F-Zero (universe)

F-Zero (universe)
Developer(s)	Nintendo Amusement Vision/Sega Nd Cube Suzak
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Genre(s)	Racing
Console/platform of origin	Super Nintendo Entertainment System
First installment	F-Zero (1990)
Latest installment	F-Zero Climax (2004)
Article on F-Zero Wiki	F-Zero (universe)

The F-Zero universe (F-ZERO, F-Zero) refers to the Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, 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 in the original Smash Bros.

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 over a decade.

Franchise description

The F-Zero series is set centuries into the future, where humankind has since adapted its social framework into a galaxy teeming with a variety of sapient alien races. Multi-billionaire tycoons seeking entertainment sponsor high-tech racing tournaments that are spiritual successors to the Formula One races from centuries past, and are named the "F-Zero Grand Prix". F-Zero races are conducted in plasma-powered hovercars that hover one foot above the track with anti-gravitational technology and can reach speeds of well over 1000 kilometers per hour, and gigantic miles-long tracks hanging far above the surface of various planets are the courses in a given game. The F-Zero Grand Prix is an extremely dangerous high-octane sport; careless racing machines regularly fly off the tracks to their doom on the surface of the planet far below, while others get demolished as they literally push and grind against each other while vying for first place. Every racing machine comes equipped with a shield barrier to ensure its longevity somewhat, but some of that power may be diverted to a boost in speed.

Several dozen F-Zero racers race at a time in some games, and each pilot has a different reason for taking part in the grand prix, whether it is intergalactic fame, the monetary grand prize, or satisfying some sort of vendetta against another racer or group. Each individual machine is balanced in relation to each other with different gradings in the areas of Body, Weight, Boost, and Grip. The wide cast of humans, aliens, monsters, androids, and other life forms that race against each other are designed in an aesthetic style reminiscent of American comic books, and the recurring character that is the closest to being the series' "mascot" is a space-faring bounty hunter named Captain Falcon, whose wardrobe gives him the appearance of a comic book superhero and whose multiple rivals resemble stereotypical supervillains. Disregarding the alternate-universe GP Legend subseries, there is usually little heed paid to continuity between installments in the series, and little focus on up-front storytelling in a given game itself, except for the story mode in F-Zero GX.

The original F-Zero had a very privileged position in Nintendo's release timeline; it shared the spotlight with Super Mario World as the "other" primary launch title for the Super Famicom and one of several launch titles for the Western equivalent, the Super Nintendo, 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, 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. But the next installment to receive widespread public attention was F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64, which made the transition into polygonal graphics and was released in mid-to-late 1998. The game was received positively for its hard rock soundtrack and its focus on refined gameplay and an abundance of tracks (including randomly generated tracks), all while keeping the graphics running at 60 frames per second (it was purportedly the first racing game to do so), though not every review outlet felt that the lack of detail in the graphics and texturing was made up for by the smooth framerate. A subsequent Japanese-only release for the short-lived Nintendo 64DD add-on, the F-Zero 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 mirrored its roots as a technical showcase for a newly launched Nintendo system with the Game Boy Advance launch title F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, which transplanted the Mode 7 presentation style of the original into a handheld game. Then, the series made its most technically advanced appearance yet in F-Zero GX for the GameCube in mid-2003 (the first-ever collaboration between Nintendo and Sega), where it 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 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, F-Zero: GP Legend, which began airing in October 2003, and two companion games for the Game Boy Advance, the first a game of the same name and the second titled F-Zero Climax, were released in Japan near the end of 2003 and 2004, respectively. However, a 4Kids Entertainment localization of the anime was only partially aired before being cancelled, and F-Zero Climax was never released outside Japan. 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 has remained dormant ever since the release of F-Zero Climax, and has never made another appearance in any format besides Super Smash Bros. and a minigame in Nintendo Land for the Wii U.

In Super Smash Bros.

