Editing F-Zero (universe)

|caption          = [[File:FZeroSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert-dark]]

|developer        = [[Nintendo]]<br>Amusement Vision/[[Sega]]<br>Nd Cube<br>Suzak<br>Nintendo Software Technology

|latestinstallment = ''{{s|fzerowiki|F-Zero 99}}'' (2023)

After the Japan-only release of ''F-Zero Climax'' in 2004, the series went on a hiatus and was largely dormant for almost 20 years, only receiving primary representation in the ''Smash Bros.'' series, two courses and a kart in the ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Kart}}'' series, and a minigame in ''Nintendo Land'' since ''Climax''{{'}}s release outside of amiibo functionality. The series suddenly returned in September 2023 with the release of ''F-Zero 99'' as a Nintendo Switch Online game.

The original ''{{iw|fzerowiki|F-Zero}}'' had a very privileged position in [[Nintendo]]'s release timeline. Developed simultaneously with ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario World}}'' and {{uv|Pilotwings}}, this seminal entry was a launch title for Super Famicom and its western equivalent, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and was the technical showpiece for the console's innovative "Mode 7" graphics-rendering technique. This form of texture mapping available on the SNES allowed a raster graphical plane to be rotated and scaled freely, and its usage in ''F-Zero'' to partially simulate three-dimensional environments without processing polygons was lauded for providing ''F-Zero'' the most convincing racetracks that had yet been seen on a home console. ''F-Zero'' was widely praised and financially successful both for its technical achievements and for delivering responsive gameplay supplemented by a wide track variety and a steady increase in challenge, and is credited both for reinvigorating the racing genre and for establishing a sub-genre of racing games that featured a futuristic aesthetic.

Considering the success of the first game, Nintendo notably did not jump into developing a sequel for several years, and what was technically the second installment of the franchise, ''{{iw|fzerowiki|BS F-Zero Grand Prix}}'', was released in two separate incarnations as downloadable titles for the Satellaview, a Japan-exclusive attachment for the Super Famicom, in the mid-1990s. The sequel would eventually release in 1998 for [[Nintendo 64]] as ''{{iw|fzerowiki|F-Zero X}}''. Continuing the tradition of being a technical showcase for the console, ''F-Zero X'' was able to create large, complex tracks with high speeds and many cars on screen at once all while maintaining an unbroken 60 frames per second. The game was received positively for its impressive technical elements, refined gameplay, hard rock soundtrack, and abundance of content, some reviewers pointed out that the framerate came at a cost of visual detail. A subsequent Japanese-only release for the short-lived Nintendo 64DD add-on, the ''{{iw|fzerowiki|F-Zero X Expansion Kit}}'', was the first 64DD disk exclusively designed as an add-on to work in conjunction with a Nintendo 64 cartridge inserted into the base console; it primarily added both a vehicle-creation feature and a track-creation tool that was virtually the same tool used during the development of the game itself.  

The series once again mirrored its roots as a technical showcase for a newly launched Nintendo system with the Game Boy Advance launch title ''{{iw|fzerowiki|F-Zero: Maximum Velocity}}'', which transplanted the Mode 7 presentation style of the original into a handheld system. Then, the series made its most technically advanced appearance yet in ''{{iw|fzerowiki|F-Zero GX}}'' for the [[Nintendo GameCube]] in 2003. This is the first entry in the series not developed in-house, and was instead outsourced to [[Sega]] as the first official collaboration between the two since their pulling out of the console market. This game was lauded for being the best racing game for the GameCube; critically acclaimed elements include its visuals, high sense of speed and intensity, track design, challenge, and fleshed-out single-player modes, with some criticism leveled against a very sharp difficulty slant. An arcade counterpart to this title named ''{{iw|fzerowiki|F-Zero AX}}'' was published by Sega for the Triforce arcade system board (a system that was conceived from a business alliance between Sega, Nintendo, and [[Namco]]), and it featured special connectivity with the GameCube title in which a player that inserted a Nintendo GameCube memory card into the ''F-Zero AX'' system could instantly unlock content in ''F-Zero GX'' that would normally require successful playthroughs on high difficulties to access.

Following this, Nintendo attempted an alternate-universe take on the franchise with a 51-episode anime series, ''{{iw|fzerowiki|F-Zero: GP Legend}}'', which began airing in October 2003 to September 2004. Only 15 of these episodes were dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment outside of Japan, though voice actors claim that all episodes were dubbed before being canceled.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EVjQUawvxQ This F-Zero Anime Dub Will Never See the Light of Day (4Kids, 2004)]</ref>. Two companion games for the anime, both on Game Boy Advance: the first is a game of the same name, and the second titled ''F-Zero Climax''. Both were released in Japan near the end of 2003 and 2004, respectively, though ''F-Zero Climax'' never released outside Japan due to the cancellation of the anime dub. Despite ''F-Zero'' having been consistently featured as one of the contending Nintendo franchises in every installment of the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' series since that series' inception, the ''F-Zero'' franchise itself remained dormant for almost 20 years ever since the release of ''F-Zero Climax'', and only some series elements made intermittent and minor appearances outside of ''Smash Bros.'' since then. On September 14th, 2023, the ''F-Zero'' series suddenly returned with the announcement and release of ''{{iw|fzerowiki|F-Zero 99}}'' as a free Nintendo Switch Online game. The game is a spin on the classic ''F-Zero'' formula with 99 concurrent players in a single race and a greater emphasis on car combat and sabotaging opponents. It was the first game in the series to be developed by a Western studio, as {{iw|nintendowiki|Nintendo Software Technology}} worked on it. A year later, both ''F-Zero: GP Legend'' and ''F-Zero Climax'' were released onto the Nintendo Switch Online service's Game Boy Advance collection, marking the first time the latter was released internationally.

