One of the most requested franchises from Nintendo fans is a new entry in the F-Zero series. The last game we received was F-Zero Climax for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. Red Bull recently had the chance to interview Toshihiro Nagoshi who was the producer of the excellent F-Zero GX for the GameCube. He stated that he would be interested in revisiting the series if he was approached again by Nintendo and would be up for creating a challenging entry. Here’s what Mr. Nagoshi told Red Bull:
“Mmm… Putting aside the odds of it happening, I must admit I have a lot of affection for F-Zero GX. If the opportunity were to present itself, I wouldn’t mind. And in that case, I’d like to make it a challenging game. I believe that if Nintendo just wants a racing game that is ‘fun and accessible’, they already have Mario Kart for that purpose.”
As much as I want a new F-Zero, this man said the truth. The problem of F-Zero, by the logic of Nintendo, is it has to give something new to the players.
F-Zero on SNES showed some potential of the SNES.
F-Zero X on the N64 can let you make your own custom track.
F-Zero GX is another example of the potential of the GameCube because it was hard in the past to have a fast racing game while maintaining 60 fps all the time.
F-Zero on the portable consoles just gives the possibility to play the game on the go.
Now it comes a question. What can you put to on an F-Zero game that makes it different from the others? It’s really hard to find a new idea to implement in a racing game like F-Zero because most of those great idea are already implemented in old games.
What they can do is make a full fledge story mode that allows you to explore and interact in other world between grand prixs with a story in the same vein as the anime. Along side letting people experience the world of F-Zero with modern day graphics to help immerse them even more.
What do you mean for modern day graphics? A realistic approach or something in the middle? Graphics can have their touch on a game but it isn’t anymore the selling point imo. Many games have all of those super crazy graphics and yet I see some small/simple games with less intensive graphics selling better.
Look at latest Animal Crossing. The game sales are crazy. I never seen so many sales for just one game.
Regarding of Story mode. Having a story will only expand the universe of F-Zero, which is good in a way but the Nintendo approach is always
– Gameplay first.
– Story after.
That’s why I think it’s hard to think a new way/idea to make F-Zero an outstanding racing game. Making simply a racing game isn’t enough. There must be always something that distinguish the game from others. This is the hardest part to solve.
That exists, it’s called F-Zero GP Legend on GBA
Yes, coming up with new ideas and find out how to make the game more complex and one of the best is a pretty tough job to discover once your a game designer and a director of any series. Yeah I know the story mode and gameplay go first but will it ever expand the series just like Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda franchises?
I mean, once you make a good F-Zero game with realistic high tech graphics, the only thing you got to start off is to start a discussion on how to make a challenging game and how are you gonna create such aspects, and hazards with great depth of field and more vibrant story before you start a development on the game. Besides SEGA also wants a challenging game like Sonic the Hedgehog 30th anniversary that they are getting ready for this year.
Just do more of the same.
Innovation is not always the best way forward. Just build one what the series is known for and improve all aspects.
There are already games that have done more of the same like Wipeout from Sony or those ones from Shien(?) it’s not F-Zero but they do everything F-zero did. Nintendo just isn’t interested in doing more of the same and I can’t say I blame them.
Isn’t the Wipeout from 4 years ago just an upscaled reskin of 10+ year old game? Doing more of the same =\= lazy porting. I meant to use the same ideas and elements that made it popular in the first place but build everything from the ground up. Not sure what other game are you referring to though.
Just a minor correction but F Zero X did not allow you to make custom tracks, that was only possible on the expansion disk for the 64DD which was only released in Japan. The most impressive thing for F Zero X was that it was very fast for the time because it was the only N64 game to maintain 60fps. GameCube version was impressive because it hit 60fps but with much better graphics as F Zero X had very basic visuals to achieve the frame rate.
Thank you.
It doesn’t matter. Just the hiatus makes it worth it.
I’m not against a new F-Zero game but knowing Nintendo they always try to find something innovative for a game based on mechanics, controllers etc.
