F-Zero (styled as F-ZERO) is a series of racing video games made by Nintendo and other companies. The first game was released for the Super Famicom in Japan in 1990. Nintendo made more games for later consoles because the first one was successful.
The series is known for fast-paced, futuristic racing, unique characters and settings, challenging gameplay, and original music. It also helped set new standards for technology in racing games. The original game influenced other games, such as Daytona USA and the Wipeout series.
The series was not very active after the release of F-Zero Climax in Japan in 2004. However, some elements from the series appeared in other Nintendo games, like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. Older games in the series were made available again on various Nintendo consoles through the Virtual Console service. The original F-Zero was included in the Super NES Classic Edition. It was also one of the first games released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Nintendo Switch Online collection on September 5, 2019. After more than 19 years without a new game, a battle royale version of the original, called F-Zero 99, was released for the Nintendo Switch. This game is only available to members of Nintendo Switch Online.
Gameplay
Each game in the F-Zero series requires players to reach the finish line before opponents while avoiding obstacles like land mines and slippery areas. The games often mix memorizing tracks with quick reactions due to the fast-paced racing. In F-Zero and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, players receive a speed boost after completing each lap. Starting with F-Zero X, players can use speed boosts after finishing at least one lap, but they lose energy when boosting. Players must use special strips on the track to regain energy, or risk their vehicle exploding when energy runs out. Strategically placed dash plates allow speed boosts without losing energy. Players can also use their vehicles to attack each other while navigating obstacles.
The game’s planets have different climates and environments, and are home to various alien races and tribes. While each game has unique settings, some locations like Big Blue, Mute City, and Port Town appear in multiple games. Racing circuits are often built on the edges of cities or high above them, reaching up to 300 feet (91 meters) above ground. Anti-gravitational beams on both sides of the track keep the vehicles in place. Wealthy individuals from floating cities or harsh environments funded the construction of these circuits. Some cities have multiple circuits, with unused ones available for practice. Most circuits are large, with a single lap covering over six miles (10 kilometers).
The vehicles used in the games are called "F-Zero machines," which hover instead of using wheels. An anti-gravity system, called the "G-Diffuser System" (first used in the Star Fox game's Arwing), lets these machines stay close to the track while moving quickly. However, slippery areas, also called "magnetic field block coat" in the first F-Zero game, prevent vehicles from staying on the track. Machines use advanced magnetic technology and can be repaired. Of the over 44 known machines, only five weigh less than a short ton. These machines can travel faster than the speed of sound because of their micro-plasma engines.
Each machine has four performance traits: body, boost, grip, and weight. Body, boost, and grip are rated from A to E (A is best, E is worst). A higher Body rating means the machine is more durable and takes less damage in crashes. A good Body rating allows the vehicle to survive more attacks before exploding. The Boost rating shows how long a vehicle can speed up and how fast it can go. A high Boost rating lets the vehicle maintain high speeds for longer. Grip determines how well a vehicle turns. A high Grip rating makes turns smoother, while a low rating causes the vehicle to drift more during tight turns. Weight affects acceleration, turning, speed, and damage from crashes. Lighter vehicles perform better in acceleration, turning, and speed, while heavier vehicles take less damage in crashes.
Plot
The F-Zero series originally had four pilots in the first game, but the number of characters has grown over time to more than 40 in later games. Each character has a unique vehicle, story, and reason for joining the F-Zero Grand Prix. Captain Falcon is the most well-known character. The winner of the Grand Prix receives a large amount of prize money, but many pilots have been lost during the races.
The F-Zero games are based on real-life Formula One races from the 20th and 21st centuries and on imaginary F-Max Grand Prix races from the 24th century. The games show future races influenced by wealthy former space merchants. These merchants believed that fast, dangerous races would attract people to gamble, so they created the F-Zero Execution Project. The F-Zero Grand Prix began in the 26th century and is still supported by the wealthy elite who started the project. These races feature highly advanced vehicles and take place on fast, challenging tracks. The races are known for their unpredictable fans and unusual competitors. Winners receive large sums of money and great recognition throughout the universe.