''F-Zero'' is one of the "bonus franchises" in the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', as it contributes one unlockable character, one victory theme, and absolutely nothing else - no stages and no items based on ''F-Zero'' appear in the game. Before being unlocked, Captain Falcon makes his appearance in [[Planet Zebes|Samus' stage]] (both Samus and Captain Falcon are known to be bounty hunters, in addition to both having originated from science fiction franchises). ''Super Smash Bros.'' also marked the only time an ''F-Zero'' newcomer was introduced.

*[[File:CaptainFalconIcon(SSB).png|50px|right|link=Captain Falcon (SSB)]]'''{{SSB|Captain Falcon}}''' ([[Unlockable character|Unlockable]]): Captain Falcon appears as an unlockable character in the original ''Super Smash Bros.'' His design is based off his appearance from ''F-Zero X'', and his moveset is original to the game. His [[neutral special]] is the famous [[Falcon Punch]], which has a considerable amount of startup lag, with extremely high [[knockback]] and damage output to compensate. His attacks are very fast, and overall can [[combo]] into each other well. Captain Falcon currently lies in the A tier of the current ''SSB'' [[tier list]], in 3rd place.

On the final character select screen (after all characters are unlocked), Captain Falcon joins the {{uv|Star Fox}} characters in the sixth column. All these characters fly spaceships (hence having a choice of fighting only up to two of these in {{SSBB|Classic Mode}}).

*{{GameIcon|SSBB}}'''{{SSBUMusicLink|F-Zero|Fire Field (Remix)|Fire Field}}''': An intense remix of the Fire Field theme from ''F-Zero''. Returns from Brawl.

The ''F-Zero'' universe has games represented throughout the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series with a total of 4 represented games. The latest game represented in this universe is ''{{s|fzerowiki|F-Zero GX}}'', released on July 25, 2003.

**{{GameIcon|SSBM}} Captain Falcon, Blue Falcon, Falcon Flyer, Samurai Goroh, [[Dr. Stewart]], Golden Fox, Fire Stingray and Mute City appear as trophies

**{{GameIcon|SSBB}} Captain Falcon, Blue Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Dr. Stewart, Golden Fox, Pico, and Wild Goose appear as trophies.

**{{GameIcon|SSB4}} Blue Falcon, Golden Fox, Wild Goose, Fire Stingray and Mute City appear as trophies.

*Misc:  

**{{GameIcon|SSBB}} This game appears as a [[Masterpieces|masterpiece]] in ''Brawl'' and ''Smash for Wii U.''

**{{GameIcon|SSBM}} F-Zero racers and Jody Summer appear as trophies.

**{{GameIcon|SSBB}} Jody Summer, White Cat, Mr. EAD, Great Star, The Skull, Sonic Phantom, Blood Falcon, Blood Hawk, Black Shadow, Black Bull, and Zoda and Death Anchor appear as trophies.

**{{GameIcon|SSB4}} Jody Summer, White Cat, Mr. EAD, Great Star, James McCloud, Little Wyvern, Zoda, Death Anchor, The Skull, Sonic Phantom, Blood Falcon, Blood Hawk, Black Shadow, and Black Bull appear as trophies.

===''{{s|fzerowiki|F-Zero AX}}''===

*Playable characters:

**{{GameIcon|SSBB}} Captain Falcon’s design has been updated with elements of his design from this game and its console counterpart.

**{{GameIcon|SSBB}} "'''[[Victory theme#F-Zero Victory Theme|Victory! Captain Falcon]]'''": The theme played whenever the player successfully completed a race in ''F-Zero AX'' and ''F-Zero GX''. It is used in every title after ''Brawl''

**{{GameIcon|SSBB}} "'''{{SSBUMusicLink|F-Zero|Planet Colors}}'''": This was the track that played in F-Zero AX and F-Zero GX on all of the Green Plant racetracks.

**{{GameIcon|SSBB}} [[Port Town Aero Dive]] debuts as a track in this game.

*''F-Zero'' is one of four series not to have a home stage for a fighter in the installment they were first included in, the other three being ''EarthBound'', {{uv|Fire Emblem}}, and {{uv|R.O.B.}}

**This was technically the case for {{uv|Wii Fit}} and {{uv|Duck Hunt}} as well, as neither series received a stage in ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'' at launch, though the {{b|Duck Hunt|stage}} stage would later be added as free DLC to the 3DS version of ''Smash 4''.  

*''F-Zero'' and {{uv|Banjo-Kazooie}} are the only franchises in the ''Smash Bros.'' series to feature a playable character that debuted in a racing game, though ''Banjo-Kazooie'' itself represents the platformer genre.