I hope we will see a F-Zero game but this will happen in distant future.
I remember back in 2015, Shigeru Miyamoto was featured as guest star by smosh games even so I’m not a fan of smosh games. Anyway miyamoto stated that a new installment in the franchise could be possible if Nintendo were to develop a unique controller to interface for one of their upcoming consoles that would be suitable for a new game.
Yeah after hearing the fans prays for a new F-Zero game, now it’s time for Nintendo to start listening to the fans call. This man said the truth. The truth have been spoken.
F-Zero is a fast pace futuristic game like Mario Kart and Need for speed honestly. So, here is my question. If the new game begins it’s development with a new formula, will it ever have a more challenging game to meet fans expectations?
Another problem is the presence of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Home Circuit. If they make F-Zero how they can make unique compared to Mario Kart? How the game will not be in contrast against Mario Kart?
Judging by the fact that Nintendo stop listening to fans desires about a new game, a new F-zero will have a little more contrast and more balance and great depth of field like other racing games out there like Need for speed witch is also a fast pace game and Mario Kart is a enjoyable series that everyone loves even so Mario Kart have online mode since DS game witch i think Nintendo should start doing for the F-zero franchise to implant the online capable ability mode witch this can be a challenging game to race other players and gamers in a futuristic series during online.
if there’s ever a new game for Nintendo Switch or for Nintendo’s next machine, maybe now Nintendo will approached Toshihiro to make a fantastic F-Zero game and make a golden unique controller for the next Nintendo system.
F-Zero is vastly more skill-based than Mario Kart. Always has been. Your only power-up is a boost, and in order to use it you must sacrifice some energy- energy that also doubles as a life bar and is the only thing keeping your machine from blowing up in the event of a collision and taking you out of the race entirely. Mistakes are often punished harshly- so much as tapping a guardrail could drop your speed enough to take you down from 1st to 15th in less than a second.
I’m not saying Mario Kart takes no skill, because that isn’t true, but the skill comes from an equal balance of having adequate driving ability and item management, making the most of what you’re randomly given (unless you are given coins- fuck coins; they’re useless and shouldn’t be something you can get from item boxes). In F-Zero, the only things different between players are what machine they’ve chosen to use and their engine settings- all things within the player’s control. All players manage the same resources (boost/energy) and while players can attack by spinning into and body-checking each other, there’s generally no way for them to affect the racetrack itself, unlike in MK where you can pepper the courses with banana peels or send shells careening around the tracks.
If they want to market the games differently (and they very well should), they could state that Mario Kart is a game that people of all skill levels can play, with a randomness factor that helps make the game fun for everyone. But if players are looking for an experience where skill and skill alone determines the victor, then F-Zero is what you should look at.
Oh just please. Captain falcon is very much alive and itching to have his own brand new game.
Apart from smash entries, poor old falcon isn’t getting the lime light anymore, same goes for fox ( And no, starlink doesn’t count.
I think Star Fox isn’t completely in a bad shape compared to F-Zero where it’s more than 10 years the series is stopped without a new game. Star Fox might be also in the works by Nintendo but we don’t exactly when we will see something but I believe the Star Fox series isn’t forgotten.
I remember that said you that Retro Studios cancelled a new Star Fox game. Star Fox grand prix.
Kinda… Arlo found some resources about that cancelled Star Fox game that never came out. Also I was against this bizarre Star Fox racing game because if they were making a racing then it should have been F-Zero not Star Fox. I really don’t understand why they had to put the Star Fox franchise in a racing game. It is ok to see a racing game for popular franchises like Mario and Crash. But Star Fox was/is a weird choice.
Yeah, even Star Fox series has some wild adventures in every game, so I don’t mind for the series to have a racing game. Besides mario and sonic have a racing game in there series.
I understand that some people don’t like the idea of Star Fox being in a racing vehicle, but maybe there is a small chance that it can for Nintendo fans desires. It could be a weird choice but it could work.
