Mythical Virtual Boy F-Zero Spin-Off Was 100% Complete, According To Former NOA Staffer
The Virtual Boy may have been one of Nintendo’s most costly flops, but a dedicated and passionate fan base has grown around the system, and the group is spending much time to explore unreleased projects that could potentially increase the fate of the console – one of them is the F-Zero spin-off Zero Racers (also known as G-Racers).
Described as “F-Zero in a tunnel”, Zero Racers was previewed twice in Nintendo Power magazine but never saw the light of day. There have been reports that it was showcased at E3 1996, but these appear to be false, a fact that has led many to assume that the game was nothing more than a series of simulated screenshots and that Nintendo had long since pulled the plug. before any major developments were undertaken.
Screenshots of Zero Racers taken from Nintendo Power magazine. (Images: Art Nintendo Power/DYKG)
But, Do you know the games were able to speak with former Nintendo of America localizer and associate producer Jim Warnell, who has been with the company for two decades. Warnell says his role included nearly every aspect of preparing the game for release in North America, and he claims that Zero Racers was 100% finished and ready to go: Zero Racers was done. We had a complete manual, packaging, and label for the game. He passed the LOT check, he had an ESRB rating. This has been completed.
Warnell also reveals that the game was never supposed to have F-Zero in the title, despite some people suggesting that the full title was “F-Zero: Zero Racers“. However, it definitely took place in the same universe, because he says that the four ships in the game were supposed to be piloted by Captain Falcon, James McCloud, Jodie Summer, and an alien that Warnell thinks is Pico, but can’t remember exactly. .
This means that Zero Racers would have marked the F-Zero debut of both McCloud (a humanized version of Fox’s father McCloud from the Star Fox series) and Summer, who appeared in the N64 title F-Zero X.
If the game exists in its complete form, then there’s a chance we might actually be able to play it at some point – assuming the source files still exist in the Nintendo archives, of course.