The first F-Zero quite literally defined futuristic racing. Mind blowing speed, timeless design and a still iconic soundtrack.
Your verdict
Category
Racing1 player3+
Description
Futuristic racing game using the Super Nintendo's Mode 7 graphics processor in a pioneering way. Published by Nintendo, released in North America in 1990. Five vehicles with distinct characteristics, Mute City and Big Blue circuits, turbos and mines and increasing speed across master levels. Super Nintendo launch title and genre masterpiece.
F-Zero review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
Futuristic circuits unfurled in Mode 7, a sense of dizzying speed and vivid colours: the game invented fast pseudo-3D racing on the console. The fluidity of the scrolling and the brilliance of the settings overflow with energy. This visual direction, pioneering and polished, laid the foundations of the futuristic racing game.
A technical showcase for the SNES, the music propels the high-speed races with supercharged rock-electro themes, from the famous "Mute City" to "Big Blue". Each circuit pulses with a galvanising energy perfectly in tune with the sense of speed. This pioneering sonic identity remains inseparable from the F-Zero legend.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Hurling a machine at unprecedented speeds thanks to the console's background rotation, brushing the walls and holding razor-sharp lines: the sense of speed marked a whole generation. Mastery has to be earned, but every perfect lap delivers a pure rush. A snappy, demanding pioneer, it lays the foundations of a genre and stays exhilarating, pad in hand.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Hurtling your machine at full tilt, grazing the walls and memorizing every corner delivers an instant rush you want to replay right away. Shaving your time, climbing the ranking or surviving the next circuit ramps up the tension race after race. There's not much content, but this quest for the perfect lap stays furiously addictive.
Difficulty
"Punishing"
The original entry and a Mode 7 showcase, it sends the player down tracks that scroll ever faster, without the slightest safety net. Managing the shield-energy, memorizing the tight turns and concentrating every instant separate victory from a crash. Demanding from the upper leagues on yet perfectly clear, it laid the foundations of a saga renowned for its driving rigor.
The North American SNES NTSC version of F-Zero, a Nintendo US launch title in 1991 and the Mode 7 demonstration for the American audience. A heavily printed launch hit, the cart stays common: value concentrates on clean CIB, an unwarped US cardboard box and graded sealed copies. Its desirability rests less on scarcity than on its role as the founding technical reference of the SNES across the Atlantic.
Is F-Zero still worth playing in 2026?
The first F-Zero set the foundations of the futuristic racing genre as it still stands today. The Mode 7 pseudo 3D remains impressive, the sense of speed is immediate and the track layout demands precise corner reading. The lack of multiplayer has aged, but the time trial is a bottomless pit for record chasers. The soundtrack is one of the most unforgettable in Nintendo's catalogue. Recommended to anyone seeking a pure, sharp racing classic.
