An F-Zero Reboot for Wii U by Criterion Games (Burnout, Need for Speed franchises) could have been a reality way in 2011.
This was confirmed by Criterion Games creative director Alex Ward, who said that Nintendo approached Criterion to revive the F-Zero franchise.
If all had gone according to plan, F-Zero would’ve been a launch game for the Wii U in 2012.
However, Criterion was knee-deep in creating Need for Speed: Most Wanted for multiple platforms, and Nintendo wanted a hastened development schedule in order to get the game out in time for launch.
Due to these constraints, Criterion had to decline Nintendo’s offer to revive F-Zero.
FOR SHAME!
It is too bad that Nintendo did not have F-Zero for launch of Wii U. It could’ve been a big boon to the system’s list of exclusives and early hits alongside the likes of Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101. Instead we got games like “Nintendo Land“. *sigh*
F-Zero is a dormant franchise (for over a decade now), as Nintendo has not made a new F-Zero game since the Nintendo & Sega-developed F-Zero GX way back in 2003. Miyamoto has specifically stated that they could not come up with any new ideas on a new Wii U F-Zero (although its worth noting that an F-Zero Z was rumored for Wii in 2008)
Hopefully Nintendo has already re-approached Criterion Games, or someone with a similar racing game track record, to create a new F-Zero for the upcoming Nintendo NX system, Nintendo’s successor to the Wii U that will be revealed in 2016.
Especially since Nintendo has been collaborating with a lot of folks lately, such as with Platinum Games for development of Star Fox Zero, and Tecmo Koei for development of Hyrule Warriors. So it is not out of the realm of reason that Nintendo has already approached another third-party to create a new F-Zero (hopefully using the cartoony style of the F-Zero AzureBladeXIII fanart above. Wouldn’t that be sweet?)
I was a HUGE fan of F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64, and F-Zero GX was one of the best racers to grace the Nintendo GameCube (it was also HARD-AS-NAILS. I never did beat the single-player story with the cool Captain Falcon CG cinematics). You can also read my F-Zero SNES review from way back in 2007 to see what I thought of that game.
Nintendo needs to get to work on reviving franchises like F-Zero; and the likes of Metroid.
If Nintendo could somehow bring together a new Zelda (already in development for the Wii U, hopefully it will be an NX launch game), a new Metroid AND a new F-Zero for NX launch, that “Triforce” would be extremely compelling and all-but ensure the NX a very successful system launch.
I’ll be praying.
How disappointed are you that F-Zero by Criterion never got the green-light for Wii U launch?