F-Zero is one of the "bonus franchises" in the original Super Smash Bros., for it contributes one unlockable character, one victory theme, and absolutely nothing else - no stages and no items based on F-Zero repose in the game. Before being unlocked, Captain Falcon makes his appearance in Samus' stage (both Samus and Captain Falcon are known to be bounty hunters, in addition to both having originated from science fiction franchises).

Character

• 
  Captain Falcon: Captain Falcon appears as an unlockable character in the original Super Smash Bros.. His design is based off his appearance from F-Zero X. 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.

Music

• 23: The victory fanfare of Captain Falcon is a techno rock remix of the end-of-race track heard in F-Zero X.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

F-Zero is a franchise whose representation in the Smash series is quite expanded upon in Super Smash Bros. Melee, with one character, two new stages and many new trophies, and all 30 F-Zero Racers appear together in those stages and trophies as well.

Characters

• 
  Captain Falcon: Captain Falcon is still the only playable F-Zero character in the game, but with a new Raptor Boost dash-uppercut attack as his new B-Forward move. His appearance is still based off F-Zero X. He remains a high-tier character for his fighting specifications. Falcon's evil DNA clone rival in the games, Blood Falcon, is playable as an alternative costume in the game.

Stages

Melee is the first game to introduce stages for the F-Zero series.

• 
  F-Zero Grand Prix: Mute City: Taking place on the first racetrack of F-Zero X, this stage is unique in that it is a platform that routinely travels along the track, then stops and changes shape for a moment as players must both battle and stay out of the way of racing F-Zero machines that appear from the background, lest the characters get damaged. In many tournaments, it is available in Singles battles and banned in Doubles battles.
• 
  F-Zero Grand Prix: Big Blue: Taking place on a racetrack on a planet named Big Blue, this stage takes place on the F-Zero racing machines themselves as they zoom along at consistent speeds as disconnected platforms. Some items and Pokémon will fly off towards the left if sent out, due to the fact that they are floating in place, but the stage is moving.

Music

• 17: Mute City: A remix of the rock music heard on the first track in F-Zero X for N64, Mute City. It is heard in Mute City.
• 18: Big Blue: A similar remix of the rock music heard on tracks in F-Zero X that take place on the planet Big Blue. It is heard in Big Blue as the primary track.
• 46: Capt. Falcon's Victory: The victory fanfare of Captain Falcon is a rock remix of the end-of-race track heard in F-Zero X.

Full Trophy List

• Captain Falcon's three game trophies
• Dr. Stewart
• Falcon Flyer
• F-Zero Racers
• Jody Summer
• Mute City
• Samurai Goroh

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

A fair amount of content from the F-Zero universe appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Characters

• 
  Captain Falcon: Like Melee, Captain Falcon is still the only playable F-Zero character in the game. He resembles his Melee design, but now has the scarf from his GX appearance. He has the same moves as in Melee, along with his final smash, Blue Falcon. When he uses this, he and the opponent(s) he is facing are taken onto an unknown race track where the Blue Falcon comes, Captain Falcon hops in it, and he drives it straight into his opponent. The opponent is then sent flying. When he uses Falcon Punch, the player can tilt the control stick the opposite direction he is facing, and he will suddenly turn around, and hit the opponent that was behind him. However, his tier position has went from 8th (high tier) to 34th (fifth to last) due to a nerf in speed and power.

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

Assist Trophy

• Samurai Goroh: Captain Falcon's hefty rival slashes at opponents with huge sword swipes.

Stages

• 
  Port Town Aero Dive: A stage based on the race course of the same name from F-Zero GX. Similar to the Mute City stage from Melee, this battlefield takes place atop a moving platform that stops off at different points of the racetrack and players must dodge the F-Zero machines that make their way across the track. These machines are both significantly more powerful and far bigger than they were in Mute City, and are often more difficult to see coming.

• 
  Big Blue: A returning stage from Melee. A significant change is that floating items like Pokémon don't disappear instantly. However, bumpers can't be placed in midair. Another change is that the Falcon Flyer has been scaled down.

Music

See List of SSBB Music (F-Zero series)

• Mute City - A slightly more subdued remix of the series standby track theme that calls parallels to its remix in F-Zero GX. It is used on the Port Town Aero Dive stage.
• Fire Field - The music that plays on the Fire Field track in the original F-Zero. It is used on the Port Town Aero Dive stage. This track is also played during Captain Falcon's Classic Mode credits.
• White Land - This was the track that played on all of the White Land tracks. It is used on the Port Town Aero Drive stage.
• Car Select - Another track taken directly from the source, this one is the menu track from F-Zero X. It is used on the Port Town Aero Drive stage.
• Dream Chaser - The track that played on all of the Silence tracks in F-Zero X, this track is also taken directly from F-Zero X. It is used on the Port Town Aero Drive stage.
• Devil's Call in Your Heart - The music track that played on all of the Devil's Forest racetracks, it is taken directly from F-Zero X. It is used on the Port Town Aero Drive stage.
• Climb Up! And Get the Last Chance! - Yet another track taken directly from F-Zero X, this one played on the game's White Land races. It is used on the Port Town Aero Drive stage.
• Brain Cleaner - The track that played in F-Zero GX while viewing race replays, it is taken directly from said game. It is the theme of the Port Town Aero Drive stage.
• Shotgun Kiss - This track played on all of the Casino Palace tracks in F-Zero GX and happens to be taken directly from it. It is used on the Port Town Aero Drive stage.
• Planet Colors - This was the track that played in F-Zero GX on all of the Green Plant racetracks. It is used on the Port Town Aero Drive stage.
• Big Blue (Melee) - Taken directly from Melee. It is used on the Big Blue stage.
• Mute City (Melee) - Taken directly from Melee. It is used on the Big Blue stage.
• Captain Falcon's victory theme - The theme played whenever the player successfully completed a race in F-Zero GX.

Trophies

• Captain Falcon
• Blue Falcon
• Samurai Goroh
• Dr. Stewart
• Pico
• Jody Summer
• Mr. EAD
• Blood Falcon
• The Skull
• Zoda
• Falcon Flyer
• Black Shadow

Stickers

• Black Shadow
• Blood Falcon
• Blue Falcon
• Captain Falcon
• Captain Falcon - GX
• Dr. Stewart
• Fire Stingray
• Golden Fox
• Gomar & Shioh
• Mr. EAD
• Octoman
• Red Gazelle
• Samurai Goroh
• White Cat
• Wild Goose

Masterpieces

F-Zero - The first F-Zero game for the SNES. Take on your favorite character and vehicle and race to the finish.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

There has been little to no F-Zero releases since Brawl barring cameos in Mario Kart Wii and Nintendo Land. Nevertheless, the series continues to be represented, arguably more closely linked to Smash Bros. than its own releases.

Characters

• 
  Captain Falcon: Captain Falcon returns as a starter character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He retains his Brawl design. He has been visually redesigned with extra details and a brighter color scheme while his move set is similar to his earlier incarnations with some buffs.

Assist Trophy

• Samurai Goroh: Goroh returns from Brawl, still using his sword to swiftly attack opponents.

Stages

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

• 
  Mute City: A brand new unlockable stage that is based on Mute City from the original F-Zero on SNES. Similar to Big Blue from Melee, it is possible to stand on the vehicles as they race along the track. The race goes towards the screen, rather than horizontally to the right. It is one of the few pixelated stages.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

• 
  Port Town Aero Dive: This stage returns from Brawl with new textures for the HD console.

