Ryu Suzaku is an F1 driver turned cop with a hate-on for Zoda, notorious crime lord Zoda; however, while chasing him after a prison breakout, Ryu killed in the pursuit. His body is put into cold sleep and awoken 150 years later, where the entire world has changed around him... but some things never change.
Not only has Zoda been revived and inducted into an even bigger crime syndicate, but they're winning F-Zero races to garner funds for their misdeeds! Ryu is subsequently recruited into the Galaxy Mobile Platoon, a secret police organisation with the sole purpose of winning F-Zero races so the baddies don't!
What sounds like a cushy job quickly has complications. For starters, just when Ryu has come to grips with leaving the past behind, a rival racer shows up working for the bad guys - and she looks exactly like his girlfriend! The life of a 23rd century police officer has more troubles than Ryu can even imagine, and that's before the thrills and spills of being a maximum velocity racer are added on top of it. The only thing keeping him going is his love for his friends, his passion for justice, and his need for speed!
| from "At least, F-Zero gets animated! "F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu" |
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A message from TV Tokyo producer Fukashi Azuma
Greetings, F-Zero fans - all 10 million of you nationwide! This is Fukashi Azuma, the dependable producer of TV TOKYO's "F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu". The F-Zero series will finally be hitting televisions this autumn. We and our splendid staff are in the midst of making the cast page for this F-Zero site!
We feel a little nervous being the first to create an anime for such a franchise, but the continued support from F-Zero fans has been a great boon. I was also one of the many people whose first Super Famicom game was F-Zero, and it's an experience I'll never forget. I was gripping that controller intensely for a long, long time (not that my skills improved very much...)!
For the transition to anime, we've been allowed to craft the story with a lot of freedom. With unique animation and original characters, we hope to have created an F-Zero world fans will appreciate. Of course, our staff are working hard to incorporate the F-Zero series' unmatched sense of speed and quirky cast of characters; we're committed to making a show fans will enjoy.
"F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu" will begin airing on TV Tokyo on Tuesday, October 7 [2003] at 6:30. Expect to see action straight from the games replicated in the anime. Thank you, and please support the show! |
For a franchise that's the butt of many "when is it getting a sequel?" jokes, it's hard to believe that 2001 to 2004 was a bit of a tour-de-force for F-Zero.
It made its return following in the foosteps of its original Super Nintendo incarnation, serving as a launch title for the Game Boy Advance, but its next two instalments would be exciting new forays for Nintendo.
In 2003, not only would Nintendo be partnering with SEGA on development for the next console instalment (which would see cross-promotion in arcades!), but its new handheld game would serve as a tie-in to the new televised anime!
Admittedly not a new move for Nintendo - Kirby got an anime two years prior - it did serve as an attempt to popularise the series with its native audience, with a selection of merchandise including trading cards, stickers and even toys of the F-Zero machines produced by Bandai.
The series ran for 51 episodes, its final episode airing in late 2004 before the final tie-in, F-Zero Climax, hit shelves a few weeks afterward.
Around this time the series was also picked up for English broadcast by 4Kids but failed to gather traction, running for a measly couple of months before quietly being dropped.
Was the series a success for Nintendo? I've no idea, though given how the series has been dormant for the decade since, seeing only token cameos in other franchises... well, let's say it probably wasn't as good as they'd hoped. The series still has fans in certain Japanese circles, and is only recently gaining fans in English thanks to recent translation efforts... and not just because of the ending.
| from 4 Kids Entertainment |
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Hot Off The Assembly Line
On September 18, 2004, 4Kids TV™ unveiled the fastest show on television: F-Zero® GP Legend.
F-Zero is Nintendo's high-speed, high-performance video game franchise. Since getting the green flag in 1991, four action-packed video games have wowed fans on the F-Zero circuit in the U.S. In September 2004, Nintendo released F-Zero -- GP Legend on Game Boy® Advance, featuring extreme all-new racing circuits. GP Legend promises players a souped-up, sci-fi racing experience with a gripping, galaxy-smashing storyline.
The licensing campaign is expected to launch in 2005. |
F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu (GP Legend in English territories) made its Japanese release on November 28 2003, when the series was eight episodes in. Along with the four newcomers to the series (Ryu, Lucy, Lisa and Miss Killer) it includes all 30 racers from F-Zero X, many of them making their debut here long before they appeared on the TV show.
Like F-Zero GX, it features a basic story mode for eight of the main characters, wherein you're given challenges to progress the plot. It takes elements from the show's storyline, including Jody's quest for her missing brother; Ryu's hatred for Zoda; Samurai Goroh and Antonio Guster's rivalry; and Zoda's attempts to topple Black Shadow. That said, the story is largely self-contained and very simplified.
F-Zero Climax only saw release in Japan, on October 21 2004, a few weeks after the series had ended. Along with all 34 characters from the last game, it introduces Clank Hughes and Dark Soldier to the playable roster, along with 3 'remix' characters: Hyper Zoda, Berserker, and the new Captain Falcon.
The story mode is absent, though the game does offer unlockable data, including profiles for each racer and their machine, as well as recaps of each of the 51 episodes of the anime. Although basic write-ups, there are small nuggets of info that were not mentioned in the actual show.