It’s weird to me because if you look at Mario and Sonic those are huge franchise that is ok to make a racing game but Star Fox isn’t huge as franchise as those two.
mmm You know you are correct on that one. I guess Star Fox is not a huge franchise but it almost is.
I actually think the main reason why star fox isn’t seeing that much attention from Nintendo is because the rail shooter genres dead right now. Until that genre has a new life breathed into it I don’t think We will be seeing another new star fox game
Maybe… But I have seen recently a game called Ex Zodiac which has some elements that are inspired by the original Star Fox.
I just feel like Nintendo, instead of making another F-Zero, which other than it’s fans and Smash representation it’s pretty dead, I feel like Nintendo should invest making an actual racing games, with real cars and whatnot. It’s just that one thing Nintendo is missing, and as a fan of racing games I’d love to see Nintendo make another Cruis’n game.
That’s what you got Xbox and PlayStation for
I just want F Zero GX ported to Nintendo switch as a digital download. I enjoyed the game despite not being able to make it past chapter 2 of story mode. I had 30 racers to enjoy in the ruby, sapphire and emerald cups.
Imma tell you the same thing I told a friend who could never beat chapter 2: save all your boost for the final stretch. At least on normal difficulty, provided you’ve set your engine for max speed, your top speed will always be higher than Goroh’s, so while it looks like he’ll have a strong lead every time he boosts, you’ll catch back up to him in a matter of seconds. Always play near the outer edge of the track when you can. As long as you don’t hit any rocks on the final stretch while exhausting all your boost, it’s an easy win.
They are both long overdue for many a series of games.
Cruisin’n games
F-Zero
Star Fox
1080°
Kid icarus
Mother
Advance wars
Wario land
Custom Robo
Golden sun
But according to mr miyamoto they all need a certain gimmick which i disagree with.
Look at star fox and the gimmicks its had over the years. Gameplay alone should have been good enough. Starlink proved that. Fox was the only good thing about it.
I can’t mention or see the words “F-Zero” and “Miyamoto” in the same sentence without getting irrationally angry, because Miyamoto is the primary reason there hasn’t been a new F-Zero in nearly two decades. As much respect that I have for the man who created gaming’s most famous face, he has not been impressing me lately. If he can’t think of some new gimmick for a game, he wants nothing to do with it- if there’s nothing spectacularly new, then why bother? Yet this also exposes his hypocrisy- so little has changed between each New Super Mario Bros. title since 2009 and so many of those games have been released in the past decade that it feels milked and stale (“Oh look, a new power-up that lets Mario fly even though he could fly in previous games via different power-ups, yaaaaaaaaay.”) You know what’s even weirder? These games sell. They sell despite the lack of there being much in the way of new stuff, almost like… gimmicks don’t sell games. Call of Duty, as much as I hate that franchise *because* titles release so frequently with barely any changes, is a great example of this.
Then there’s the fact that not every gimmick actually works out. Star Fox Zero’s dual-perspective gameplay probably looked great on paper, but… well, it wasn’t very well-received for the most part, and I personally think SFZ has one of the worst control schemes I’ve ever had the displeasure of playing a game with. And who pushed for it? Miyamoto. That idea of his is one that so badly should have never left the drawing board.
Here’s the thing: F-Zero has spent so much time without a new title that it doesn’t *need* a gimmick. If they force one in, they run the risk of alienating old fans like myself while also giving first-time players a false sense of what the series is about because it plays so differently from past games. Just give me the near-perfect gameplay of GX- maybe fine-tuned a little bit- with the 41 pilots from that game plus some new faces, some new tracks, a track editor (the first time such a feature would be in an F-Zero game released internationally), an updated garage mode (let us NAME our own machines this time), maybe allow Miis to be pilots for custom machines, online play, and I’d be happy.