Most F-Zero games are set on a futuristic Earth in the 26th century, though some games take place earlier or on different planets. The game F-Zero X describes the F-Max Grand Prix as the event that led to the F-Zero races of the 24th century.
F-Zero begins in the year 2560, after humans encountered alien life forms across the universe. These encounters expanded Earth’s society, leading to trade, technology sharing, and cultural exchanges between planets. A group of wealthy space merchants created the "F-Zero Grand Prix" to add excitement to their lives. When the first race happened, people were upset by the dangerous obstacles and traps on the track. Over time, they became used to the dangers and even wanted more excitement. Winning the F-Zero championship became the most prestigious achievement in the universe. This early period is called the "old-school" F-Zero days, where rules were not clearly defined in F-Zero X.
The storyline of F-Zero X takes place after a seven-year pause in Grand Prix races caused by the "Horrific Grand Finale," a violent accident that killed 14 drivers, including Sterling LaVaughn. A racer named Super Arrow was the only survivor. After the crash, the Federation banned racing, but the sport continued secretly. Super Arrow’s speech to the Federation Congress helped end the ban, leading to the creation of the "F-Zero Racing Academy." The Grand Prix was restarted with new rules and safety measures.
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity takes place 25 years after the original game, in the year 2585. Players race against the descendants of the original F-Zero racers. This game is considered a reboot, meaning it does not include the safety changes made after the Horrific Grand Finale. Instead, it reflects the original F-Zero game’s extreme danger.
F-Zero GX does not mention the Horrific Grand Finale. Instead, it states that Sterling LaVaughn raced during the F-Max era and that the F-Zero Grand Prix was paused four years earlier. The game mentions that Mighty Gazelle was injured in a major accident four years ago. The Nintendo 64 version of the game explains that Mighty Gazelle’s accident and the accident that paused the Grand Prix were separate events.
F-Zero: GP Legend is set in a different timeline and begins in the year 2201. It was followed by F-Zero Climax. These games include different versions of characters such as Captain Falcon and Zoda.
Development
The first game in the F-Zero series was released for the Super NES. It was the first game on that platform to use a special technique called "Mode 7 Scrolling." When Mode 7 was combined with scaling and positioning of layers on a scanline-by-scanline basis, it could create the illusion of 3D environments. At the time, most console games had flat backgrounds and 2D objects, so this technique was considered groundbreaking. Nintendo EAD, the game's developer, created a game that IGN reviewer Craig Harris called the fastest and smoothest pseudo-3D console racer of its time. F-Zero was one of the first games released with the SNES. Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development took about fifteen months to complete the game. In Japan, only F-Zero and Super Mario World were available at launch. In North America and Europe, Super Mario World came with the console, and other initial games included F-Zero, Pilotwings (which also showed the console's "Mode 7" pseudo-3D rendering), SimCity, and Gradius III.
Kazunobu Shimizu said F-Zero started as a sequel to Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race. Nintendo of America rejected the idea, saying, "[r]acing cars should be cooler." Shimizu responded, “Well, if that’s what you say, then I’ll make something really cool!” During his time in America, the 1989 movie Batman was popular, so he bought Batman comics and returned to Japan. At that time, Yasunari Nishida was working on a racing game. Shimizu said the futuristic setting was inspired by the Batman movie. He also mentioned that adding tires would have made the game more complicated.
Artist Takaya Imamura said the racers in F-Zero were an afterthought. He explained that "Captain Falcon was originally the mascot character for Super NES." Imamura added that most people at Nintendo didn’t know this. When F-ZERO was nearly complete, someone wanted a mascot character for Super NES with a name like "Captain Something." Imamura created a character that matched the colors of the Super Famicom controller, using red, blue, and yellow.
F-Zero had a sequel for the SNES that was canceled but later released as BS F-Zero Grand Prix in 1996 through the Japanese-only Satellaview peripheral. Like most Satellaview games, it was released in parts over multiple broadcasts and included updates from the first game. It was followed by BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2 in 1997, which added new courses.
