F-ZERO is Dead

I love F-ZERO. 

Back in the 16-bit days when I really wasn't into racing games, the first F-ZERO entry along with Super Mario Kart helped get me into the genre. Since then I've played more racing games than I ever imagined, including every game in the F-ZERO series that made it outside of Japan. 

F-ZERO is freaking awesome. The cars, the characters, the comic book aesthetic, the rock/metal music, the insane tracks, the sanity crushing difficulty. I love all of it. Or I guess I should say, I did.

F-ZERO being dead isn't a newsflash. The last entry to release outside of Japan was F-ZERO GP Legend on the GBA and that was way back in 2004. When a game hasn't had a new entry in almost twenty years, that is what you call a dead franchise.

Nintendo's futuristic racer has never had the numbers of Mario or the Legend of Zelda series and like any game company, Nintendo is in the business to make money, which is part of the reason we have not seen a new F-ZERO in almost two decades now. The other reason is that Nintendo is under the strong impression that they need to do something new with the to bring the series back. 

I'm all for innovation but new ideas or new ways to play a game don't always pay off. Star Fox Zero was the Star Fox series long awaited return and due to Nintendo's insistence on motion controls and dual screen play, it alienated a large enough portion of fans to once again ground Fox McCloud. I firmly believe Nintendo could bring F-ZERO back on the Switch, introducing the series to a whole new generation, but as long as they remain stuck on a "grand new idea," F-ZERO is pretty much retired.

Strange as it may sound, seeing Kazuya throw Captain Falcon into a volcano during his Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal trailer, while it stung, helped me better accept that F-ZERO is dead. I think most would agree that it was very much symbolic of F-ZERO's status with Nintendo right now.

Yeah, F-ZERO is "sleeping" alright. Sleeping eternally.