I know you specifically said “irrationally angry” so it’s not a big deal, but the thing that is attractive about Mario games to most people is level design. It may not feel this way for you, but Mario Oddesy was incredibly fresh feeling which is why it’s beloved by so many. Not to mention that Nintendo makes an immaculate play former. Even though I understand where you are coming from, saying the Mario games are just rehashes isn’t true. I think it immensely surpassed the Wii U Mario games.
As for Star fox Zero I loved it but I understand why some people did not, but the quality of that game aside, the reason why Star Fox is ignored for now has mostly to do with the fact that the rail shooter genre is dead. And I think it’s a similar situation (though not the same) with F-Zero) I think the reason they keep looking for “new ways to explore game play” for games like star fox is because it people just aren’t interested in genres anymore. People still love platformers so they don’t have fight as hard for innovation. So until the rail-shooter or, in F-Zeros case, the high speed racer genre bounce back, I genuinely don’t think we will see these games make a return, let alone a lasting one.
Also Miyamoto was involved in that Zelda clone of Star Fox Adventure. That, compared to the difficult control scheme of Star Fox Zero, pissed me off. That game is a Zelda game. I know people loving that game because of Krystal but to me it isn’t a Star Fox game. Even Rare devs were annoyed by the changes of their original idea.
Yes, Adventures is far closer to Zelda than it is Star Fox and that does affect my opinion of it, but I thought the game itself was passable. I still agree Miyamoto should not have hijacked it, though.
Then Nintendo should at least rerelease F-zero GX for the switch with online capabilities and a sharper image. GX was hard enough hell so was the one for the SNES. It’s a classic though just like earthbound so are we just going to not bother with them and not make this money? Earthbound has the potential to be recreated like Pokémon let’s go pikachu.
Yes! Please! Make an F-Zero game! I have been wanting it for so long. Excited to get back on the track and win the grand prix! A massive universe with great characters is already there to milk. Give me that feeling of speed and ferocity again.
Has he actually stated this through a method that Nintendo would hear him through? Assuming development on a new F-Zero hasn’t already started, this could be what sparks such a thing.
The guy in charge of its last (phenomenal) console game *wants* to return to the series- Nintendo, please, for the sake of the fans, don’t deny him this!
I dont know why, besides maybe sales not being able to support the direction, they cant just make F-Zero the “bitchin’ fast, hardcore racer”, to differentiate it from Mario Kart. No items, more intense tracks, crushing difficulty options. A “Dark Souls” of racing games if you will, as GX is sometimes refereed to as. Also, if “something new & different” is the ingredient needed, make a custom controller for the game, not unlike a flight-stick on PC or classic steering-wheel controller, but with more options like acceleration handles and maybe something like an eject button (Steel Battalion style), for your racer to eject from their exploding craft. Could implement a career mode with RPG elements that way, where you work your way through competitions and buy new crafts or modify current ones with new parts, so you could do something like buy illegal modifications to give your vehicle insane speed boosting capabilities at the risk to your drivers life. This could even extend to missions such as illegal unsanctioned F-Zero races out in some alien-worlds valley with traps and bombs and other dangerous elements to bounty-hunter missions with you racing down a target or even Fast & the Furious style missions to take on by out-running Galactic Police while smuggling illegal contraband, all expansions of ideas that GX had implemented.
One other thing I would prefer for a 4th main game, is to go back to the style of X instead of GX, with a comic book aesthetic and classic rock and metal style soundtrack for it rather then the kind GX had.
F Zero can bring new stuff to series like a dramatic storyline with adult themes, and crisp online play, things Nintendo doesn’t do. Unless they handed it over to another company. They trusted Ubisoft to make a strategy game, they can give F Zero to another team and let them create a challenging game with an actual story mode.
On that note Ford v Ferrari and Rush are well done racing movies I can recommend. Then we gave the successful Cars and Fast and Furious franchises, Fury Road is the best movie ever. People like racing stories Nintendo, don’t be stubborn, give us what we want.
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