Nintendo has cultivated some unforgettable video game series over the years and they have strong contenders in nearly every genre. The Super Nintendo was a turning point for the company and it helped introduce many of Nintendo’s very best games and franchises. It’s easy to get caught up on the Mario Kart series, but the SNES’ F-Zero is in many ways an even more iconic game.
The Super Nintendo’s F-Zero wasn’t afraid to push the racing genre to new and exciting places and it’s helped the title become a lasting franchise that’s expanded far beyond its own series. However, there are still many details about the original game in the franchise that go overlooked.
10 It’s A Super Nintendo Launch Title
F-Zero has been regarded as one of the best and most memorable titles to come out on the Super Nintendo, but it also serves the rare honor of being one of the console’s very few launch titles. As a result, F-Zero, Super Mario World, and Pilotwings, helped define the console and show what this new hardware could accomplish. The console’s release in Japan only featured two launch titles, but F-Zero was still on the docket and it’s gained just as big of an audience in Japan.
9 There Are Only Four Playable Racers
Certain racing games, like the Mario Kart series, have made their roster of racers one of the major selling point and there are dozens of characters and even more unlockable ones at the player’s disposal. This can be a little overwhelming in some cases, especially when the mechanics of a game want to be mastered. F-Zero instead focuses on gameplay and the tracks themselves, and as a result only features a scant line-up of four possible racers, who each have their own vehicles. There’s not even a story mode to help flesh them out.
8 It’s Set In The 26th Century
The major way in which the F-Zero series tries to differentiate itself from other popular racing franchises is that it’s extreme speed is linked to the fact that the games take place all the way in the 26th century.
F-Zero is set in the year 2560 and while that detail isn’t super important to the series, it’s impressive that there is a rather rich world that’s established. Many other futuristic racing titles, like Wipeout, have followed suit and pulled from F-Zero and its setting for inspiration.
7 The Original Game Incorrectly Identifies The Vehicles As Cars
There are a lot of new concepts and ideas that F-Zero throws at its audience, but perhaps one of the most jarring facts is that this racing game actually doesn’t use cars. This may seem like a foregone conclusion considering the game takes place centuries in the future and the vehicles clearly hover at unreal speeds. They’re machines of a much higher technology than cars. However, the instruction manual for the SNES game erroneously describes the vehicles as cars, only for future installments to correct the slip.
6 It Features A Unique Take On Laps And Elimination
There’s only so much that racing games can do to try and reinvent the formula and do something new with fundamental concepts like laps and elimination. Some titles experiment with the length and number of laps in a track, but F-Zero adds another concept, which reflects the tense speed of the races. Rather than a player’s standing at the end of a track being all that’s important, F-Zero features periodic eliminations throughout a race if a player hasn’t reached a certain position by a particular lap. It means that players must perform well throughout the entire race.
5 Its Title Is In Reference To The Evolution Of Formula-One Racing
The racing genre of video games is so fascinating because various sub-genres have cropped up where there are plenty of titles that skew towards crazy and unrealistic mechanics, whereas there are many others that pride themselves in how accurately they can depict a street racing experience.
There are tons of Formula-One racing games on the market, but F-Zero’s name is actually a reference to how it wanted to shake up the formula. “F-Zero” is supposed to express a more chaotic form of racing that’s evolved beyond the norm and the game achieves that.
4 It's Playable In Other Nintendo Games
Nintendo has done a decent job to pay respect to some of their more formative franchises and they’ve found ways to showcase them in entirely different games as a way to remind the audience of the company’s roots. It’s becoming more rare to get a full free game included in a title as a bonus, but F-Zero has creatively been incorporated into other games. The Masterpiece section of Super Smash Bros. Brawl pays service to the game, but there’s also a game in the 9-Volt stage of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ that gloriously pats tribute to the hectic racer.
3 The Game Induced Seizure Warnings
It’s always interesting to see how advents in technology can lead to unintentional side effects that can cause actual harm. F-Zero was heralded for its graphics and bright color scheme, but this could apparently go too far. In the game, the lights will dim when players hit the track’s barrier. This was meant to be a warning to gamers, but it apparently also posed a concern over seizure warnings due to the didactic lighting. When F-Zero was released on the Virtual Consoles and eShops, this lighting change feature was removed as a precautionary safety measure.
2 It Makes Innovative Use Of Mode 7 Technology
The Super Nintendo marked a major step forward in terms of the hardware capabilities and graphical achievements of a home video console. SNES games weren't yet in 3D, but the console allowed for a powerful form of texture mapping known as Mode 7 that freely rotates and scales a graphical plane to simulate 3D environments. This was revolutionary for a racing game and F-Zero allows for impressive tracks that were previously impossible on a home console. Mode 7 mapping was even used on future Game Boy Advance installments in the series.
1 It Has Some Very Obscure Sequels On The Online Satellaview
F-Zero was a breakthrough title on the Super Nintendo and so it’s not surprising that Nintendo would turn to sequels. The first sequel that most are aware of is the Nintendo 64’sF-Zero X, but there is actually a direct sequel to the SNES game, as well as an updated version, that was made available on Nintendo’s niche online Satellaview. BS F-Zero Grand Prix updates the SNES game with a new track and new vehicles. It almost even received a physical release. BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2 goes even further and adds the new Ace League, with five new tracks.