Takaya Imamura: F-Zero wasn’t revived because Mario Kart is Nintendo’s “most popular racing game”

Nintendo has been on its way to reviving old games and series like Metroid Prime, Pikmin 1 + 2, and most recently the announcement of Super Mario RPG. However, one franchise that hasn’t made a huge comeback is F-Zero.

So, what exactly is going on there? Takaya Imamura, the 30-year-old Nintendo veteran who was the artist and designer behind characters like Captain Falcon and Fox McCloud, shared his own thoughts during a recent interview. VGC.

He believes the reason it would “cost a fortune” is also because Mario Kart is the main focus – being Nintendo’s most popular racing game. It’s Nintendo’s best-selling series as well, with the latest entry converting over 53 million units to date. Miyamoto also happens to be a huge fan of Star Fox, which is apparently why Fox and his cohorts return so often in the past.

So why do you think F-Zero gets less attention from the company than Star Fox does? There hasn’t been a new F-Zero in nearly 20 years now.

Takaya Imamura: “I think it’s because Mario Kart is Nintendo’s most popular racing game, and the new F-Zero is going to cost a fortune. My impression is that Miyamoto-san is very affectionate about Star Fox.”

Inamura also notes how Miyamoto is “always thinking about Nintendo as a whole” so that’s clearly why he didn’t get much time to think about F-Zero. He also believes that it is down to “careful consideration” when reviving the IPs, and in the event of a Metroid resurgence, that the Western studios involved are “the result of careful selection”.

While there are no new F-Zero games to try on the Switch, fans of the futuristic racing series can still get their fix with the Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription service with titles like F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64. The series also has special tracks. and Kart in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Takaya Imamura has previously mentioned how F-Zero would also require a “great idea” in order to bring it to life: