Rumors of a return to form for the long-dormant F-Zero franchise have been making rounds after a mysterious Twitter account has fanatics buzzing.
It’s been nearly 16 years since gamers were last graced with an F-Zero game, and enthusiasts have been hungry for the next installment ever since.
Fans of the futuristic racer might just be getting their wish, as an enigmatic new Twitter account named “@FZeroJP” has gamers spreading rumors of a series comeback.
The expression on these characters' face is literally everyone after reading up on the F-Zero Nintendo account rumour. And I wouldn't be surprised too 😂 pic.twitter.com/reVq6xLZPd
— RemixRave (@W4Q4SH4F1Z) July 16, 2020
Let the rumor mill churn
What makes matters even more interesting is that a Twitter user by the name of “@Shadowedgy” allegedly found out that the aforementioned account is linked to the email domain “n*******.**.**,” which looks suspiciously like Nintendo’s Japanese website “nintendo.co.jp.”
But wait, there’s more. That very email domain was used for the current official Splatoon Twitter account, as well as the recently unearthed (and equally ambiguous) 35th anniversary Super Mario account.
Following the debut of Paper Mario: The Origami King earlier this week, Nintendo is fresh out of first-party titles publicly announced for the rest of the year, which would make a sleeper F-Zero release an amazing surprise.
https://twitter.com/ElizaArtz/status/1283867338220044288
The chronicles of F-Zero
F-Zero is a futuristic racing game that was originally developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) back in 1990.
The racer was set in the year 2560, where a bunch of bored billionaires came up with a new type of entertainment that involved ultra-high-speed hovercars and was based on the current Formula One races, hence the name F-Zero.
The game debuted to marvelous reviews, with critics and gamers praising the racing game’s fantastic graphics, fluid animations, tight controls, and banging soundtrack.
To this day, many publications regard the original F-Zero as one of the greatest games of all time, and the godfather of all futuristic racers.
F-Zero (1990) #SNES
Gameplay is outstanding, offering up a perfect balance of pick-up-and-play accessibility and sheer depth. 15 different tracks and its adjustable difficulty modes still give it a lot of lasting appeal!#retrogaming #retrogames #retrogamer #gaming #Nintendo pic.twitter.com/HjsFF1YsQm
— Laser Sauce! 🎮🕹️ (@LaserSauce87) June 19, 2018
Since then, Nintendo released two more F-Zero titles on the SNES, two on the Nintendo 64, three on the Game Boy Advance (GBA), and a single release for the GameCube, all of which were beloved by gamers across the globe.
The racing franchise’s final entry was F-Zero Climax for the GBA and has since gone dormant, skipping the entire Nintendo DS, 3DS, Wii, and Wii U generations.
As with all rumors, the surfacing of a new F-Zero Twitter account should be taken with a grain of salt. Though one must admit, the Nintendo Switch would be the perfect console to stage the breakneck racer’s comeback.
Images [1] and [2] courtesy of Nintendo