Until July 2013 Nintendo is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Famicom by releasing "classic" titles for the new Wii U Virtual Console. As an added bonus, you can get these games for 30 cents during the first 30 days of each title's release. This month's release is F-Zero. Is it worth two bits and a buffalo nickel? Find out after the jump.
A great title screen, with great music, for a great video game.
F-Zero is often credited for creating the "futuristic high-speed racing genre." Though other arcade titles such as Roadblasters took gamers into the future and Turbo fulfilled our need for speed, F-Zero combined them both in a way that has created a lasting legacy. Not only did the game spawn several sequels on consoles, handhelds, and the arcade it also provided the inspiration for an anime series. Wipeout and Kinetica are obvious descendants of F-Zero. While Crazy Taxi, Mario Kart, and my recent favorite Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed owe their high-speed, powersliding, roots to this classic game.
The fact that this video has had over 280,000 views proves F-Zero is still beloved today.
Not only did F-Zero launch with the SNES, it also became a "killer app" for the new console. Nintendo managed to tap into an audience of gamers who wanted modern technology coupled with challenging gameplay. I distinctly remember friends of mine buying the SNES just for F-Zero. This was bolstered by the fact that F-Zero could not be duplicated on any other console because the L & R shoulder buttons (introduced by the SNES) were an intregal part of the experience and no other controller had them in 1991. Plus, the mysterious Mode 7 cemented the fact that F-Zero would truly be "Only for Nintendo."
You get to drive this guy's car, the Blue Falcon, in F-Zero.
So, how does this newest port of F-Zero fair? Splendidly. The Wii U Virtual Console will be in fine shape if all the SNES ports turn out this well. The game looks, sounds, and controls better than ever. The super-sharp resolution produced by the Wii U Virtual Console make this game look like moving screenshots from an old video game magazine. Even the Wii U Gamepad display looks awesome and gives us a taste of what an officially licensed portable SNES would have been like. Controlling the game with the analog stick is awesome and the shoulder buttons serve their purpose just as well today as they did over 2 decades ago. All this and you can buy it for 30 cents? Stop reading this review and buy it!
A few years ago I made a donation on Kickstarter to help fund a museum of video games... I don't know if it ever got built. But if there is ever a Video Game Hall of Fame, I will gladly make another donation and F-Zero deserves to be there.
Related Post: F-Zero Now Available on North American Wii U eShop
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