F-Zero (video game)

F-Zero
North American box art
Developer(s)Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Kazunobu Shimizu
Producer(s)Shigeru Miyamoto
Programmer(s)Yasunari Nishida
Artist(s)Takaya Imamura
Composer(s)Yumiko Kanki
Naoto Ishida
SeriesF-Zero
Platform(s)Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
  • JP: November 21, 1990
  • NA: August 23, 1991
  • EU: 1992
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player

F-Zero[a] is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released in Japan on November 21, 1990, in North America in August 1991, and in Europe in 1992. F-Zero is the first game in the F-Zero series and was a launch game for the SNES. F-Zero was rereleased for the Virtual Console service on various Nintendo platforms and as part of the Super NES Classic Edition in 2017.

The game takes place in the year 2560, where multi-billionaires with lethargic lifestyles created a new form of entertainment based on Formula One races called "F-Zero". The player can choose between one of four characters in the game, each with their respective hovercar. The player can race against computer-controlled characters in 15 tracks divided into three leagues.

F-Zero has been acknowledged by critics for setting the standard for the racing genre and the creation of its futuristic subgenre. Critics lauded F-Zero for its fast and challenging gameplay, variety of tracks, and extensive use of the Mode 7 graphics mode. This graphics-rendering technique was an innovative technological achievement at the time that made racing games more realistic, the first of which was F-Zero. As a result, it is credited for reinvigorating the genre and inspiring the future creation of numerous racing games.
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