Music

• Mute City: Taken directly from Melee. This plays on Port Town Aero Dive.
• Mute City Ver. 2: Taken directly from Brawl. This plays on Port Town Aero Dive.
• Mute City Ver. 3: This track is a remastered version of the original SNES Mute City music. It is used on the new Mute City stage in the 3DS version and on Port Town Aero Dive in the Wii U version.
• Mute City (original): This track uses the original SNES Mute City music. It is used on the same stage of the same name in the 3DS version and on Port Town Aero Dive in the Wii U version.
• Big Blue: Taken directly from Melee. This plays on Port Town Aero Dive.
• Fire Field: Taken directly from Brawl. This plays on Port Town Aero Dive.

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

• Captain Falcon
• Captain Falcon (Alt.)
• Samurai Goroh
• Blue Falcon
• Fire Stingray
• Golden Fox
• Wild Goose
• Mute City
• Dr. Stewart
• Pico
• Falcon Flyer

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

• Blood Falcon
• James McCloud
• Jody Summer
• Black Shadow
• Mr. EAD
• The Skull
• Zoda
• Deathborn

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The F-Zero universe will be returning in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Characters

• Captain Falcon: Captain Falcon is set to return in this game.

Stages

All stages aside from the two Mute City circuits have returned.

• Big Blue: the infamous circuit from Melee returns after being absent in Smash 4 as a retro stage.
• Port Town Aero Dive: The track will return as a retro stage.

Assist Trophy

• Samurai Goroh

Music

• "Mute City Ver. 3": this theme was heard in Captain Falcon's character trailer.

Games with elements from or in the Super Smash Bros. series

F-Zero

Three of the four main characters in F-Zero feature in the Super Smash Bros. series:

• Captain Falcon, the main protagonist of the F-Zero franchise, is a playable character in all four games. He is an unlockable character in SSB and Brawl but is a default character in Melee and SSB4.
• Dr. Stewart appears as a Trophy in Melee, Brawl and SSB4.
• Samurai Goroh appears both as an Assist Trophy and as a normal Trophy in Melee, Brawl, and SSB4.
• Pico appears as a Trophy in Brawl and SSB4.

The game is also available as one of the playable Masterpieces in Brawl and SSB4.

Also, the stages Port Town Aero Dive, and the returning stage from Melee, Big Blue, are both playable in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

F-Zero X

• Two racetracks from F-Zero are featured in Melee as stages: Mute City and Big Blue. Both feature the F-Zero cars racing about. The cars in the stages are directly ripped models from the game. The remixed tracks of the two stages are based off of those in F-Zero X.
• Blood Falcon, who premiered in this game, appears as an alternate costume for Captain Falcon and as a Trophy in Brawl and SSB4.
• Jody Summer, who premiered in this game, appears as an alternate costume for Captain Falcon and as a Trophy in Melee, Brawl and SSB4.
• Captain Falcon's appearance in this game is used as his design in the first two Smash games and his victory fanfare in the first two games is taken from the Race End in F-Zero X.

F-Zero GX

• Many vehicles and characters come with the GX design.
• Samurai Goroh is an Assist Trophy in Brawl and has his GX design.
• Captain Falcon's victory fanfare is the Race End in GX.
• R.O.B., who appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, also appears on the Port Town Aero Dive course in this game and the stage in Brawl based on it.

Trivia

• The F-Zero and Yoshi series are the only two series to have appeared in all Smash Bros. games with only one playable character.
  • However since the Yoshi series is part of the Mario series, this makes F-Zero the only major series with just one character appearing in all four games.
• F-Zero is the only universe introduced in Smash 64 represented by a playable character to not have any of them wield a projectile or weapon.
• F-Zero and the Yoshi series the only two franchises with playable characters appearing throughout the entire series to lack items.
• F-Zero and Earthbound are the only two series introduced in Smash 64 to not have a stage in the original game.
• F-Zero, Kirby, The Legend of Zelda and Super Smash Bros. itself are the only series to have the same series symbol throughout the entire series.
• F-Zero is the only series to have a sole representative appear as a starter and an unlockable character throughout the entire series.

External Links

• F-Zero Wiki