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Another E3 has come and gone without an announcement of, or even news about, a new F-Zero. However, while we might have to keep waiting to play more of the ultra-fast racing franchise, an interesting bit of history has come to light.
Back in 2011, while Nintendo was getting all its ducks in a row to reveal Wii U, the company approached UK developer Criterion about trying its hand at the venerable hover racing franchise. The goal of the project would have been to develop a vertical slice, a highly polished demo meant to represent the aims of the final product, that would have been playable at E3 when the system was revealed. Assuming expectations were met, the collaboration could have gone on to be a full fledged game.
Unfortunately for fans of F-Zero and Criterion’s own lauded work, the UK developer was committed to its work on Need for Speed: Most Wanted and couldn’t spare the man power to take on the new project. It’s also worth noting that Need for Speed: Most Wanted went on to be a great game in its own right and that the Wii U version is considered the definitive edition thanks to additional improved visuals, Nintendo-themed content, and new features that take advantage of the system’s unique feature set. Regardless, I’m still willing to bet that most Nintendo fans would have preferred to have a new F-Zero, especially seeing how Criterion proved its ability to create an astounding sense of speed alongside beautifully brutal crashes with the Burnout series.
Oh well, at the very least we can race around the famous Mute City track while riding around in a go-kart shaped like the Blue Falcon thanks to the Mario Kart 8 DLC. If you’re lucky enough to have a Captain Falcon Amiibo, you can even make your Mii racer look like the legendary F-Zero champion.
Source: Nintendo Life
Another EA block.