero installment is still appealing. "Of course, I’ve thought about it many times, but without a grand new idea, it’s hard to bring it back [F-Zero]," Imamura said. His last game with Nintendo was 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. After his work on the game, he announced his retirement from the company in January, having worked there for 32 years. Imamura didn't elaborate on what a "grand new idea" might involve, but it's likely that a 2021 F-Zero has far more than just new tracks, graphics, and courses. Nintendo has meanwhile had success with its usual running franchises such as Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda.
Imamura added that F-Zero GX is the "ultimate" game in the series, and that despite its pedigree, it was partly inspired by the arcade classic Daytona USA. "I think it started with [Amusement Vision's] Toshihiro Nagoshi proposing the project to Miyamoto," he explains. "I really liked Daytona USA (which Nagoshi produced), so I was honored to work with him. We had an arcade system board called Triforce which was based on the GameCube’s architecture, so when Nagoshi proposed doing an arcade version of F-Zero, I was really happy, as I had always been a fan of arcade games." The arcade version of the title is known as F-Zero AX.
As of April 2021 there have been no concrete reports of a revived series. Nintendo is unlikely to release anything for current-generation hardware. A rumored Switch Pro could potentially launch by March 2022, in which case a new F-Zero could be an intriguing game to showcase since a racing game like this would help demonstrate the ability to hold a solid 60 frames per second with high detail. For now, that's just a hope among fans.
Source: IGN