Thinking back in time..one of the most standout moments in my video game experience has got to be the first time I’ve laid eyes on F-Zero for the Super Nintendo back in late 1991. I was still a little kid in grade school then, and during that time the SNES was the hot new game console on the market. It was also during a time when a famous game known as “Street Fighter 2” was taking the arcades all over the world by storm and sparked fighting game genre that exist until today. The massive iron grip power of the NES was slowly starting to give way to the new powerhouse 16-bit systems of the Sega Genesis, SNES, and TG16.  That was during what is now known as the Fourth Generation of Video Game Consoles and the legendary 16-Bit Wars was just on it’s way. This was the 90’s baby.

Sonic the Hedgehog boasted the “Blast Processing” buzzword to enhance the Sega Genesis’s image of speed and power.

Yes it was a happy time for gaming because anything new was exciting and it didn’t take much to impress us, considering now consoles games were approaching the level of their arcade counterparts. Fancy words like “Blast Processing“, “Megabit“, “16-bit“, “Parallax scrolling“, and something called “Mode 7” was used to it’s full extent to dazzle us. And it sure as hell worked. You see, back then all games were still 2D sprite based and anything out of the 2D realm seemed unimaginable on a video game system - at least at the time it did. I still remember imagining a 3D-like game (which is easily done on any 3D game engine nowadays) in which you can walk or drive around a full 3D digital world. But that was impossible then.

This was where the SNES surprised us all. One advanced feature of the SNES was something called “Mode 7” which allowed for a series of 128×128 tiles to be stretch, rotate, and scaled to form a 3D-like perspective without the processing of any polygons. Hell, this was even before any one even understood the concept of polygons in a video game. The end result effect however, was amazing and was best put to showcase on the iconic futuristic racing game F-Zero.

F-Zero was developed by Nintendo EAD and headed by Mr. Mario himself and video game god, Shigeru Miyamoto. Released in November 1990 in Japan and August 1991 in the US, the game was a technological breakthrough at the time because it not only presented you with an entirely new genre never before seen in a video game, but it also looked frickin good doing it. Up until that time nearly all racing games were your basic car driving race games whereas F-Zero took you centuries into the future in hover-craft like vehicles with speed and style. The game was fast, and I mean FAST. It did a hell of a job giving you the sense of speed and intensity. It did not just looked like you were going fast, but you actually felt like you were going fast. Not to mention that it featured some great graphics, sound effects, and memorable music. To top it off, that climatic explosion and perspective shift that occurs when you run out of power or fly off a track was melded in time forever.

I still remember that day my friends and I saw that F-Zero on display at Electronic Boutiques (later renamed EBGames, then Gamestop). Our jaws dropped as the older kids who hogged the kiosk for what seemed liked an eternity loaded up the level in the futuristic tracks of Mute City.  What struck us immediately was that game was not like any other race games we seen before in our short lives. Aside from the speed and smooth Mode 7 graphics, F-Zero also featured a power life bar system which you can recharge by running over the energy charging zone. That effect was straight out of some sci-fi cartoon (don’t ask me what, it just looked cool at the time). The physics of the game itself (which was also a first for it’s time) made the game felt strikingly realistic as opposed to other racing games. When you slided and skidded during a sharp turn, you actually slided and skidded, not graphically simulated like other racers. When you hit the ramp, you literally went flying so high and fast that you can almost feel it! Had rumble and force feedback actually existed back then we would of shitted in our pants…heh.

The music of F-Zero were some of the most catchiest tunes since Super Mario Bros. I can still hear that level music of Mute City and Big Blue ringing in my head now. It was a perfect touch for the rush you were already having from the incredible sound effects of the hover racers.

Who would of thought the girly Pink Hover Vehicle was actually the best?

Another new aspect to racing games of the time was the ability of selecting up to 4 different vehicles before the game started. Not only were they different colors, but they also looked different and actually had different attributes. I personally don’t recalled any other racers actually implementing this feature at the time. The interesting thing about giving you the option to select your racer was that just about everyone selected the fastest accelerator - the Yellow vehicle because of how fast you instantly speed past the other vehicles, only to find out how horrible it was at taking even simple turns. Ironically, it was the Pink vehicle that took off slowly off the starting line but once you eventually gained the top speed had the best controls of all the vehicles.

Even with all it’s technological advancements and innovations, the one issue that F-Zero had was that it was a single player game. So while one of your buddy’s is playing, you had no choice but to sit and watch with awe, hoping he would eventually lose the race or blow up. Of course the single player experience was good enough to keep us all interested for a while before we got our turn.

That was a long time ago and those days are long gone. But legacy of what F-Zero left behind has remained with all of us to this day, whether we all realize it or not. F-Zero not only single handily created the futuristic racing genre, but the impact that F-Zero had on the racing game genre itself was one of the most influential in video game history. Toshihiro Nagoshi of Sega AM2, the folks who created all those legendary Sega classics (Outrun, Space Harrier, Hang-on…etc) was inspired by F-Zero to recreate the experience again on another well known arcade racer “Daytona USA” and other familiar racing games. The Playstation’s critically acclaimed futuristic racing series “Wipeout” also took heavy influenced from F-Zero.

F-Zero GX on the Game Cube. One of the finest racers of recent years.

But the F-Zero effect did not end in the early 90’s. The franchise proved to be a successful one for Nintendo and several more sequels was created and released for each of its consoles throughout the years. They even built an arcade setup called “F-Zero AX” in 2003. Currently the latest incantation of the F-Zero series is on the Gameboy Advance called “F-Zero GP Legend”, but I personally think that “F-Zero GX” for the Game Cube was one of the finest hour of futuristic racing games in last console generation. No word about a new Wii version yet, but Shigeru Miyamoto hinted that the next F-Zero may require the Classic Controller to play…hmm…

Its been over 15 years and I still remember that first moment I saw F-Zero for the first time. Fortunately it was never my last. Even though it’s been years since I owned an SNES, thanks to the Wii’s Virtual Console and (*cough*) emulation I was able to play F-Zero all over again. So for anyone interested in witnessing one of the most finest moment in video gaming, get to your Wii Shop Channel and download a copy for 800 Wii Points ($8 US).  And while you’re at it, pick up the N64’s F-Zero X for 1000 Wii Points($10 US). 

Play it on the Virtual Console! F-Zero for 800 Wii Points and F-Zero X for 1000 Wii Points!

Thats it for today, now go race!