F-Zero

F-Zero is a series of futuristic racing video games originally created by Nintendo EAD with multiple games developed by outside companies. The first game was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 and prompted Nintendo to create multiple sequels on succeeding gaming consoles.

The series has been known for its high-speed racing, unique characters and settings, difficult gameplay, original music, and pushing the limits of its technology to be one of the fastest racing games ever. The first game inspired the creation of games such as Daytona USA and the Wipeout series.

The series has been largely dormant since 2004, with the last title being F-Zero Climax. It has however made several appearances in other franchises such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros.

Games

The first game in the series and a launch game for the SNES, F-Zero was also the first Super Nintendo game to use a technique that Nintendo called "Mode 7 Scrolling". When Mode 7 was combined with scaling and positioning of the layer on a scanline-by-scanline basis it could simulate 3D environments. Such techniques in games were considered to be revolutionary in a time when most console games were restricted to static/flat backgrounds and 2-dimensional (2D) objects. The result was developer Nintendo EAD creating a game that IGN reviewer Craig Harris called the fastest and smoothest pseudo-3D console racer of its time.

F-Zero (video game)

F-Zero is a futuristic racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The game was released in Japan on November 21, 1990, in North America in August 1991, and in Europe in 1992. F-Zero is the first game of the F-Zero series and was one of the two launch titles for the SNES in Japan, but was accompanied by additional initial titles in North America and Europe. It was re-released for the Virtual Console service on the Wii in late 2006, and Wii U in early 2013.

The game takes place in the year 2560, where multi-billionaires with lethargic lifestyles created a new form of entertainment based on the Formula One races called "F-Zero". The player can choose between one of four characters in the game, each with their respective hovercar. The player then can race against computer controlled characters in fifteen tracks divided into three leagues.

F-Zero is acknowledged by critics to be the game that set a standard for the racing genre and the creation of the futuristic subgenre. Critics lauded F-Zero for its fast and challenging gameplay, variety of tracks, and extensive use of the graphical mode called "Mode 7". This graphics-rendering technique was an innovative technological achievement at the time that made racing games more realistic, the first of which was F-Zero. As a result, IGN credited it for reinvigorating the genre and inspiring the future creation of numerous racing games. In retrospective reviews of the game critics agreed that it should have used a multiplayer mode.