On November 21, 1990, the F-Zero series was born in Japan. The Super Nintendo game released about a year later in North America, and in fact, it will celebrate its 30th year anniversary in the states in August. F-Zero is beloved by many, but the franchise has not seen an entry since 2004's Game Boy Advance game F-Zero Climax, as well as F-Zero GX the year before it on the GameCube. It is time for a return of F-Zero.
Recently, the creator of Captain Falcon explained why there hasn't been a new F-Zero game in years. Nintendo often tries hard to innovate with its games, forgoing true sequels for creativity. A game like Super Mario Odyssey is almost nothing like Super Mario 3D World, for example. However, Splatoon though Splatoon 3 certainly appear to be true sequels, so Nintendo does go that route from time to time. F-Zero could return by giving players more of the same, but it could also innovate and bring something new to the table.
Just More F-Zero
F-Zero on the Super Nintendo is where it began, and there are those who certainly fell in love with the series with F-Zero X on the N64. The Game Boy Advance games (F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, F-Zero: GP Legend, and the aforementioned F-Zero Climax) all had a following as well, and the series even had arcade iterations. Many fans consider F-Zero GX on the GameCube to be the best game of the series, though. The game maintained the fast-paced and difficult racing of the series but also introduced a story mode that players very much enjoyed. While Captain Falcon was always known as a protagonist in the series, and of course one of the mascots of Super Smash Bros. as well, the Falcon Punching character is the pilot that players main during the campaign for F-Zero GX, which allowed the community to feel closer to him than ever.
Recently, F-Zero GX producer expressed interest in returning to the series, something that many Nintendo fans would be excited about. Toshihiro Nagoshi said that he would be willing to work with Nintendo on a new game, and the time is right. If Nagoshi were to handle a game with the F-Zero GX formula on the Nintendo Switch, for example, the racing game could simply be a more of the same concept, which is a good thing.
Something Entirely New, an Open World GTA-Inspired F-Zero Game
There is another route that Nintendo could take with F-Zero, and that is forgoing the old formula and trying something entirely new. If Nintendo is serious about not wanting to bring about a new game in the franchise without innovation, then a Grand Theft Auto-inspired open-world F-Zero game could be the route to go. There are fascinating facts about Captain Falcon that many do not know including the idea that he is a mysterious bounty hunter. Nintendo could play up on that.
A game in which Captain Falcon can drive around Mute City chasing down bounties in an open world could be extremely interesting. Driving around in that open world and being able to get out of a vehicle at any time to interact and Falcon Punch and Falcon Kick opponents at will could be great. Low-level enemies could be taken down in beat-em-up fashion by Captain Falcon, but of course, the game would still very much revolve around races, as opponents could challenge and be challenged to races regularly. Meanwhile, Grand Prixs would still be a major part of the game. If Nintendo did not want the game to lean too much towards the GTA side (a hard M rated game), the game could be somewhere in between recently pulled LEGO City: Undercover and GTA, which would be a sweet spot for The Big N.
Whether it be a simple return to form of what would basically be a Nintendo Switch version of F-Zero GX or something innovative and unique like an open-city bounty hunting adventure, F-Zero needs to return.