Gaming's Defining Moments - F-Zero

My first introduction to the world of F-Zero came on the N64 with F-Zero X in 1998. I'd not played the original, so coming to the rolling futuristic tracks of X was a bit of an eye-opener for me.

I think it's fair to say that I enjoyed my time with F-Zero X, and in-turn it led me to WipEout, another futuristic racer in which speed is king. There have been many other sci-fi heavy racers played on the various consoles I have owned over the years, but WipEout and F-Zero X are the games that remain close to my heart.

I might be late to the party, but it wasn't until recently that I played the original F-Zero.

A friend of mine is keen retro-gamer. His living room is littered with old consoles and broken controllers. One of his favourite games is F-Zero on the SNES, and on my last visit, I got the chance to play the 22-year-old game.

Time can be cruel. Some titles age badly, and in most cases graphical and gameplay limitations become almost instantly apparent. Not so with F-Zero. Whilst the last twenty years have seen some major graphical improvements, F-Zero still retains a charming visual appeal.

The colour-scheme is cute with being nauseating. The tracks are well animated, crammed full of variety and thanks to what was ground-breaking technology at the time - Mode 7 - F-Zero was able to marry 2D graphics with 3D scrolling.

What made Mode 7 so exciting is that it offered programmers working with 2D-centric consoles the chance to flirt with 3D environments. By rotating background layers, developers were able to create the illusion of 3D graphics, and this went down a treat with gamers. Although Mode 7 started off life in Nintendo's Super NES, it wasn't long before it was adopted by other platform holders (Sega introduced it with the Sega CD).

It wasn't just the Mode 7 graphics that won over the game-playing public of the early 90s. Speed was perhaps the defining factor behind F-Zero's success. Never before had people experienced racing as fast and frantic as that found on the tracks of the 26th century.

It's the kind of game that still has a devoted following many years later. There is still intense competition for new lap-records, and it doesn't look like this rivalry is going away any time soon. Gamers have had plenty of time to find the tiniest of exploits, as they look to shave milliseconds off their best times.

For a 2D game, it still handles remarkably well. Despite the distance travelled between then and now, F-Zero still has tight and responsive handling. It needs it; the tracks are littered with obstacles intended to slow you down. Magnetic strips drag your racer off course and drain energy, random cars populate the tracks of the future and cause traffic, darkened surfaces create friction and slow progress.

There is plenty of things to contend with if you want to master F-Zero. It's frantic, it's infuriating, it's addictive and it's fun. Best of all, after all of these years, it still plays like a dream. Sure there might have been bigger and faster games made in the meantime, but few of them have the same amount of charm and energy as F-Zero does. 22 years on it still works, and that fact, coupled with its use of Mode 7 technology, means that F-Zero is one of gaming's defining moments.