A game called Zero Racers (G-Zero) was being developed for the Virtual Boy in 1996. It had an ESRB rating but was never released because the console was discontinued. The game was previewed by Nintendo Power and planned for a U.S. launch in fall 1996. Unlike other F-Zero games, Zero Racers allowed vehicles to race in all three dimensions inside tunnels. In January 2026, Nintendo announced the game would be released for the first time on the Nintendo Classics service.
After a seven-year break outside Japan, the series returned to 3D with F-Zero X on the Nintendo 64. The game introduced 26 new vehicles and included the four from the original F-Zero. It added a "death race" mode and a random track generator called the "X Cup." In death race, players must destroy 29 other racers as quickly as possible. The X Cup generates different tracks each time played. The N64's hardware limited the game to 60 frames per second with 30 machines on screen, leaving little power for graphics or music.
A Nintendo 64DD expansion called F-Zero X Expansion Kit was released in Japan as the last 64DD add-on. It added a course editor, vehicle editor, two new cups, three new machines, and new music. The course editor was praised for being detailed, as it was similar to the tools used by the game's designers.
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity was the fourth game in the series and the first for Nintendo's Game Boy handheld. It was developed by NDcube, a first-party subsidiary. This Game Boy Advance (GBA) launch game returned to the SNES F-Zero's gameplay using a Mode 7-styled engine.
F-Zero GX was released for the GameCube and developed by Sega's Amusement Vision team. It was the first F-Zero game with a story mode. The game was initially called F-Zero GC. The arcade version, F-Zero AX, had three types of cabinets, including a deluxe one shaped like an F-Zero vehicle. F-Zero AX had six original courses and ten characters, which could be unlocked in F-Zero GX.
F-Zero: GP Legend was the second handheld game for the Game Boy Advance and the second to include a story mode. It was based on the anime series and introduced a new character, Ryu Suzaku/Rick Wheeler. Unlike earlier games, GP Legend takes place in the 22nd century instead of the original 26th-century timeline.
F-Zero Climax was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. Like GP Legend, it was developed by Nintendo and Suzak. It was the first F-Zero game with a built-in track editor that didn’t require an expansion. Players could save custom tracks to 30 slots or share them via link cable. If memory was full or a link cable wasn’t available, a password could be used to recreate the track on any Climax cartridge.
Takaya Imamura, who worked on F-Zero across many versions, said in 2003, "Seeing the results of the collaboration with Sega, I found myself unsure how to take the franchise further past F-Zero GX and AX."
In 2012, Edge magazine asked Shigeru Miyamoto about a future F-Zero game. Miyamoto said, "At the time, [F-Zero] was a big surprise, a new thing, a product that made sense. The Wii and DS lack the ability to create a similar impact." In 2015, Nintendo Life reported that Nintendo of Europe approached Criterion Games in 2011 to develop a new F-Zero game for the Wii U. However, Criterion was busy working on Need for Speed: Most Wanted and couldn’t take on the project.
Reception
IGN's Lucas Thomas said that the design and style of Mach Rider influenced the F-Zero series. He noted that Mach Rider gave players "only a split second to react before you crash into a rock or enemy road warrior." In 2003, Matt Casamassina of IGN stated that the F-Zero franchise has been considered one of the best video game series in the racing genre.
In 2008, an editor from Pro-G said that F-Zero GX "still ranks as one of the best high-speed racers ever made, but the series has been lying dormant for years."
The Tampa Tribune's review of GP Legend mentioned that "it feels a little strange to see what was a less well-known but very good racing franchise attempt to go mass-market."
Nintendo World Report gave Climax a score of 7.5 out of 10. Siliconera praised the fast gameplay and track editor features but said the game felt more like an expansion pack than a sequel.
In 2007, Shigeru Miyamoto said that past F-Zero and Star Fox collaborations with other companies outside of Nintendo were disappointing. He explained that "consumers got very excited about the idea of those games, but the games themselves did not deliver."
