Nintendo has a gold mine of classic, old franchises that haven’t been used in a while, that fans are dying for. In the last few years, we have seen so many of these revived- Metroid, Star Fox, Punch Out!!, Donkey Kong Country, Yoshi- but of course, the elephant in the room remains F-Zero, Nintendo’s stylish high speed futuristic racer franchise that was the precursor to the entire genre (including Sony’s own WipEout), and which fans have been clamoring for now, for over ten years.
Miyamoto has famously spoken out against the idea of the franchise ever returning in the past, saying that he sees no meaningful evolution for the games beyond what was achieved with GX on Gamecube; that said, the number of F-Zero easter eggs that Nintendo is dropping has been increasing in recent years, with an entire F-Zero themed Nintendo Land minigame, and Mario Kart 8 and its DLC paying homage to the franchise.
It appears Miyamoto may be warming up to the idea of a new F-Zero himself, as he discussed what a new game in the franchise might have in an interview with YouTuber Smosh- “We see a lot of other designers who are kind of making more traditional racing style of games,” he began. “So, we’ve tried to focus on something that feels a little bit more game-y. So, maybe if we create a new type of controller interface, and we find a controller interface that’s particularly suited for F-Zero, then maybe we’ll do something with it in the future.”
The good news, then, is, that a new F-Zero is not off the table. The bad news is, it’s not happening any time soon.
The worse news is that Nintendo doesn’t get that just a literal HD remaster of GX with online support will probably be enough for so many people.
