Wow, I never thought I’d write an F-Zero Wii U article. I really didn’t. I thought that, of all Nintendo’s series, that was the one most likely to be dead in the ground. But it ain’t so, mon friars: In a recent YouTube interview with Smosh Games, uncovered by our pals at Nintendolife, Nintendo creative topper Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed, for the first time in years, that F-Zero isn’t necessarily dead forever. Here’s the video, and then we’ll explore the details:
F-Zero Wii U: Not An Impossible Dream
The video is mostly about other things, such as Miyamoto showing off his Mario Kart 8 skills, but the Nintendo guru did drop the giant bomb alluded to before: That F-Zero will be back someday, or at least could be back someday. Specifically, according to Nintendolife, the futuristic racing series may come back when “the right controller interface” becomes available. But what the heck does that mean? Is Wii U the right controller interface for F-Zero, or exactly the wrong one?
F-Zero Wii U still seems like a bit of a long shot, but Miyamoto’s enigmatic comments prove that the company does still think about its other, Mario-free racing series, besides for sticking Captain Falcon in Smash Bros and calling it a day. Mario Kart 8 looked like the death-knell for F-Zero, at least to me: After all, it included such fun science fiction elements as racing upside down and racing super fast. What was left for F-Zero Wii U in such a world?
Evidently something. Clearly Miyamoto has ideas in mind. Will those ideas work with the GamePad? It’s hard to say, but it’s telling that Mario Kart 8 doesn’t really use the Wii U’s signature feature at all. The GamePad simply displays ancillary information; it isn’t critical for play. A possible F-Zero game could surely be the same way, unless Nintendo thinks up something truly unique for it.
Either way, it doesn’t sound like F-Zero Wii U is actively in development by any means. That’s not surprising; Nintendo’s stretched pretty thin as it is. But the series has looked dead for the entirety of the last decade. Now, for the first time in years, we know that it isn’t dead. It’s just dormant. And that may be small comfort for die-hard fans of the series, but it is comfort nonetheless.
