F-Zero (Universe)

The F-Zero (エフゼロ, Efu Zero) universe refers to the series' collection of stages and properties that hail from Nintendo's F-Zero series of futuristic racing games. The universe's primary representative is the playable character Captain Falcon, and has been on his own in this form since the franchise's debut.

As of the Japan-only release of F-Zero Climax in 2004, the series has been on hiatus and has now been largely dormant for 11 years.

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 * —About the F-Zero Universe.

Franchise description
The original F-Zero was released on SNES in 1991, and it was a revolutionary title for its time because it was the first to employ an original graphical technique of the system called Mode-7 Scrolling, which was combined with scaling and positioning effects to simulate to a limited degree three-dimensional environments. In a time when most console games were restricted to static and flat backgrounds and 2-dimensional sprite objects, this was a breakthrough in presentation. It was the world's fastest and smoothest-running 3D-racing game at the time. The next game released internationally, F-Zero X, was released on N64 in 1998 and was critically lauded by critics and fans of the original alike for delivering a fast and furious racing experience that ran at 60 frames per second, thereby pushing the console to its maximum.

The next F-Zero released internationally was 2001's F-Zero: Maximum Velocity for Game Boy Advance, returning to its Mode-7 roots, and then 2003 saw the release of F-Zero GX for GameCube, both receiving generally high marks as well, and the latter being the first game to feature a story mode. In addition, in 1999 F-Zero series "main" racer Captain Falcon was featured as a playable character. He also appeared along with many other properties from the first two original F-Zero installments. The GameCube game had an arcade "counterpart" in F-Zero AX in the American arcades in 2003, and F-Zero: GP Legend, based on an anime series of the same name, was released for Game Boy Advance in 2004. It is currently unconfirmed as to whether there will be F-Zero installments on the Wii or the DS.

In between all these international releases were many similar F-Zero projects released in Japan only. In 1996 and 1997 there were released installments 1 and 2 of a BS F-Zero Grand Prix subseries, and a spin-off titled Zero Racers was in development for Nintendo's Virtual Boy but was canceled before its would-be release date in 1996. After the Japanese release of F-Zero X, an expansion of the game for the Nintendo 64DD aptly titled F-Zero X Expansion Kit was released in 2000, adding additional game content as well as a critically praised course editor feature. And a third GBA installment titled F-Zero Climax featured a course editor as well, where tracks could be traded with other copies of the game over Game Link Cable. In addition, a 51-episode anime series based on and named after F-Zero GP Legend fully aired in Japan between 2003 and 2004 as a separate continuity from the main games; it was localized to America but ran only fifteen episodes before its cancellation statewide.

Each game in the F-Zero series is essentially a futuristic racing game where giant multi-mile-long highways built above the cities and landscapes of various planets are the sites of the ultimate competitive sport of the future: The F-Zero Grand Prix. The racing machines of the many racers are anti-gravity craft that hover inches above the ground with the help of the G-Diffuser system, and at race time these machines zoom and warp across the tracks at mind-blowing speeds of up to a thousand miles per hour. Unlike games in the Mario Kart series which emphasize collecting and using power-ups to hinder opponents while supporting oneself, in F-Zero games the emphasis is on speed, cornering, and physically ramming other opponent's racing machines to lower their health meters. Machines are graded and proportionally balanced by their specifications of Body, Weight, Boost, and Grip. In the fictional F-Zero galaxy, the F-Zero championship is the highest claim to fame.

The F-Zero series does not appear to have a clearly defined or consistent chronology developed between all of its games, and as such may have depicted at least two separate timelines, not including the anime series. While the specifics of the full series chronology are complex and heavily debated, the general timeline states that in the 24th century, the premier racing event was called F-Max, and two centuries later in 2560, it became an especially high-speed and brutal competition called F-Zero. A colossal accident called the "Horrific Grand Finale" burnt over a dozen pilots to death and prompted the discontinuation of the race by the Federation. Some time later, however, it was revived as the F-Zero X championship with revised rules and regulations, and it has remained the galaxy's ultimate competitive sport since. The racing cast of the series currently numbers over forty, and each each has a unique backstory and motive for entering the F-Zero Grand Prix. Many of these characters are a diverse and eye-catching assortment of aliens, spandex-clad superheroes, supervillains, cyborgs, mutants, and the like, and their character designs are inspired by the artwork style of American comic books.

Heroes

 * Captain Falcon