F-Zero (video Game) - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

F-Zero became part of the Player's Choice line by selling at least a million copies. F-Zero was widely lauded by game critics for its graphical realism, and has been called the fastest and most fluid pseudo-3D racing game of its time. This has been mostly credited to the development team's pervasive use of the "Mode 7" system. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell commented "this abundance of Mode 7 was unheard of" for the SNES. 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. Jeremy Parish of Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote Mode 7 created the "most convincing racetracks that had ever been seen on a home console". Parish said F-Zero used the SNES's technology "to give console gamers an experience even more visceral than could be found in the arcades". 1UP.com editor Ravi Hiranand agreed arguing F-Zero's combination of fast-paced racing and free-range of motion were superior compared to that of previous home console games. IGN's Peer Schneider assured readers F-Zero was one of the few 16-bit era video games to "perfectly combine presentation and functionality to create a completely new gaming experience". The game was praised for its variety of tracks, and steady increase in difficulty. GameSpy's Jason D'Aprile thought the game "was something of a finesse racer. It took lots of practice, good memorization skills, and a rather fine sense of control." Matt Taylor of The Virginian-Pilot commented that the game is more about "reflexes than realism", and it lacked the ability to save progress between races. F-Zero's soundtrack was lauded.

In GameSpot's retrospective review by Greg Kasavin, he praised F-Zero's controls, longevity and track design. Kasavin felt the title offered exceptional gameplay, with "a perfect balance of pick-up-and-play accessibility and sheer depth". Retrospective reviews agreed that the game should have used a multiplayer mode. IGN's Lucas Thomas criticized the lack of a substantial plot and mentioned F-Zero "doesn't have the same impact these days" suggesting "the sequels on GBA very much pick up where this title left off".

F-Zero has been credited with being the game that set a standard for the racing genre and inventing the "futuristic racing" sub-genre of video gaming. IGN ranked it as the 91st best game ever in 2003, discussing its originality at time of release and as the 97th best game ever in 2005, describing it as still "respected as one of the all-time top racers". During the 10-Year Anniversary Contest in 2005, GameFAQs users voted F-Zero as the 99th best games of all time. ScrewAttack placed it as the 18th best SNES game. F-Zero reinvigorated the racing genre inspiring the future creation of numerous racing games inside and out of the futuristic sub-genre, including the Wipeout series. Amusement Vision's President, Toshihiro Nagoshi, stated in 2002 that F-Zero "actually taught me what a game should be" and that it served as an influence for him to create Daytona USA and other racing games. Amusement Vision collaborated with Nintendo to develop F-Zero GX/AX, with Nagoshi serving as one of the co-producers for these games.