F-Zero turns 30 years old today.

Nintendo’s famous sci-fi racing series made its debut on the Super Famicom in Japan on 21st November 1990. It was a huge success, and spawned multiple sequels.

I was a huge fan of F-Zero on the SNES (a year and a half later!). I was blown away by the sense of speed as well as the visuals, which were powered by the SNES’ Mode 7 tech. F-Zero felt 3D to me at a time when I only thought of video games as these 2D experiences.

The last full F-Zero game was the Japan-exclusive Game Boy Advance title F-Zero Climax, which launched more than a decade ago, back in 2004.

F-Zero has since made only cameo appearances, via a mini-game in Wii U party compilation Nintendo Land and in DLC tracks for Mario Kart 8.

F-Zero was announced as one of the launch titles for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Nintendo Switch Online collection, and came out in September 2019.

It doesn’t feel like Nintendo is bringing F-Zero back to life with a Nintendo Switch effort, but I’d love to be proven wrong. I reckon a blisteringly-fast F-Zero on the platform, with full-on competitive multiplayer, would be hugely exciting.

Until that perhaps mythical day, I have my memories of F-Zero on SNES to keep me going. Time to reminisce…