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"  First Released: 1990 (SNES)Now Available On: Wii, Wii U (Virtual Console) F-Zero was a typical example of what happens when the creative folks at Nintendo work their magic on a concept as simple as Formula One. In the hands of the firm&amp;#039;s EAD division, the popular motor sport became something else entirely, its racing cars making way for plasma-powered hovercars capable of reaching speeds of 500km/h. Released in Japan for Super Nintendo in 1990, F-Zero was a significant game for more reasons than one, kickstarting the futuristic racing sub-genre and pioneering the use of Mode 7 graphics technology. Mode 7 was a rendering technique that enabled developers to pull off more immersive pseudo 3D visuals without compromising the sense of speed. This method was also used to great effect in another SNES classic, Pilotwings.  F-Zero took place in the year 2560 in a world where mankind has expanded its social framework through multiple alien encounters, resulting in the kind of technological and cultural exchanges necessary to create new forms of entertainment, such as the eponymous motor sport. The game offered 15 futuristic tracks divided into three leagues, each one more challenging than the last, and gave players a choice between four playable racers. F-Zero featured a colourful array of characters comprising Dr Stewart, Pico, Samurai Goroh, and a bounty hunter known as Captain Falcon, who has since gone on to feature in other Nintendo series, such as Super Smash Bros. Races consisted of five high-octane laps that had to be completed in a successively higher place. Courses were strewn with traps, such as slip zones and magnets, and rival competitors would frequently plough into you at high speed.  A sport with as many casualties and fatalities as this would quickly be banned in any civilised society, but there&amp;#039;s something appealing about racing games unshackled by the boundaries of reality. F-Zero served as an effective showcase for what Nintendo&amp;#039;s 16-bit SNES could do, and its success is often cited as a factor in the reinvigoration of the racing genre, paving the way for titles like WipEout in the ensuing years. The game was widely praised for its graphical realism, fluid controls and adrenaline-fuelled gameplay, with such acclaim helping to secure its place in Nintendo&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;Players Choice&amp;#039; line of titles that sold more than 1 million copies. F-Zero remained an important franchise for Nintendo for several hardware generations, with notable sequels including F-Zero X for N64, which marked the series&amp;#039; full 3D debut, and the Mode 7-based Game Boy Advance instalments Maximum Velocity and GP Legend.  The series later found its way to the GameCube with the launch of F-Zero GX, but has lay dormant since 2004 with its future clouded by uncertainty. Nintendo&amp;#039;s Shigeru Miyamoto recently admitted that there are no immediate plans in place to resurrect the franchise as the company is short on ideas for innovative new instalments. Surely there is scope for a Wii U edition with second-screen features via the tablet controller, and cross-platform connectivity with the 3DS? Nintendo&amp;#039;s latest home console is in dire need of must-have software, so Miyamoto and co. could do far worse than revive this classic franchise. Do you have any fond memories of F-Zero? Post a comment below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/retro-gaming/news/a492321/f-zero-retrospective-futuristic-racing-classic-on-snes/>