Legacy
F-Zero: GP Legend is an animated series with 51 episodes. It was created by TV Tokyo, Dentsu, and Ashi Productions. Ami Tomobuki directed the series, and Akiyoshi Sakai wrote the story. Toyoo Ashida designed the characters, and Takayuki Negishi composed the music. Shigeru Miyamoto and Takaya Imamura supervised the series. It first aired in Japan on October 7, 2003, on TV Tokyo, and the final episode was shown on September 28, 2004. 4Kids Entertainment allowed the series to be broadcast in North America. According to Kombo, the show was changed for North American audiences. Fifteen episodes were shown on the FoxBox and later on 4Kids TV, a block on the Fox network in the United States, before it was canceled. In Japan, the series was re-aired on Tokyo MX from 7:30 to 8:00 every Thursday. The series is a new beginning for the F-Zero franchise, set in the year 2201. Lifeforms from across the galaxy compete in a new racing tournament called "F-Zero."
Police detective Ryu Suzaku (known as Rick Wheeler in the 4Kids version) is one of the main characters. He survives a serious car accident while chasing a criminal named Zoda. Ryu is frozen in a special state until he is revived in the year 2201 by Mobile Task Force members Jody Summer and Dr. Stewart. The Task Force works to keep prize money from being used by the Dark Million Organization, which is led by Black Shadow and Deathborn. This organization is responsible for freezing and evolving Ryu’s old enemy, Zoda. Ryu joins the Task Force to help stop Zoda and the Dark Million Organization. During his mission, Ryu meets Captain Falcon, a famous racer and bounty hunter, as well as other racers.
Captain Falcon is another main character and remains a mystery. When not racing, he works at a bar he owns under the name Bart (Burt in the 4Kids version) Lemming. Later, it is revealed that he is Andy Summer, Jody’s brother, who was believed to have died in an accident involving Zoda (unknown to the Mobile Task Force for most of the series). Captain Falcon fights Black Shadow and the Dark Million Organization and often helps the Task Force. Near the end of the series, Dr. Stewart tells Ryu the story of Captain Falcon. According to the legend, Captain Falcon and Black Shadow represent light and dark, like the balance of Yin and Yang. After the Big Bang, six powerful objects called "Reactor Mights" were created. The person who controls all of them gains great power. It is also revealed that Ryu Suzaku is "The Savior" of the Universe and is meant to help Captain Falcon win. During the final battle, Ryu and Captain Falcon work together to destroy Black Shadow’s Dark Matter Reactor using the Reactor Mights. Before fighting Black Shadow, Captain Falcon tells Ryu that the title "Captain Falcon" is given only to the best, and that only someone who can surpass Falcon can become Falcon. After saying this, Captain Falcon fights Black Shadow, defeats him, and sacrifices his life. Soon after, Ryu becomes the new Captain Falcon and drives the Blue Falcon.
The anime uses two theme songs: one for the opening and one for the ending. The opening song is called "The Meaning of Truth" and is sung by Hiro-x. The ending song is called "Resolution" and is sung by AiM. The opening animation changes after the first 39 episodes. The opening animation also includes sound effects for the show’s title card after the first four episodes. The final episode did not have an opening theme because the theme played during the climax of the final battle.
F-Zero has appeared in other games, including Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series. Captain Falcon is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. His moves are mostly unique, but in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he uses the Blue Falcon as his "Final Smash," a powerful move. The Super Smash Bros. series also includes stages inspired by F-Zero, such as Mute City and Big Blue, and features F-Zero characters as trophies, stickers, and spirits. The Blue Falcon appears in Mario Kart Wii as a vehicle, but only small or light characters can use it. It also appears in Mario Kart 8 through a downloadable content pack that includes a course based on Mute City and another pack that adds a course based on Big Blue. The Captain Falcon amiibo figure unlocks a Mii costume in Mario Kart 8 and a Captain Falcon costume in Super Mario Maker. A minigame called "Captain Falcon’s Twister Race" is part of the game Nintendo Land on the Wii U. In the Wii U version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2, several characters can dress as Nintendo characters, including Captain Falcon’s appearance.