F-Zero 99 Is The Most Important Game Nintendo Have Released In 2023

gameranx.com:

Nintendo is well known for its vast IP vault that has mostly been untouched for decades. F-Zero is one of those IPs, and it has not seen a release since the GameCube. Sure, the Wii U had an F-Zero minigame, and Mario Kart 8 has an F-Zero DLC, but it’s not the same. They were hope-filled crumbs that have led to nothing but pain and misery.

Fans of the series, myself included, have been clamouring for a new entry for years now; generations even. These trickled-out tidbits in other games give hope, but that hope has failed to yield any tangible results. Well, that was until Nintendo stealth-dropped F-Zero 99. 

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F-Zero 99 is a throwback to the classic F-Zero in a way that is truly exceptional. It is fast, chaotic, fast, and, well, fast. Lobbies fill up fast, races are fast, and you crash out faster than a joy-riding teen swigging their first alcopop. It’s the most unabashed fun we’ve had all year, which is high praise when you consider how packed 2023 has been for new releases. 

I can finally hop back in the Golden Fox and blitz around Mute City at a crisp 60FPS. I can cut myself on the razor-sharp pixels. I can bob along to the banging soundtrack whilst smashing people into electrified bumpers. It’s here, and it’s bigger than ever whilst paradoxically being a bite-sized – yet scrumptious – morsel. It has a hectic crunch that few racing games try to pull off nowadays, and I am all for it. 

Putting all of my hyperbole on the shelf for a moment, not everyone is as enamoured with Nintendo’s new racer or the direction the series has gone. Sure, F-Zero pioneered the concept of the ‘Death Race’ (citation is